Time perception in naturalistic and urban immersive virtual reality environments

Abstract

Being in contact with natural environments is associated with better health and well-being and has beneficial effects on attention restoration. It also seems that perception of the experience duration changes in different environments, particularly natural versus urban. For instance, watching images of a natural environment can modulate individuals' attentional levels. The present study aimed to test the possible effects of the environment on time perception with an immersive virtual reality environment. We exposed 52 participants to either a natural or urban setting and asked them to perform three temporal tasks and estimate the duration of the walk. Results showed that after being immersed in a natural environment, participants felt less activated and happier compared to the urban setting. Furthermore, the environment modulated participants’ perception of time, indicating that participants were more accurate and less variable when exposed to a natural compared to an urban environment.