Virtual Reality Application for Stress Therapy: Issues and Challenges

Virtual reality, a cutting-edge innovation in the realm of digital experiences, though more frequently employed for entertainment and education, can also serve as a tool for immersing users in therapeutic settings that promote relaxation and mindfulness. An increasing number of research attempts investigate its usability and impact on stress evaluation, management and reduction. This scoping review aims to depict the current role of virtual reality in stress reduction and identify common methods and practice, technology patterns as well as gaps. Results depict the emerging research interest in the domain of VR-based stress reduction systems. The developed systems included in this review were basically addressed to the general public (59%) for daily life stress reduction utilizing a commercial VR headset often combined with supportive sensors. Guided imagery emerged as the most implemented method, but it is also noteworthy that almost all studies implicitly used this method. According to the analysis, most studies performed evaluation of the proposed VR system including both subjective and objective measurements to provide evidence on its efficiency and its actual impact on stress levels. Finally, validation methodologies attempt to point out the potential of VR technology in the direction of providing an efficient solution for the alleviation of stress burdens. Even though numerous studies report the usefulness and efficiency of VR technology regarding stress reduction, several challenges still need to be addressed, mainly because of the difficult definition, detection and evaluation of stress. An approach integrating the existing knowledge regarding signals that can act as biomarkers of stress and qualitative measurements could open new pathways toward the development of more impactful VR-based stress reduction systems.

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A Conceptual Framework for Designing Virtual Environments for Stress Therapy

Zaharuddin

Ibrahim

Yusof

2022

Applied Sciences

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Virtual reality for stress therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing stress. However, the majority of the existing studies have only focused on investigating the effectiveness of virtual reality application as a stress reduction tool. Limited information was communicated on how the virtual environments used were designed. Existing design frameworks which may potentially be used as a reference turned out to be providing general guidelines and were not specifically developed for designing a virtual environment for stress therapy. The frameworks were also found to focus on either improving psychological well-being or virtual reality design respectively. To address the identified gap, this study proposed a framework for designing virtual environments for stress therapy. The framework incorporates design requirements from a psychological and information technology point of view. In addition, the framework also highlights the design elements that were specifically needed to design a virtual environment to reduce stress. This paper hence describes the framework and discusses the framework evaluation. Four methods, including (i) questionnaire, (ii) physiological measures, (iii) experiment and (iv) interview were used to evaluate the (i) effectiveness, (ii) usability, (iii) ease of use and (iv) usefulness of the system that implemented the concept of the framework in reducing stress. In addition, the methods were also used to assess the usefulness of the design elements listed in the framework to reduce stress. The results of the evaluation indicated that the system was (i) effective, (ii) usable, (iii) useful and (iv) easy to use to reduce stress. The results also showed that the proposed design elements were useful in aiding the stress-reduction process. As all the results returned positive findings, the framework was thus considered appropriate and suitable to be used as a guideline for designing virtual environments for stress therapy.

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Virtual Reality Application for Stress Therapy: Issues and Challenges

Cited by 3 publications

References 11 publications

VR-Based Relaxation Therapy for Customer Service Staff: A Pilot Study

VR-Based Relaxation Therapy for Customer Service Staff: A Pilot Study

Virtual reality environments for stress reduction and management: a scoping review

A Conceptual Framework for Designing Virtual Environments for Stress Therapy

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