Virtual reality as a stress reduction measure – chilling out on the beach in my living room

Abstract

Digitization has many advantages, but it also creates an ever-increasing burden on people due to constant availability and a flood of information, which then results in an increased level of stress. Therefore, the study tries to use the advantages of digitalization by using Virtual Reality (VR) to create calming virtual environments, in which users can take a break from their everyday life to relax. In this special case, a 360° VR video of the city beach in Würzburg was recorded and the subjects watched it through a Head Mounted Display (HMD) while they were relaxing in a sunbed. In addition, skin conductivity was measured as an indicator of stress to find out whether the VR session had a positive influence on the stress level of the subjects. In addition, before and after the VR session the subjects should indicate their subjectively perceived stress level by means of a color scale. Although, there was a decrease in the values of electrodermal activity (EDA) during the VR session, it was not significant. On the other hand, the subjective perceived stress level before and after the VR session showed a clear difference and this difference was highly significant. Subjects felt less stressed after a VR session on the city beach than before.