Reality Check: The Role of Realism in Stress Reduction Using Media Technology

There is a growing interest in the use of virtual and other mediated environments for therapeutic purposes. However, in the domain of restorative environments, virtual reality (VR) technology has hardly been used. Here the tendency has been to use mediated real environments, striving for maximum visual realism. This use of photographic material is mainly based on research in aesthetics judgments that has demonstrated the validity of this type of simulations as representations of real environments. Thus, restoration therapy is developing under the untested assumption that photorealistic images have the optimal level of realism, while in therapeutic applications 'experiential realism' seems to be the key rather than visual realism. The present paper discusses this contrast and briefly describes data of three studies aimed at exploring the importance and meaning of realism in the context of restorative environments.

[1]  G. Evans,et al.  Restorative Effects of Natural Environment Experiences , 1991 .

[2]  W. IJsselsteijn,et al.  Presence in depth , 2004 .

[3]  D. S. Davis,et al.  Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings. , 2003 .

[4]  G. Riva,et al.  Being There: Concepts, Effects and Measurements of User Presence in Synthetic Environments , 2003 .

[5]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective , 1989 .

[6]  R. Ulrich.  Aesthetic and Affective Response to Natural Environment , 1983 .

[7]  Chris Barker,et al.  An Experimental Study on Fear of Public Speaking Using a Virtual Environment , 2006, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[8]  Yvonne de Kort,et al.  Virtual Laboratories: Comparability of Real and Virtual Environments for Environmental Psychology , 2003, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[9]  Craig D. Murray,et al.  Presence Accompanying Induced Hearing Loss: Implications for Immersive Virtual Environments , 2000, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[10]  Andrew A. Lovett,et al.  GIS-based visualisation of rural landscapes: Defining 'sufficient' realism for environmental decision-making , 2003 .

[11]  M. North,et al.  Virtual reality therapy: an effective treatment for psychological disorders. , 1997, Studies in health technology and informatics.

[12]  AL Anneloes Meijnders,et al.  Healing media: the moderating role of presence in restoring from stress in a mediated environment , 2004 .

[13]  Ian D. Bishop,et al.  Subjective responses to computer simulations of urban environments , 2002 .

[14]  A. Stamps.  Use of Photographs to Simulate Environments: A Meta-Analysis , 1990 .

[15]  T. Daniel,et al.  REPRESENTATIONAL VALIDITY OF LANDSCAPE VISUALIZATIONS: THE EFFECTS OF GRAPHICAL REALISM ON PERCEIVED SCENIC BEAUTY OF FOREST VISTAS , 2001 .

[16]  Cristina Botella,et al.  Interfaces That Heal: Coupling Real and Virtual Objects to Treat Spider Phobia , 2003, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[17]  B K Wiederhold,et al.  The effects of immersiveness on physiology. , 1998, Studies in health technology and informatics.

[18]  Howard Rheingold,et al.  Virtual Reality , 1991 .

[19]  W. IJsselsteijn.  Presence in the past : what can we learn from media history? , 2003 .