Virtual Reality Nature Experiences Involving Wolves on YouTube: Presence, Emotions, and Attitudes in Immersive and Nonimmersive Settings

Abstract

As some nature experiences, such as viewing wild animals, may be difficult to implement in science education, immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies have become a promising tool in education. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the effectiveness of nature experiences in VR. In this study, 50 German university students (M = 23.76 years, SD = 3.73 years) from diverse disciplines were randomly assigned to an immersive (head-mounted display; Oculus Quest) or a nonimmersive setting (external computer screen; desktop computer) and individually watched two 360° videos from the social media site YouTube about wolves in their natural habitat. Besides measuring participants’ attitudes towards wolves, we investigated their feeling of presence in the virtual environments with the Spatial Presence Experience Scale (SPES) and the retrospective emotions of interest, joy, and fear with the Differential Affect Scale (M-DAS). The immersive head-mounted display induced higher levels of presence and interest compared to the nonimmersive external computer screen. While higher interest in the screen setting was associated with more positive attitudes towards wolves, such a correlation could not be found in the head-mounted display setting. Thus, our study found that immersive technology could induce interest in a nature experience related to the tested socio-scientific issue, even among people who did not already hold positive attitudes toward the issue. Overall, our findings suggest that 360° videos using immersive technology provide nature experiences with positive affective learning outcomes, even though the study focused on nature experiences in VR and was not an educational experience per se. As we were unable to assess the role of novelty of VR experiences, the application of VR technologies and its effects in larger teaching and learning settings needs to be evaluated in further studies.

Visualizing a New Sustainable World: Toward the Next Generation of Virtual Reality in the Built Environment

“…For built environment tasks, invoking a sense of presence may not always be a priority or even feasible when simulations do not have a real-world experiential analogue, such as in cases of scientific data simulations or analysis [30]. At the same time, the sense of presence has been valuable in raising emotional responses and changing attitudes when teaching the effects of climate change and environmental issues [53,54]. In these cases, fully immersive VR configurations such as tracked head-mounted displays or roomlike VR are the most effective in providing viewer-centric embodied experiences.…”

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

“…21 , p.216). Individuals can take on someone else’s perspective, close the time gap between action and consequences, get interactively involved, receive direct feedback on decisions and behaviour, see consequences, foresee future climate change scenarios, and experience sensory stimulations that can have a strong impact on affections 22 – 26 . The assisting role and the success of technological components in creating a convincing and captivating experience can be subsumed under the term “immersion” 27 , while the engagement of multiple sensory channels has been coined “sensory immersion” 28 .…”

“…However, there are still only limited numbers of virtual nature applications on HMD available, and valid research results for the use of these applications in the various fields of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are still in the nascent stage 26 . So far, there are only few data on the cognitive, socio-emotional, or behavioural effects of immersive VR technology applied to environmental awareness.…”

“…So far, there are only few data on the cognitive, socio-emotional, or behavioural effects of immersive VR technology applied to environmental awareness. Studies on immersive nature experiences in VR have investigated effects on mood 23 , 38 , physical engagement 39 , green product consumption 40 , interest 26 , pro-environmental behaviour 22 , 25 , 41 , and nature relatedness 41 . In the majority of the studies, participants have been exposed to 360° videos of nature via desktop or HMD.…”

Exploring the Use of Virtual Reality to Support Environmentally Sustainable Behavior: A Framework to Design Experiences

“…When raising emotional responses is a priority, generating a high sense of presence (that is, the feeling of being present in the virtual environment), the level of immersion can be a decisive factor [10,45]. In this regard, Filter et al found immersive experiences to be more effective, raising interest even in people without a positive attitude towards an environmental issue [70]. HMDs and, even more, CAVE technologies can provide a higher sense of presence and emotional arousal compared to desktop displays [71]; however, they are not always an optimal choice.…”