Exploring VR Shinrin-Yoku Stress Relief: A Comparative Study of Virtual and Multi-Sensory Extended Reality Environments

Abstract

'Shinrin-Yoku', a practice originating in Japan, describes a person spending time and re- laxing in a forest environment, with research showing it has relaxing properties that can help relieve stress and anxiety. Not everyone has easy access to natural environments, so research has shown that using Virtual Reality (VR) can provide an immersive medium to simulate this experience. This paper explores the extension of such research by utilizing an Extended Reality (XR) implementation with real objects matching the virtual environ- ment. We utilize several real-world physical props, like a tree stump, plants, and a scent diffuser, to achieve the XR immersive multimodal experience. We compare a VR and an XR version of the environment while measuring participants' stress levels through three ques- tionnaires, namely ZIPERS, PANAS, and PRS, together with a heart rate monitor. We found that both versions made participants less stressed, but participants had a slight preference for the XR version and explored that environment much more. We show our experience provides comparable restorativeness to users to state-of-the-art applications by utilizing a much more stylized environment.