Abstract
AimsIn this pilot mixed-methods study, we examined the participants experiences of engaging in virtual drawing tasks and the impact of an olfactory stimulus (calming fragrance blend) on outcomes of affect, stress, self-efficacy, anxiety, creative agency, and well-being (satisfaction with life).MethodsThis study used a parallel mixed-methods, simple block randomization design. The study participants included 24 healthy adults aged 18 to 54 years, including 18 women and six men. The participants completed two 1-h immersive virtual art making sessions and were randomly assigned to receive either a fragrance or a non-fragrance condition for the first session. Quantitative (standardized self-report measures) and qualitative (open-ended survey responses and virtual artwork) datasets were collected concurrently and integrated during data analysis.ResultsThe quantitative results indicated that the fragrance condition demonstrated a significant reduction in negative affect (e.g., feeling hostile, jittery, upset, distressed, etc.), namely, reduced feelings of negativity when compared to the non-fragrance condition. A trend toward improvement in self-efficacy was also seen in the fragrance condition. No significant changes were found for fragrance or non-fragrance conditions for positive affect, anxiety, and creative agency. The qualitative findings included five themes related to art making experiences in virtual reality in both conditions: fun and joy; novelty of virtual media, experimentation, and play; relaxation and calm; learning curve; and physical discomfort and disorientation. Four themes were identified for virtual art content and visual qualities: nature imagery, references to memories and personal symbols, fantasy and play within imagery, and depiction of everyday objects.ConclusionsOverall, the participants reported positive responses to the novel virtual art making experiences which were further heightened by the inclusion of the fragrance stimulus for negative affect. These preliminary findings need to be replicated with larger sample sizes to confirm the outcomes and the trends that were seen in this pilot study. Further research is recommended to examine the differences between experiences of virtual and traditional art media and to examine different olfactory stimuli promoting focus and concentration.
Highlights
Use of VR in Healthcare, Health, and Well-BeingVirtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly being used in healthcare settings
We developed the experimental protocol in discussion with a team of interdisciplinary scholars and identified two drawing tasks with scripted directions and conditions that could be examined as systematically validated self-report measures which have previously been found to be effective in capturing changes as brief art making experiences
Codes were compiled into a Paired-samples t-tests examined the main effects of the VR drawing tasks on outcomes of anxiety, stress, affect, selfefficacy, creative agency, and satisfaction with life
Summary
Use of VR in Healthcare, Health, and Well-BeingVirtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly being used in healthcare settings. Virtual reality provides an experience that cannot be created in real life (Freeman et al, 2017). Mental health researchers have studied the applications of VR for the assessment, understanding, and treatment of physical and mental health disorders (Freeman et al, 2017; Felnhofer et al, 2019). Studies have shown that VR can be a useful tool in exposure therapy for phobias, including acrophobia (Emmelcamp et al, 2002), animal phobias (Morina et al, 2015; Suso-Ribera et al, 2019; Tardif et al, 2019), social anxiety (Felnhofer et al, 2019), and distraction from pain (Mosso Vazquez et al, 2019). Other studies have incorporated VR for pain reduction with patients going through treatments such as chemotherapy (Chirico et al, 2020)
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