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Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness

The potential of using immersive virtual reality (iVR) technologies to enhance nature relatedness by embodying non-human beings, such as plants or animals, is only sparsely researched. To contribute to this emerging research field we conducted an experimental study (N = 28) that compared the effects...

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Autores principales: Spangenberger, Pia, Geiger, Sonja Maria, Freytag, Sarah-Christin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8789841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35079051
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05184-0
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author Spangenberger, Pia
Geiger, Sonja Maria
Freytag, Sarah-Christin
author_facet Spangenberger, Pia
Geiger, Sonja Maria
Freytag, Sarah-Christin
author_sort Spangenberger, Pia
collection PubMed
description The potential of using immersive virtual reality (iVR) technologies to enhance nature relatedness by embodying non-human beings, such as plants or animals, is only sparsely researched. To contribute to this emerging research field we conducted an experimental study (N = 28) that compared the effects of the viewing condition (iVR or desktop) while embodying a tree on nature relatedness, perspective-taking and, as a control, on perceived immersion. A mixed-method approach employing quantitative and qualitative questions was used. Our results showed that irrespective of condition allocation, the more immersed participants felt in their experience, the greater they reported increased levels of nature relatedness (r = 0.42, p < .05). While our quantitative data did yield a difference in immersion levels between the viewing condition (iVR vs. video, t(26) = 2.05, p = .05, d = .50) that did not translate into a stronger experimental effect of the iVR condition on nature relatedness (F(Interaction)(1,26) < 1). Regarding perspective taking, no significant differences between both groups emerged in the number of users who self-reported having fully taken on the perspective of the tree, (χ(2)(1) = 2.33, p = .127). However, only participants from the iVR group described their experience from a first-person perspective, suggesting a higher level of identification with the tree. This matches the observation that only those participants also reported self-reflective processes of their own role as a human being towards nature. Our results support previous research suggesting that experiencing nature via immersive VR in itself does not seem to suffice for creating an effect on nature relatedness. However, we observed that a higher perceived level of immersion for participants experiencing the embodiment of a tree in the iVR condition provoked reflective processes on one’s own role towards nature more strongly. We discuss the role of immersion and further factors to explain these differences and suggest steps for future research settings to help understand the beneficial potential of using immersive VR for nature relatedness.
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spelling pubmed-87898412022-01-27 Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness Spangenberger, Pia Geiger, Sonja Maria Freytag, Sarah-Christin Sci Rep Article The potential of using immersive virtual reality (iVR) technologies to enhance nature relatedness by embodying non-human beings, such as plants or animals, is only sparsely researched. To contribute to this emerging research field we conducted an experimental study (N = 28) that compared the effects of the viewing condition (iVR or desktop) while embodying a tree on nature relatedness, perspective-taking and, as a control, on perceived immersion. A mixed-method approach employing quantitative and qualitative questions was used. Our results showed that irrespective of condition allocation, the more immersed participants felt in their experience, the greater they reported increased levels of nature relatedness (r = 0.42, p < .05). While our quantitative data did yield a difference in immersion levels between the viewing condition (iVR vs. video, t(26) = 2.05, p = .05, d = .50) that did not translate into a stronger experimental effect of the iVR condition on nature relatedness (F(Interaction)(1,26) < 1). Regarding perspective taking, no significant differences between both groups emerged in the number of users who self-reported having fully taken on the perspective of the tree, (χ(2)(1) = 2.33, p = .127). However, only participants from the iVR group described their experience from a first-person perspective, suggesting a higher level of identification with the tree. This matches the observation that only those participants also reported self-reflective processes of their own role as a human being towards nature. Our results support previous research suggesting that experiencing nature via immersive VR in itself does not seem to suffice for creating an effect on nature relatedness. However, we observed that a higher perceived level of immersion for participants experiencing the embodiment of a tree in the iVR condition provoked reflective processes on one’s own role towards nature more strongly. We discuss the role of immersion and further factors to explain these differences and suggest steps for future research settings to help understand the beneficial potential of using immersive VR for nature relatedness. Nature Publishing Group UK 2022-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8789841/ /pubmed/35079051 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05184-0 Text en © The Author(s) 2022 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Spangenberger, Pia
Geiger, Sonja Maria
Freytag, Sarah-Christin
Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title_full Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title_fullStr Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title_full_unstemmed Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title_short Becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
title_sort becoming nature: effects of embodying a tree in immersive virtual reality on nature relatedness
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8789841/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35079051
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05184-0
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