Evaluation of Psychophysiological Responses to soundscapes in nature: Comparison of Monoscopic 360-degree panoramic video and computer-generated Virtual Reality Environment

Abstract

Participants' subjective evaluation and psychophysiological response to audiovisual stimulation were investigated to evaluate the soundscape recognition response to the real natural environment reproduced in 360 videos and the natural environment implemented in computer-generated virtual reality (CG VR). In order to achieve this goal, an audio-visual environment was provided in the same head-mounted display (HMD) device, and stimuli including various natural elements such as waterfalls, rivers, and lakes were implemented and compared. To reproduce a space similar to the actual natural environment, the CG-VR environment is created by the High-Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP) technology to realize a situation in which the subjects are staying in the natural environment. Before the experiment, individual demographic information was investigated, and the physiological response was measured through heart rate variability, respectively, by dividing it into before, middle, and after VR stimulation for 3 minutes. In addition, after the stimulation experience, psychological restorative response, soundscape perception response, and satisfaction were evaluated, and the difference and relationship between psychophysiological response and subjective response to physical stimulation were examined.