Natural Walking Research Articles

Is Greener Better? Quantifying the Impact of a Nature Walk on Stress Reduction Using HRV and Saliva Cortisol Biomarkers.

The physiological impact of walking in nature was quantified via continuous heart rate variability (HRV), pre- and post-walk saliva cortisol measures, and self-reported mood and mindfulness scores for N = 17 participants who walked "The Green Road" at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. For N = 15 of the participants, HRV analysis revealed two main groups: group one individuals had a 104% increase (mean) in the root mean square standard deviation (RMSSD) and a 47% increase (mean) in the standard deviation of NN values (SDNN), indicating an overall reduction in physiological stress from walking the Green Road, and group two individuals had a decrease (mean) of 42% and 31% in these respective HRV metrics, signaling an increase in physiological stresses. Post-walk self-reported scores for vigor and mood disturbance were more robust for the Green Road than for a comparable urban road corridor and showed that a higher HRV during the walk was associated with improved overall mood. Saliva cortisol was lower after taking a walk for all participants, and it showed that walking the Green Road elicited a significantly larger reduction in cortisol of 53%, on average, when compared with 37% of walking along an urban road. It was also observed that the order in which individuals walked the Green Road and urban road also impacted their cortisol responses, with those walking the urban road before the Green Road showing a substantial reduction in cortisol, suggesting a possible attenuation effect of walking the Green Road first. These findings provide quantitative data demonstrating the stress-reducing effects of being in nature, thus supporting the health benefit value of providing access to nature more broadly in many settings.

The influence of a walk in nature on human resting brain activity: a randomized controlled trial

Behavioral studies suggest that immersion in nature improves affect and executive attention. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unclear. This randomized controlled trial (N = 92) explored differences in self-reported affect and in frontal midline theta (FMθ), a neural oscillation linked to executive attention, between a 40-min, low-intensity nature walk and an urban walk of comparable time and distance—controlling for ambient temperature, humidity, elevation change, walking pace, heart rate, calories burned, and moving time between the two groups. While affect improved for both groups, the nature walkers showed a significantly greater boost in positive affect than the urban walkers. Electroencephalography (EEG) data revealed significantly greater FMθ activity following the urban walk compared to the nature walk, suggesting that the urban walk placed higher demands on executive attention. In contrast, the nature walk allowed executive attention to rest, as indicated by the lower FMθ activity observed after the walk. This study suggests that changes in FMθ may be a potential neural mechanism underlying the attentional strain of urban environments in contrast to the attentional rest in nature.

The First Surgery Experienced Through Virtual Reality: A Knee Surgery Case Report

The decision to undergo surgery and the significance of the operating theater environment are influenced by several factors, which vary from person to person. Negative perceptions of the operating room environment can influence the decision to undergo surgery and the process of treatment. Virtual reality (VR) technology offers the potential to alter individuals' environmental encounters through the provision of diverse environmental perceptions. This case study evaluates the results of a VR simulation applied during surgery to an individual with no previous surgical experience. A male patient scheduled for arthroscopic meniscus surgery was the subject of a VR simulation. The patient's perception of the simulated environment was transmitted through VR goggles from the time he entered the operating room until he left. However, the VR application was terminated during the administration of anesthesia, and no premedication was administered to the patient. The VR application included nature walks in various regions, including forests, lakeshores, and meadows, accompanied by the sound of birds. Data were collected using a visual analog scale to assess pain levels and a walking test form. The patient, a 35-year-old male, is a high school graduate and is undergoing his first surgical procedure. The patient expressed concerns and fears regarding the decision to undergo surgery. The patient's preoperative anxiety was rated at 9 out of 10 but subsequently decreased to 1 out of 10 following the surgical procedure. The patient rated his satisfaction with the surgical experience as 9 out of 10. The patient did not require sedatives or analgesics during the intraoperative period or for the first 10 hours following the operation. The patient was successfully mobilized at the 15-hour mark following surgery. The patient was highly satisfied with the application. The utilization of VR during surgical procedures has the potential to reduce the necessity for premedication and enhance postoperative compliance among patients.

Comparison of Nature Tourism in Two Hungarian Forest-Dominated Areas—Results of Visitor Surveys

Recreation and nature-based tourism targeting forests are important cultural services provided by forests, and are also considered non-productive social functions of forests. Many factors influence the demand for forest recreation and tourism that are worth exploring for each forest area. The main aim of our study was to compare the results of visitor surveys related to two mountainous forested areas (Börzsöny and Cserhát) that are both located near to the capital city of Budapest but have different characteristics regarding the forests, accessibility, and the level of tourism infrastructure and services. The questionnaires focused on the characteristics of the visits, perceptions of visitors regarding the values of the areas, and the development needs besides the characteristics of the respondents. In addition to basic statistics, Chi2 and Fisher’s exact tests were used to detect the differences between the two sites. Despite the different characteristics of the study areas, the main results were quite similar at both sites. Most respondents came from Budapest or within a 60 km distance of the sites by car with family and friends, mainly for hiking and nature walks, and spent less than a day in the areas. The state of forests was perceived as good in both areas. Landscape and fresh air were the most attracting factors for visiting both sites. There was a demand for more guided tours, and regarding tourism infrastructure development needs, benches and toilets ranked high at both sites. However, there were also some slight differences between the sites. For example, Börzsöny was visited more frequently, and railway and bicycle were more often used to access this site. Pleasant climate, easy access and fresh air were more important reasons to visit Börzsöny, and it was more associated with wilderness. In Cserhát, low prices and cultural values seemed more important reasons to visit; Hollókő as a world heritage site was highlighted, and more nature-related and other tourism development needs were mentioned regarding this site. These differences were probably due to the different characteristics of the forests (more mosaic forests in Cserhát), the level of the public transportation network, tourist infrastructure and services (higher in Börzsöny), and cultural heritage (more important in Cserhát). Based on our results, Cserhát needs more development in tourism infrastructure and services, while in Börzsöny, the development of a visitor management plan would be useful to harmonize the different uses of the forest.

Gamification of walking in nature: A field experiment with Pokémon GO Routes

There are numerous benefits from regularly walking in nature, and today's mobile technologies have the potential to encourage people to do so. Past research has showed that gamified map-based apps and location-based games (LBGs) have the capability to incentivize people to go to nature areas in cities and beyond. In this study, we explored LBGs' potential to bring people to nature by conducting a field experiment with a new mechanic called Routes in the popular LBG Pokémon GO. Prior to the Route feature's launch, we created altogether 13 Routes of various lengths in both city and nature landscapes. We collected numerical in-game data of how many times each Route was walked and deployed a survey (n=67) for Pokémon GO players in the area where the Routes were made. The findings suggest that proximity to population concentrations and in-game rewards are key drivers of Route popularity. Players' motivators to choose nature Routes over urban Routes were limited to outside-the-game factors such as scenery, and overall in our experiment the urban Routes turned out to be more popular.

Brain-wide neural recordings in mice navigating physical spaces enabled by robotic neural recording headstages.

Technologies that can record neural activity at cellular resolution at multiple spatial and temporal scales are typically much larger than the animals that are being recorded from and are thus limited to recording from head-fixed subjects. Here we have engineered robotic neural recording devices-'cranial exoskeletons'-that assist mice in maneuvering recording headstages that are orders of magnitude larger and heavier than the mice, while they navigate physical behavioral environments. We discovered optimal controller parameters that enable mice to locomote at physiologically realistic velocities while maintaining natural walking gaits. We show that mice learn to work with the robot to make turns and perform decision-making tasks. Robotic imaging and electrophysiology headstages were used to record recordings of Ca2+ activity of thousands of neurons distributed across the dorsal cortex and spiking activity of hundreds of neurons across multiple brain regions and multiple days, respectively.

Exploring associations between urban soundscape and contextual factors based on a textual data-driven analysis and mapping approach: A case study in Daejeon, Korea

In soundscape research, it is crucial to understand how contextual factors are associated with people’s perception of acoustic environments. This study proposes a Textual Data-driven Context Analysis and Mapping Method (TD-CAMM), aiming at comprehensively exploring the intricate relationship between soundscape and contextual factors. Through a case study employing TD-CAMM, we demonstrate its effectiveness in quantitatively analyzing text-based contextual data, facilitating the identification of patterns and interrelations among diverse contextual elements via statistical analyses. Utilizing collected contextual data including the purpose of visit, time of use, sound source, emotion, and perceived affective quality, we conducted a hierarchical cluster analysis to characterize soundscapes of the selected locations, revealing four distinct clusters. Subsequently, association rule analysis was performed to identify unique associations among contextual elements shaping the soundscapes within each cluster. Cluster 1, the 'Nightlife Zone of Noisy Urban Settings' was characterized by 'Restless' and 'Noisy' emotions associated with nighttime activities. Cluster 2, the 'Lively Human-Centered Zone for Day and Evening Activities' reflected vibrant human interactions. Cluster 3, identified as 'Restless and Noisy Urban Traffic' was marked by transportation sounds, emphasizing urban bustle. Lastly, Cluster 4, the 'Tranquil Urban Nature Walk' encompassed serene natural spaces with 'Tranquil' emotions amidst natural sounds. These findings present a comprehensive approach to evaluating urban soundscapes, with potential applications in future urban soundscape research and design.

Influence of Walking Modification Strategies on Frontal Plane Hip Joint Moment and Gait Naturalness in Healthy Adults

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of lateral trunk lean and step width modification on hip adduction moment in healthy participants and examine their influence on walking naturalness. METHODS: Ten healthy participants underwent gait analysis under 4 walking conditions: natural walking, large trunk lean, doubled step width, and combined modification with slight trunk lean and 1.5 times step width. Early stance and late stance hip adduction moment were analyzed and compared using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Subjective naturalness of gait was also recorded. RESULTS: We observed a significant effect of walking condition on the hip adduction moment during early stance (F3,36 = 6.665, P = .001) and gait naturalness (F3,36 = 30.519, P<.001), but not hip adduction moment during late stance ( P = .733). Pairwise comparison indicated significantly reduced hip adduction moment during early stance with large trunk lean when compared to natural walking (36.7% less, P = .002, Cohen’s d = −1.41). Both combined and doubled step width modifications did not yield the expected hip adduction moment reduction ( P>.296). The perceived naturalness of the doubled step width modification was most comparable to natural walking ( P = .529), while the trunk lean modification was significantly less natural than natural walking and the least natural modification overall (81.1% less, P<.001, Cohen’s d = −4.34). CONCLUSION: Although trunk lean modification effectively reduces hip joint loading, it is perceived as the least natural pattern. Step width was more challenging to modify than trunk lean. JOSPT Open 2024;2(4):306-314. Epub 7 August 2024. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2024.0463

Natural- and redirected walking in virtual reality: Spatial performance and user experience

AbstractImmersive virtual reality offers a range of unique possibilities. One of these is the realistic exploration of virtual worlds using natural walking. This however becomes difficult when the size of the virtual world exceeds that of the available physical space. Redirected walking in virtual reality presents a novel solution to this problem by typically making its users think to be walking in a straight line while they are in fact walking in a curve, thus allowing them to physically walk long distances in confined physical spaces. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of redirected walking on variables such as spatial memory, navigation and user experience as compared to other immersive and non-immersive locomotion methods. In a maze task we examined 1) redirected- and 2) natural walking in immersive virtual reality conditions, and 3) artificial locomotion on a non-immersive desktop monitor. Walked path lengths became shorter and distance estimates, object location memory and user experience improved using natural walking compared to a monitor condition. However, redirected walking yielded similar performance to natural walking while requiring less physical space, opening up possibilities for more pervasive use of real locomotion in virtual environments.

Examining the effect of locomotion techniques on virtual prototype assessment: Gaze analysis using a Head-Mounted Display

Improvements in the performance and graphical quality of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) have led to their increasing use in Virtual Reality (VR) for product presentation and virtual prototype (VP) evaluations. Various locomotion techniques in VR make it possible to move through a virtual scenario and approach the VP for evaluation purposes. The integration of eye-tracking devices into recent HMDs allows the trajectory and gaze behavior of observers to be reported during the evaluation, often more objectively than self-report questionnaires. However, very few studies have used physiological measures for the evaluation of products embedded in VR environments. Therefore, this paper offers a study in which 95 people evaluated three VPs of street furniture presented in their environment of use using Meta Quest Pro headset and explored through teleport and natural walking. The influence of the locomotion techniques on the ratings recorded using a semantic differential, sense of presence, cybersickness, and the role of eye-tracking in understanding gaze behavior while evaluating products' Areas of Interest (AOIs), are investigated. This study found no evidence that the way of approaching the product influences the evaluation of some of its features, overall product evaluation, confidence in responses, sense of presence, or cybersickness differently. On the other hand, this work evidences that the locomotion technique had an impact on how the user approached the products, which could significantly influence the viewing time of some AOIs. The study revealed that the most observed AOIs coincided with those parts closely related to important features, generally located at the top of the products, so paying special attention to these parts when designing and evaluating similar VPs is recommended.

Research on Optimizing Human Resource Expenditure in the Allocation of Materials in Universities

This paper establishes a multivariate function model for natural human load-carrying walking in some typical scenarios such as college equipment and material relocation by students and a large amount of identical freight relocation in commercial activities. For classified material relocation needs and constraints, we obtain the relationship between walking speed and load weight for a single person, as well as the time cost for different round trips. By establishing an integer programming model with the minimum total transportation time cost and shelf life as the objective function and the requirements of negative weight and speed as the constraint conditions, we reach the optimal item allocation methods considering time cost and shelf life. We discover that there is an approximate linear relationship between the change in natural walking speed and travel time when the load is small, thus obtaining the time cost of student transportation under different round-trip situations. The Monte Carlo simulation algorithm, which is more efficient compared with other methods such as the integer programming method, is used to obtain the optimal allocation scheme that meets the efficiency and quality requirements. The analysis methods and results can be used as guidance for task scheduling optimization for material relocation in educational organizations as well as commercial agencies.

Gait pattern modification based on ground contact adaptation using the robot-assisted training platform (RATP).

Robot-assisted rehabilitation and training systems are utilized to improve the functional recovery of individuals with mobility limitations. These systems offer structured rehabilitation through precise human-robot interaction, outperforming traditional physical therapy by delivering advantages such as targeted muscle recovery, optimization of walking patterns, and automated training routines tailored to the user's objectives and musculoskeletal attributes. In our research, we propose the development of a walking simulator that considers user-specific musculoskeletal information to replicate natural walking dynamics, accounting for factors like joint angles, muscular forces, internal user-specific constraints, and external environmental factors. The integration of these factors into robot-assisted training can provide a more realistic rehabilitation environment and serve as a foundation for achieving natural bipedal locomotion. Our research team has developed a robot-assisted training platform (RATP) that generates gait training sets based on user-specific internal and external constraints by incorporating a genetic algorithm (GA). We utilize the Lagrangian multipliers to accommodate requirements from the rehabilitation field to instantly reshape the gait patterns while maintaining their overall characteristics, without an additional gait pattern search process. Depending on the patient's rehabilitation progress, there are times when it is necessary to reorganize the training session by changing training conditions such as terrain conditions, walking speed, and joint range of motion. The proposed method allows gait rehabilitation to be performed while stably satisfying ground contact constraints, even after modifying the training parameters.

Can a nature walk change your brain? Investigating hippocampal brain plasticity after one hour in a forest

In cities, the incidence of mental disorders is higher, while visits to nature have been reported to benefit mental health and brain function. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how exposure to natural and urban environments affects brain structure. To explore the causal relationship between exposure to these environments and the hippocampal formation, 60 participants were sent on a one hour walk in either a natural (forest) or an urban environment (busy street), and high-resolution hippocampal imaging was performed before and after the walks. We found that the participants who walked in the forest had an increase in subiculum volume, a hippocampal subfield involved in stress response inhibition, while no change was observed after the urban walk. However, this result did not withstand Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Furthermore, the increase in subiculum volume after the forest walk was associated with a decrease in self-reported rumination. These results indicate that visits to nature can lead to observable alterations in brain structure, with potential benefits for mental health and implications for public health and urban planning policies.

Effects of invisible body and optic flow on experience of users voluntarily walking in a VR environment

Studies have demonstrated that a multi-modal virtual reality (VR) system can enhance the realism of virtual walking. However, a few studies explore the body awareness altered by visual presentation of virtual body and optic flow during locomotion in VR. This study investigated the impact of invisible body and optic flow on experience of users voluntarily walking in a camera-image VR environment. Participants wearing a head-mounted display performed six-step walking at their own timing. Three experimental conditions providing visible body and optic flow as a baseline, invisible body and optic flow, and invisible body and no flow, were conducted on three different days. We found that losing visual body per se decreased the feeling of being-there-now. However, providing continuous optic flow maintained virtual presence equivalent to the baseline in terms of immersion and natural walking, as opposed to providing discontinuous flow. We discussed these results in association with body awareness.

Nature experiences and pro-environmental behavior: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial

Exposure to nature is positively associated with pro-environmental behavior, though causal evidence to date is limited. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with N = 542 participants, to explore whether a one-time encounter with nature can lead individuals to behave more pro-environmentally. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, spending 15 minutes either walking through a park, walking through an urban area, viewing a video of a nature walk, or taking a break while seated at a desk. Participants received a EUR 10 endowment to either keep for themselves or donate to a conservation, social, or cultural charity. We observed pro-environmental behavior by measuring donations to the conservation charity, which came at a direct cost to participants. We found modest support that real exposure to nature positively affects pro-environmental behavior, as evidenced by higher average donations compared to watching a nature video, but not compared to any other condition. Self-reported restoration mediated the effect, but lost significance when controlling for environmental concern. Thus, attention restoration as a mechanism was driven by environmentally concerned individuals. Fostering more nature experiences may present a relevant avenue for behavior-change. We discuss limitations and propose several directions for future research.

LoCoMoTe - A Framework for Classification of Natural Locomotion in VR by Task, Technique and Modality.

Virtual reality (VR) research has provided overviews of locomotion techniques, how they work, their strengths and overall user experience. Considerable research has investigated new methodologies, particularly machine learning to develop redirection algorithms. To best support the development of redirection algorithms through machine learning, we must understand how best to replicate human navigation and behaviour in VR, which can be supported by the accumulation of results produced through live-user experiments. However, it can be difficult to identify, select and compare relevant research without a pre-existing framework in an ever-growing research field. Therefore, this work aimed to facilitate the ongoing structuring and comparison of the VR-based natural walking literature by providing a standardised framework for researchers to utilise. We applied thematic analysis to study methodology descriptions from 140 VR-based papers that contained live-user experiments. From this analysis, we developed the LoCoMoTe framework with three themes: navigational decisions, technique implementation, and modalities. The LoCoMoTe framework provides a standardised approach to structuring and comparing experimental conditions. The framework should be continually updated to categorise and systematise knowledge and aid in identifying research gaps and discussions.

The speed and phase of locomotion dictate saccade probability and simultaneous low-frequency power spectra.

Every day we make thousands of saccades and take thousands of steps as we explore our environment. Despite their common co-occurrence in a typical active state, we know little about the coordination between eye movements, walking behaviour and related changes in cortical activity. Technical limitations have been a major impediment, which we overcome here by leveraging the advantages of an immersive wireless virtual reality (VR) environment with three-dimensional (3D) position tracking, together with simultaneous recording of eye movements and mobile electroencephalography (EEG). Using this approach with participants engaged in unencumbered walking along a clear, level path, we find that the likelihood of eye movements at both slow and natural walking speeds entrains to the rhythm of footfall, peaking after the heel-strike of each step. Compared to previous research, this entrainment was captured in a task that did not require visually guided stepping - suggesting a persistent interaction between locomotor and visuomotor functions. Simultaneous EEG recordings reveal a concomitant modulation entrained to heel-strike, with increases and decreases in oscillatory power for a broad range of frequencies. The peak of these effects occurred in the theta and alpha range for slow and natural walking speeds, respectively. Together, our data show that the phase of the step-cycle influences other behaviours such as eye movements, and produces related modulations of simultaneous EEG following the same rhythmic pattern. These results reveal gait as an important factor to be considered when interpreting saccadic and time-frequency EEG data in active observers, and demonstrate that saccadic entrainment to gait may persist throughout everyday activities.

Implementing a virtual reality-based intervention to support the wellbeing of mental health staff in the workplace: A mixed-methods pilot study

Mental health staff experience high stress levels. Novel workplace stress-management interventions are needed. This study aimed to evaluate a virtual reality (VR)-based staff support intervention. Participants (N = 43) were a wide range of multidisciplinary mental health staff from outpatient and inpatient services at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Participants received a single VR session, including virtual art, nature walks, and meditations. Pre- and post-VR visual analogue scales and qualitative feedback were collected. Post-VR, there were significant increases in positive wellbeing and happiness, and decreases in stress and anxiety (all large effects). Mean scores for helpfulness, ease of use, and immersion were high. Almost all participants reported the VR was a positive, enjoyable, and immersive experience that made them feel more relaxed and provided escapism from work-related stress. Participants were enthusiastic about increasing access to the intervention. A small minority highlighted implementation issues, including headset comfort and difficulty adjusting psychologically to VR. Findings indicate that the VR intervention was feasible and acceptable to support the wellbeing of mental health staff in the workplace. Future studies could employ more robust methodologies to investigate facilitator roles, user experience, greater user input in intervention development, and adapted methods of delivery.

State of the Art on Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robots

Due to the increasing number of people suffering from walking disorders, physiotherapy is becoming the process of treating this dysfunction and helping people to recover their natural motor ability as much as possible. Due to the lack of therapists, rehabilitation robots aim to reduce their tasks, help patients recover their natural walking ability as much as possible, and promote self-rehabilitation. The present work reviewed the state of the art of lower limb rehabilitation robots and introduced their features, including structure, drive mode, control and safety precautions. Then, we discussed the problem of developing the current rehabilitation robots and the orientation towards the future.

A short simulated nature experience as an effective way to promote restoration from work-related stress.

Spending time in nature, and even watching images or videos of nature, has positive effects on one's mental state. However, cognitively stressful work is often performed indoors, in offices that lack easy access to nature during breaks. In this study, we investigated whether watching a 5-min audiovisual video that describes a first-person perspective walk on a forest path could help to restore one's mental state after cognitive stress. Participants were asked to perform cognitive stressor tasks, after which they were shown either a nature walk video or a control video. Subjective restoration was measured using self-reports before and after the videos, while electrodermal activity (EDA) and electroencephalography (EEG) were measured during the video-watching session. The results showed that experiencing the nature walk video enhanced subjective restoration more than watching the control video. Arousal of the autonomic nervous system, measured using EDA, decreased more during the nature walk video than during the control video. Additionally, activity in the EEG's upper theta band (6-8 Hz) and lower alpha band (8-10 Hz) increased during the nature walk video, suggesting that it induced a relaxed state of mind. Interestingly, the participants' connection with nature moderated the effects of the nature video. The subjective and physiological measures both suggest that watching a short, simulated nature walk may be beneficial in relaxing the mind and restoring one's mental state after cognitive stress.