Thanks everybody for coming. Um I'm really excited to have you here. Uh My name is Catherine Mina and I'm a doctoral student in the Perception Engineering Group at the Center for ubiquitous Computing at the University of Oulu in Finland.So today I'm gonna talk to you about the power of nature in virtual reality. Um If you have questions, you can put them in the chat and I will answer those at the end. I also created a Slack channel called virtual dash Nature. Uh So if I don't get to your question here, you can send it to me there as well. Um If you have trouble hearing me, please let me know and I can speak a little louder. All righty. So, uh I studied psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Illinois in urbana-champaign. Um And I'm currently studying Computer Science and Engineering um at the University of Ou in Finland. Um My website is VR DEV ct.com. Um And you can connect with me on Twitter if you have any questions, although I'm locked out of my account right now, so it might be a little slow to respond. Um So I just want to start off by saying that if you're struggling with mental health concerns, that you're not alone, it's a really difficult time with COVID-19 and worldwide protests against racism and police brutality and to affirm that Black and Indigenous lives matter.

So to know that there are resources online and understanding people you can talk to. So I've listed some resources here and if you want to download the slides, you can see them at VR DEV ct.com. So uh today, I wanna talk to you about the healing power of nature and how virtual reality technology can harness that power and bring it to people who cannot get out into natural areas. Here. I have a list of benefits from being out in real nature that have been proven in many different research studies over the past few decades. Instead of listing all the individual studies, I have a review paper there that discusses this body of literature. I particularly want particularly want to point out the research on uh Shinku um which is out of Japan. Uh That means uh forest bathing and it's been found to have a really strong effect on your immune system. Um So I have a, a paper and um a link there to a youtube video that will give you more information. So you might be wondering how does nature help people. Um And I have some theories here for you. Um uh biophilia is a theory by Eo Wilson who theorized that humans as a species evolved over thousands of years living in natural environments. And because of this, we have an innate, excuse me, connection to nature.

And it's really been only since the beginning of the 19 hundreds that humans have spent most of their lives indoors. And studies show that as people have been inside more, um then there have been more health problems. So, um what does our connection with nature mean? Uh So there's two big theories about how it affects us, the attention restoration theory and the stress reduction theory. So the first basically says that you have two types of attention, direct and indirect. Um and direct is when you're focusing and indirect is when you're kind of zoning out. Um And so being out in nature helps you refresh indirect attention. Um The stress reduction theory says that we have this physiological calming response, uh parasympathetic activation when we are out in nature and that helps us recover from stress. Um So a lot of the studies that were done on stress reduction theory were just using images of nature.

So um people have studied just photographs or you can use virtual windows, so to speak, uh which is a TV screen or a monitor that shows pictures or videos of nature. And those have also found to have a positive effect on people. So in my lab um in Finland, I have um put up a big TV screen and shown some nature videos there and it's actually really nice. We have a great nature forest out here, but sometimes the beach is nice as well. So you might wonder how nature can affect us. Um This image is from paper by Doctor Ko and I have a citation at the bottom there. Again, you can get these signs off my website. Um One of the things that's really powerful are phy sides which are organic compounds that trees and plants release that fight off fungus and other intruders. You might think of the smell of pine trees, for example. So going back to the shiny Yoku that I mentioned earlier, Doctor Lee found a powerful influence of fight insides on the immune system. There's also other aspects like vitamin D from sunlight. Um which is why nature simulations can't exactly replicate the effects of nature. Um But some people have been uh studying adding things as to simulated nature like fight inside essential oils, sun lamps and so on. Um So we're not talking about virtual nature.

Um As I mentioned, there have been studies with pictures TV, screens, computer screens and various types of virtual reality technology. Uh I work with the current generation of VR. So you might have heard of Oculus or playstation. VR. The work that I'll be presenting in a little bit was based on personal experience and inspired by the work of Bob Stone and colleagues at the University of Birmingham and the Human Interfaces technology team. So one of the first times I tried virtual reality myself, uh back in 2015, I was watching a short low resolution 360 video on the Oculus Decay two. And uh in the video, I was standing on a balcony overlooking an expansive area below me. And as I looked over the edge of the balcony, I could see a giant drop to the ground and my stomach had this really uncomfortable feeling that you get when you're scared of heights. I realized in that moment that I had just had a bodily response to what I was seeing. And so even though it was a grainy video, that wasn't that realistic, my body had just responded as if I was actually there. And I thought about how powerful that is. Um So since we know that nature can affect your body in great ways and it can improve your health and well being in real life, then we wondered if your body would respond in the same way in virtual reality.

So the teams at Birmingham had explored using restorative environments or ones that uh restore positive states to your body for military veterans in the UK, I found some really positive results. Uh So now I'll present to you a little bit about a study that I did with my advisor, Doctor Browning during my master's thesis that's been published this year in frontiers and psychology when we started working on the project in 2016, new and more affordable panoramic cameras and lightweight stand alone virtual reality headsets had just come on the market.

So we wanted to try a novel approach that wasn't available previously. Um And so we were carrying the same natural environment and virtual reality um with the environment, uh the same environment outdoors. And so we wanted to ask this question. Well, if you have the spectrum of mental and physi and physiological uh benefits that you get um where along the spectrum from no nature to real nature does Virtual Nature Fall? So we used um uh this equipment right here, this is a little 360 camera or a panoramic camera that records in 360 that we used to make the film. Um And I have a link where you can actually see the film online. And then this was the headset that we use the Samsung Gear VR. So this was 2016 when we had the equipment. So we had this phone here and that would show the video, we popped it in the little headset and then people could see it with these noise canceling headphones. We also measured uh people's physiological response. So you can see the skin conductance measurement uh device right here GSR.

Uh So here on the left, you can see the camera out on a tripod in the forest for recording. And on the right, you can see that with one of the nice things about this technology is that you can record, you can see what it's recording um as you're recording it. So you look on the phone, make sure everything is set up nicely and then you can go ahead and record that way. And so I say panoramic, but 360 is also, you know, interchangeable. So we had three conditions in our study. One group went out into real nature. Um And then one group saw that same environment where we recorded it in the headset. So you can see is the headset and he's sitting inside here. Um And then we also had a control group that was inside and they were looking at a blank wall. So that was the no nature condition. And uh basically, uh we recorded positive affect uh and negative affect, you can think of that as like mood. Um So we recorded state affect, meaning at, at this specific moment in time, how are you feeling? And people answered that question both before and after uh they had these uh whichever nature group they were in. Um So we found that positive affect or good mood increase for the subjects that went out into real nature.

But for subjects in VR nature, we did not deserve observe an increase in positive mood, but also didn't decrease like it did for the control group. So we thought of this as a sort of preservation of good mood. I'm sure that we can all appreciate these days how seeing something for a few seconds on social media can really cut down your good mood. So sometimes just maintaining it or buffering against that decrease is helpful. Surprisingly, we found a decrease in bad mood, so to speak, for all three groups. Um But we wonder if this is related to the control group just relaxing indoors with time away from their cell phones. We saw a similar increase in physiological arousal, arousal, excuse me, for real NVR nature, which would support the changes in affect that we saw. So we concluded that real nature is best as we expected. Um But however, if real nature is not possible to go out into virtual nature can also be a good option if you're in the hospital or you have barriers to getting out into natural areas, say for example, a pandemic. Um So if you're interested in how to use this technology, um I've lifted listed some VR headsets here in various price ranges. Um There are great applications in the Oculus Store on Steam to watch nature videos and try out some of the other nature relaxation applications.

Uh If you'd like to know what I recommend virtual reality nature videos, I haven't seen anything better than Spheres. VR and I have the link here. Uh Eric Fassbender, uh who started the company lent us some of his videos which we use to introduce the VR headset in our pilot study. So I'm really grateful to him for that. Um But regardless the quality of his videos are really amazing and he has some that are just nature and some have meditation and some other things. So location based gaming is also pretty popular. Um There might be the arcades in your area. Um But you can also just watch panoramic videos on youtube and scroll around to see the full video, although they aren't as immersive as a headset. Um But for non panoramic nature videos, I use films from Johnny Lawson on youtube. So I just wanted to add a thank you to the people that we thanked um from our research study. This is in the paper as well. We had many research assistants and helpers and I also wanna thank Anna uh for inviting me to give this talk for you. So I have the some more mental health resources here again. Um And I'm gonna end on the slide and encourage you to take care of your mental health because it's really important. So hopefully, you learned something new today about how to support your mental health with nature.

All righty. So let's see. Let me turn my camera back on here and um yeah, let's see. So questions do do. Yes, it was in urbana-champaign. That's where I did my masters uh specific nature environment. So we went to the Anita Pervs Nature Center. We are really grateful to them for letting us use um their environment or their nature center. So it was a forested area and it was near the university and we had access to the basement. Um So we took everybody there and either they walked outside that little forested area or they stayed indoors. Um And we're looking for something that matched uh Some of the theories that I mentioned before. So prospect and refuge having being open, not too enclosed, but still having some protection. Um And um, yeah, so let's see. Uh There's a question here from Julia, let's see a question about placing exercise in VR Nature. Um There's actually some research on exercise in nature and there is a benefit when you add nature to exercise. Um I know that there are bicycles, um, these like exercise bikes that they have in gyms that people use, um, with a VR headset, there's like a company creating these things and so those are good options. Um Yeah, so if it's possible to exercise outdoors, that's the best.

Uh, cause if I 10 sides and some of those other things that I mentioned before. Um But, um, if not, yeah, then as long as you are in something stationary, then exercising in indoors or even some um, treadmills have like a screen that like shows like a nature video on there. Um Let's see. Yeah, so there's a question, um that says, is there negativity on using VR for such reasons? Um Some of the feedback or some of the concerns that people have had is like, will people start using this instead of going out into nature? And there are all these things like sunlight gives you vitamin D phy insides, um, are, which are the organic compounds that trees release. These are, uh, that fight off pesticides and other things those you get from being out in nature, um, and are really beneficial so you, you can't get that from VR in nature. So I wouldn't tell anyone if you can go outside um to just sit indoors and, and do nothing. Um But um, if you don't have access to outdoors, then yeah, there's a good option. Let's see.

Uh There's a question that says, um how do I integrate uh the potential of this approach to integrate into VR applications for the office of the future? Um So as I said before, I have like a TV screen that I keep um in my office and I show just regular nature videos. Um And uh they had a study, sit all channels. Um I have a link to it. I think in my slides, you can look in that Berto study. Um But they used a virtual window. So there were some people that were in an office basement and they put a camera on the roof of the building and then they put a TV screen and they had this video feed outside. So the people in the office that didn't have an actual window had this like sort of virtual window and they found that it helped people's creativity and people said that they enjoyed being in the office more and were able to focus better. So, yeah, that would be amazing. Um I've also seen the Vario headset. Um It's a new VR headset on the high end and they have this sort of pass through. Um And what they're trying to work on is like a virtual environment that you can uh a work, virtual work environment.

So it's sort of o overlays in, let's say your office. And then instead of having one screen, you can have 10 screens or you can be working with 3D models and doing other sorts of things like that. So, um I know a lot of VR companies like and um well, XR companies like Magic Leap even have been moving towards enterprise. So specifically building headsets for business, that's where the Microsoft hollow lens is. Um So it is something that people are really thinking about.

Um And it seems like there's a big appetite for it. I know a lot of big companies like, is it Volvo or Volkswagen? Maybe Mercedes Benz actually have um you can go in VR and like, look at a car that you wanna order with different paint and different options and like, see what it actually looks like before you order it, which is really cool. So I, I that's not exactly office but um I wouldn't be surprised to see other sorts of applications in the business areas like that. Um There's a question about VR being used in psychology um for post traumatic stress and irregular stress and anxiety. Um Yeah. So, and the question says, do I think nature videos could serve as a first approach before therapy? So there's, there was a great talk by Skip Rizzo actually yesterday. Um on youtube, it's part of this virtual reality um series from Frontiers in psychology. Um VR. And so he does research on PTSD with VR. And um I can put a link to that on my website as well. It's a really great series if you're interested in academic virtual reality. Um But so one of the big benefits of having virtual reality is that the um researcher or the therapist has control over that environment.

So you can use it for PTSD, for example, to expose people to things that are traumatic to them and then the therapist can be there with them and help them work through it. Um I think part of the problem with post traumatic stress is that you're trying to avoid something that's stressful to you. So if you were to just go into nature by itself, um that might be relaxing, but you're not actually doing the, the work of addressing what the underlying problem is. So Bob Stone, one of the things that he was thinking about was having people instead of going into uh for these military veterans instead of going into like a virtual Iraq or virtual Afghanistan while they're doing this, like you sort of talk about what happened and why it was stressful.

Um Instead of going into that exact environment, going into nature instead as a relaxing thing, but then still doing this process of talking about what was stressful to them and addressing these problems that they've had. Um And so that can be really powerful. Um I was trying to see if I could find a study that's out there, but I have the links to his website. Um So I think in combination with um specifically for post traumatic stress, in combination with psychotherapy, um that I think nature could be very powerful. Um But uh for stress, um other sorts of anxiety and things like that, then I think nature by itself can be effective. Um Let's see, there's a question, did you understand correctly that VR just makes sense that you stay at a baseline and not a drop in mood? OK. So we showed people these um the, the nature or the VR nature of the control groups for each a six minute exposure. So that's a very short amount of time. And so we saw in just that couple of minutes that people in nature had this improvement in their positive affect. Um And people in VR stayed the same and the control group had a decrease in positive affect. And so we didn't see an increase in positive affect from virtual nature, but we did see the same physiological response. So they had um this increase in skin conductance and that was the same between VR nature and real nature.

And so in this first study of what will hopefully be a long line of studies, um we didn't see exactly the same response and I wouldn't think that you would get the response. Um But since there was a decrease in positive affect for the control, then we thought that it might have been some sort of buffering or a um an affect preserving effect that we saw from the virtual nature. So, uh the next question, do I think there's a way to adapt this to help people for whom sitting still without distractions may be difficult or unhelpful for their mental health? Um Yeah. So there's a lot of research on how virtual rea um how nature sees me can help uh with attention deficit disorder. A DH D. Um And there are theories like I presented um at the beginning about how nature can replenish um uh people's attentional resources. So, um I don't know that there has been a study about VR nature specifically to look at attention yet, but I would not be surprised if there is one coming up in the future because that is a really uh a piece that makes sense. We know that nature helps with attention. VR can bring something that could help with attention into a place where people are having trouble concentrating and you might see those effects. So I wouldn't be surprised. Um I don't know, like I said off the top of my head.

Um Yeah. Oh, yeah, someone posted this uh frontiers and virtual reality thing in the comments there. Thank you so much for putting that there for me. Um And let's see, do we have any other questions? Um Again, my website is uh VR DEV ct.com and you can connect with me there or on Slack. Um And I really appreciate you for attending. Thank you so much, everybody and thanks for your nice questions as well. Feel free to connect with me on linkedin or anywhere else.