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Abstract
Human interaction with nature has existed since the dawn of mankind. As time progressed, so did human technology which in turn changed the way people lived and interacted with the environments around them (Selhub & Logan, 2012; Harari, 2015). This study showed how immersive virtual reality environments (IVREs), specifically natural versus built environments, can impact one’s mood, connection to nature, and perceived restoration. Using a within-subject design, participants viewed a nature and industrial IVRE video. Each participant completed a pretest prior to video exposure then a posttest following viewing each video. Results indicated that participants scored lowest on the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) after exposure to the nature video when compared to baseline and the industrial video demonstrating that there was a reduction in negative mood states after being exposed to a nature IVRE video. Also, results suggested that participants experienced significantly more connectedness to nature following exposure to the nature video. Furthermore, findings indicated that participants perceived the nature video to be significantly more restorative than the industrial video as exhibited by significantly higher scores on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) following exposure to the nature video as well as lower levels of arousal indicated by significantly lower standardized galvanic skin response (GSR) means and middle-range heartrate (HR) means. A further breakdown of the significant findings can be found in the Results section of this manuscript. Additionally, implications for these findings as well as strengths and limitations are expanded upon in the Discussion section.