Virtual Reality to Help Relieve Travel Anxiety

Abstract

This study presents empirical evidence of the benefit of viewing narrative video clips on embedded virtual reality (VR) websites of hotels to relieve travel anxiety. As the effectiveness of using VR functions to relieve travel anxiety has been shown, we proposed that a VR website enhanced with narrative video clips could relieve travelers' anxiety about accommodations by showing the important aspects of a hotel. Thus, we created a website with a narrative video showing the escape route from a hotel room and another narrative video showing the surrounding neighborhood. We then conducted experiments by having human subjects explore the enhanced VR website and fill out a questionnaire. The results confirmed our hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between relief from travel anxiety and the use of narrative videos on embedded VR websites of hotels.