Heart-felt responses to virtual reality games: investigating a polyvagal model of (re)connection to nature

Abstract

The environmental crisis is deepening as we exceed critical planetary boundaries. Addressing this crisis requires innovative approaches for public engagement. Grounded in Porges’ [1995. Orienting in a defensive world: Mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. A polyvagal theory. Psychophysiology, 32(4), 301–318] polyvagal theory and its links to social resilience, this research explores the potential of a virtual reality (VR) game to change how our physiology responds to threatened ecosystems. Using the context of an iconic and climate-vulnerable natural attraction, the Great Barrier Reef, we test whether the VR game can elicit parasympathetic, ventral vagal states. Achieving this can balance typical fear-based conservation messaging, on the one hand, with embodied states that are associated with regenerative states (‘rest and digest’) on the other. Using electrocardiogram measures combined with semi-structured interviews, this study examines 31 participants’ experience while playing the VR game. Findings reveal a significant reduction in heart rate during gameplay compared to the baseline, while moments of coral bleaching increase heart rate, suggesting sympathetic arousal. Interviews show that participants experienced a mix of emotions, from calmness and satisfaction during gameplay to panic and fear during bleaching events. This research highlights VR’s potential to elicit ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic states in the context of nature conservation and marine tourism, offering alternative tools for ecological engagement.