New paper on immersive virtual environments
Our paper replicating an in-person study using VR and led by Dr. Basma Altaf is published!
Our latest paper in the journal Building & Environment is titled “Impact of windows, natural materials, and diverse representations in built environments on psychological and physiological well-being: A between-subjects experiment in immersive virtual environments.” Co-authors Basma Altaf, Arash Tavakoli, Parker Ruth, Andrea Green, Jiaxuan (Flora) Xu, Sneha Jain, Elizabeth Murnane, James Landay, and Sarah Billington examine how changes in VR-modeled features including materials (natural versus artificial), windows (presence versus absence), and representations (diverse versus non-diverse), influence well-being. The well-being outcomes studied were sense of belonging, stress, creativity, and environmental concern. Our findings confirm significant impacts of these built features on three of the four well-being metrics examined.