By Lily Harrison
Virtual reality has gripped the gaming community with new ways to delve into and interact with different worlds. Developing new technology, researchers at the Manchester ESRC Festival of Social Sciences are examining whether virtual reality environments can improve wellbeing by increasing interactions with nature for those with limited access to it.
Using VR nature environments to improve performance and well-being will be held at the Manchester Museum this Saturday 3rd November. During the event, attendees will get the chance to experience different virtual nature and urban settings – a real-life Oasis for the sci-fi fans out there!
The purpose is to see whether these virtual environments have an effect on cognitive ability and mood. Users can then give feedback on whether they think virtual reality would be good for increasing interactions with nature in places where green-space is limited, such as hospitals.
The creator of this event, Dr Catherine Thompson, is a cognitive psychologist whose research focuses on visual attention. She told us more about the event:
“There is a large amount of evidence showing that natural environments such as parks, beaches and forests promote the use of a different type of processing that allows our cognitive processes to recover. So basically, if we regularly engage with nature this will improve our performance and our wellbeing.
“As many people live in urban environments and some people do not have access to nature, researchers are now looking at other ways to increase engagement with nature and one possibility is to use virtual reality environments.
“We’ve built two fully immersive audio-visual VR environments, one nature and one urban, and we’re measuring the effects of these on cognitive performance. On Saturday we’ll be based at Manchester Museum for the day and we’ll be asking people to complete a two minute sustained attention test, then try out one of the virtual environments, then complete the test again. The whole thing takes a maximum of 10 minutes and we hope to find out whether performance on the test changes according to the type of VR environment.”
The event is open for anyone who wishes to attend – if the world of VR is something you’re interested in, this is not to be missed! No booking is required, just turn up to Manchester Museum from 10am until 5pm.
Lily Harrison is a MA Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Follow her on Twitter @lilyahx and read more of her work at The Northern Quota.
Following the passing of iconic Stone Roses and Primal Scream Bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mountfield, there have been growing calls for him to be immortalised in a way that reflects both his cultural impact and the deep affection shared between the musician and his home city. GRIT Studios has answered the calls from fans, announcing plans…
Featured image: Evie Peattie Often overshadowed in popular narratives by the heritage houses of Paris or Milan, London’s fashion ecosystem has long traded on creative freedom. As London Fashion Week prepares for its 42nd year, running from the 19 to 23 February, the British capital is poised to reaffirm its reputation not simply as a…
Featured image: Sebastian Garraway Beats vibrate through a polished floor. Bodies move with a swinging grace, surrendering to the rhythm without hesitation. An instinctual sliding jig sways wide-legged jeans cut just above the ankle. Sweat drips from sharp scissor-cut hairstyles onto porous Fred Perry polos. You’ve guessed it: Northern Soul. The late 1960s phenomenon is…
Featured image: Evangeline Causton Local lad Harry Styles will take to the stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live for the city’s first-ever Brit Awards, before returning for his one-night-only show on March 6 to celebrate the arrival of his fourth album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. When cryptic billboards bearing the words “WE BELONG TOGETHER” appeared across Manchester city…
Leave a reply