Exposure to ‘real’ nature can increase positive affect and decrease negative affect, but direct access is not always possible, e.g. for people in health/care settings who often experience chronic boredom. In these settings ‘virtual’ forms of nature may also have mood-related benefits (e.g. reducing boredom) but it has been difficult to separate effects of nature content from those of delivery mode. The present laboratory-based study explored whether exposure to three different delivery modes of virtual nature could reduce negative affect (including boredom) and/or increase positive affect. Adult volunteer participants (n = 96) took part in a boredom induction task (to simulate the emotional state of many people in health/care settings) before being randomly assigned to view/interact with a virtual underwater coral reef in one of three experimental conditions: (a) 2D video viewed on a high-definition TV screen; (b) 3600 video VR (360-VR) viewed via a head mounted display (HMD); or (c) interactive computer-generated VR (CG-VR), also viewed via a HMD and interacted with using a hand-held controller. Visual and auditory content was closely matched across conditions with help from the BBC's Blue Planet II series team. Supporting predictions, virtual exposure to a coral reef reduced boredom and negative affect and increased positive affect and nature connectedness. Although reductions in boredom and negative affect were similar across all three conditions, CG-VR was associated with significantly greater improvements in positive affect than TV, which were mediated by greater experienced presence and increases in nature connectedness. Results improve our understanding of the importance of virtual nature delivery mode and will inform studies in real care settings.

中文翻译：

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传递虚拟自然以改善情绪的最佳方式是什么？：高清电视、360º 视频和计算机生成的虚拟现实的实验比较

接触“真实”自然可以增加积极影响并减少消极影响，但直接接触并不总是可能的，例如对于经常经历慢性无聊的健康/护理环境中的人。在这些环境中，自然的“虚拟”形式也可能具有与情绪相关的好处（例如减少无聊），但很难将自然内容的影响与交付模式的影响区分开来。目前基于实验室的研究探讨了接触三种不同的虚拟自然传递模式是否可以减少负面影响（包括无聊）和/或增加积极影响。成年志愿者参与者（n = 96）参加了一项无聊的诱导任务（以模拟许多人在健康/护理环境中的情绪状态），然后被随机分配在三个实验条件之一中查看/与虚拟水下珊瑚礁互动: (a) 在高清电视屏幕上观看的 2D 视频；(b) 通过头戴式显示器 (HMD) 观看的 3600 视频 VR (360-VR)；或 (c) 交互式计算机生成 VR (CG-VR)，也可通过 HMD 查看并使用手持控制器进行交互。在 BBC 的蓝色星球 II 系列团队的帮助下，视觉和听觉内容在各种条件下紧密匹配。支持预测，虚拟接触珊瑚礁减少了无聊和负面影响，增加了积极影响和自然联系。尽管在所有三种情况下无聊和负面情绪的减少都相似，但与电视相比，CG-VR 与积极情绪的显着改善相关，这是由更多的经验存在和自然联系的增加所介导的。结果提高了我们对虚拟自然分娩模式重要性的理解，并将为真实护理环境中的研究提供信息。