TY - JOUR

T1 - Virtual Reality Nature Experiences Involving Wolves on YouTube

T2 - Presence, Emotions, and Attitudes in Immersive and Nonimmersive Settings

AU - Filter, Elin

AU - Eckes, Alexander

AU - Fiebelkorn, Florian

AU - Büssing, Alexander Georg

N1 - Funding information: Acknowledgments: We acknowledge support by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and Open Access Publishing Fund of Osnabrück University.

PY - 2020/5/8

Y1 - 2020/5/8

N2 - As some nature experiences, such as viewing wild animals, may be difficult to implement in science education, immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies have become a promising tool in education. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the effectiveness of nature experiences in VR. In this study, 50 German university students (M = 23.76 years, SD = 3.73 years) from diverse disciplines were randomly assigned to an immersive (head-mounted display; Oculus Quest) or a nonimmersive setting (external computer screen; desktop computer) and individually watched two 360° videos fromthe social media siteYouTube about wolves in their natural habitat. Besides measuring participants' attitudes towards wolves, we investigated their feeling of presence in the virtual environments with the Spatial Presence Experience Scale (SPES) and the retrospective emotions of interest, joy, and fear with the Differential Affect Scale (M-DAS). The immersive head-mounted display induced higher levels of presence and interest compared to the nonimmersive external computer screen. While higher interest in the screen setting was associated with more positive attitudes towards wolves, such a correlation could not be found in the head-mounted display setting. Thus, our study found that immersive technology could induce interest in a nature experience related to the tested socio-scientific issue, even among people who did not already hold positive attitudes toward the issue. Overall, our findings suggest that 360° videos using immersive technology provide nature experiences with positive affective learning outcomes, even though the study focused on nature experiences in VR and was not an educational experience per se. As we were unable to assess the role of novelty of VR experiences, the application of VR technologies and its effects in larger teaching and learning settings needs to be evaluated in further studies.

AB - As some nature experiences, such as viewing wild animals, may be difficult to implement in science education, immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies have become a promising tool in education. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the effectiveness of nature experiences in VR. In this study, 50 German university students (M = 23.76 years, SD = 3.73 years) from diverse disciplines were randomly assigned to an immersive (head-mounted display; Oculus Quest) or a nonimmersive setting (external computer screen; desktop computer) and individually watched two 360° videos fromthe social media siteYouTube about wolves in their natural habitat. Besides measuring participants' attitudes towards wolves, we investigated their feeling of presence in the virtual environments with the Spatial Presence Experience Scale (SPES) and the retrospective emotions of interest, joy, and fear with the Differential Affect Scale (M-DAS). The immersive head-mounted display induced higher levels of presence and interest compared to the nonimmersive external computer screen. While higher interest in the screen setting was associated with more positive attitudes towards wolves, such a correlation could not be found in the head-mounted display setting. Thus, our study found that immersive technology could induce interest in a nature experience related to the tested socio-scientific issue, even among people who did not already hold positive attitudes toward the issue. Overall, our findings suggest that 360° videos using immersive technology provide nature experiences with positive affective learning outcomes, even though the study focused on nature experiences in VR and was not an educational experience per se. As we were unable to assess the role of novelty of VR experiences, the application of VR technologies and its effects in larger teaching and learning settings needs to be evaluated in further studies.

KW - Education for sustainable development

KW - Emotions

KW - Immersion

KW - Nature experiences

KW - Presence

KW - Return of the wolf

KW - Virtual reality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084822352&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su12093823

DO - 10.3390/su12093823

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85084822352

VL - 12

JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)

JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 9

M1 - 3823

ER -