The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe

Unveiling the underlying structure of awe in virtual reality and in autobiographical recall: an exploratory study

Over the last two decades, awe has attracted the attention of an increasing number of researchers. The use of virtual reality has been identified as one of the most effective techniques for eliciting awe, in addition to more personalized methods for inducing emotion, such as autobiographical recall. However, previous measures of awe were unable to uncover the hidden structure of this experience. Awe experience scale (AWE-S) has been validated as a comprehensive measure of contingent awe in English, providing new opportunities for analysis. In this two-phases study, we investigated whether the latent structure of the experience of awe evoked by the autobiographical recall technique (Study 1) overlapped with that induced by exposing participants to a validated virtual reality awe-eliciting training (Study 2). The original English AWE-S structure held both in autobiographical recall induction and virtual reality-based elicitation. Despite evidence of overlap between English and Italian structures, low correlations were found between Italian trait measures used to test the concurrent validity of the AWE-S in the Italian sample and AWE-S state dimensions. This study highlights cultural differences in awe experience, trait, and state variations, and provides new insights into the standardized induction of this emotion through simulated environments.

The Impact of Awe on Existential Isolation: Evidence for Contrasting Pathways

We propose that awe has multifaceted relations with existential isolation, a feeling of separation between the self and others or the world. Three studies examined the relation between awe and existential isolation via feelings of small self (vastness, self-size, self-perspectives) and a sense of connectedness. Awe (vs. a control topic) was induced either using virtual reality (Study 1) or a recall task (Studies 2 and 3) and was indirectly associated with higher and lower levels of existential isolation through differing pathways. Awe was associated with lower feelings of existential isolation via an increased sense of vastness, which in turn predicted greater connectedness; whereas awe was associated with higher feelings of existential isolation via increased sense of feeling small, which in turn predicted lower connectedness. This work advances understanding of the complex nature of awe-revealing its competing effects on the self and the social connectedness pathways through which awe can influence existential isolation.

Evaluating the Impact of Virtual Reality on the Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia and Quality of Life of Inpatients With Dementia in Acute Care: Randomized Controlled Trial (VRCT)

BACKGROUND

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly considered a valuable therapeutic tool for people with dementia. However, rigorous studies are still needed to evaluate its impact on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSDs) and quality of life (QoL) across care settings.

OBJECTIVE

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of VR therapy on managing BPSDs, falls, length of stay, and QoL in inpatients with dementia admitted to an acute care hospital. The secondary aim was to evaluate the intervention's feasibility in terms of acceptability, safety, and patient experience.

METHODS

A prospective, open-label, mixed methods, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted between April 2019 and March 2020. A total of 69 participants (aged ≥65 years with a diagnosis of dementia and who did not meet the exclusion criteria) were randomly assigned to either the control (n=35, 51%) or VR (n=34, 49%) arm. Participants in the experimental (VR) arm were visited by a researcher and watched 360° VR films on a head-mounted display for up to 20 minutes every 1 to 3 days, whereas individuals in the control arm received standard of care. Instances of daily BPSDs and falls were collected from nurses' daily notes. QoL was measured through semistructured interviews and the Quality of Life in Late-Stage Dementia scale. Structured observations and semistructured interviews were used to measure treatment feasibility. The primary outcomes were analyzed at a 95% significance level based on the intention-to-treat method.

RESULTS

VR therapy had a statistically significant effect on reducing aggressiveness (ie, physical aggression and loud vociferation; P=.01). Substantial impact of VR therapy was not found for other BPSDs (eg, apathy), falls, length of stay, or QoL as measured using the Quality of Life in Late-Stage Dementia scale. The average VR therapy session lasted 6.8 (SD 6.6; range 0-20) minutes, and the intervention was overall an acceptable and enjoyable experience for participants. No adverse events occurred as a result of VR therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Immersive VR therapy appears to have an effect on aggressive behaviors in patients with dementia in acute care. Although the randomized controlled trial was stopped before reaching the intended sample size owing to COVID-19 restrictions, trends in the results are promising. We suggest conducting future trials with larger samples and, in some cases, more sensitive data collection instruments.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03941119; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03941119.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.2196/22406.

Self-Assessed Experience of Emotional Involvement in Sensory Analysis Performed in Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) technology has gained significant attention in various fields, including education for health professionals, sensory science, psychology, and consumer research. The first aim of the paper is to explore the self-assessed experience of emotional involvement in sensory analysis performed in VR. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) is a widely used self-report measure that assesses positive and negative affective states. VR sensory analysis involves the use of immersive, interactive, and multi-sensory environments to evaluate sensory perception and emotional responses. By synthesizing relevant literature, this paper provides insights into the impact of VR on affective states, the effectiveness of VR in eliciting emotions, and the potential applications of the PANAS in VR sensory analysis. Furthermore, the second aim of the paper is to uncover the effect of VR sensory evaluation on the participant's emotional states, as it has a significant effect on their evaluations. The results suggest an increase in the sum of positive effects and a decrease in the negative ones. Although these results are promising, the relationship between the PANAS and VR sensory analysis is still underexplored, with limited research investigating the specific effects of VR on affective states measured using the PANAS. Further research is needed to better understand the potential of the PANAS in assessing emotional responses in VR environments and its implications for sensory analysis.

Interoceptive technologies for psychiatric interventions: From diagnosis to clinical applications

Interoception-the perception of internal bodily signals-has emerged as an area of interest due to its implications in emotion and the prevalence of dysfunctional interoceptive processes across psychopathological conditions. Despite the importance of interoception in cognitive neuroscience and psychiatry, its experimental manipulation remains technically challenging. This is due to the invasive nature of existing methods, the limitation of self-report and unimodal measures of interoception, and the absence of standardized approaches across disparate fields. This article integrates diverse research efforts from psychology, physiology, psychiatry, and engineering to address this oversight. Following a general introduction to the neurophysiology of interoception as hierarchical predictive processing, we review the existing paradigms for manipulating interoception (e.g., interoceptive modulation), their underlying mechanisms (e.g., interoceptive conditioning), and clinical applications (e.g., interoceptive exposure). We suggest a classification for interoceptive technologies and discuss their potential for diagnosing and treating mental health disorders. Despite promising results, considerable work is still needed to develop standardized, validated measures of interoceptive function across domains and before these technologies can translate safely and effectively to clinical settings.

Cultivating Awe: A Means to Inspire Sciencing

Awe is an emotion involving a feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one's current understanding of the world and is associated with creating a sense of wonder and curiosity. The author explores how awe experiences can have a role in igniting and sustaining research endeavors, and how nurse researchers can cultivate everyday awe experiences as sources of inspiration when engaged in the art of nurse sciencing.

The immersive virtual memory task: Assessing object-location memory in neurological patients using immersive virtual reality

TRIAL REGISTRATION

German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00024005.

NASA resilience and leadership: examining the phenomenon of awe

This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, along with related resilience practices, is perceived by a NASA medical and mental health professional, who also serves in a leadership role, and how awe has impacted their work and personal life. Considering both their leadership role and how their work involves supporting the wellbeing of astronauts pre-mission, during missions, and post-mission, the potential impact of awe on the NASA expert has individual implications along with many others, especially in stressful environments. The results indicate that reflecting on awe experiences can support a person finding meaning and purpose in their life, evoke gratitude, increase social connectedness, promote optimism and other resilience skills in the moment, and generally have a sustainable positive effect.

Awe promotes moral expansiveness via the small-self

The experience of awe has been shown to challenge how people think about themselves and the world around them, linking them to something greater than themselves. We investigated whether this emotional experience of awe may also challenge the boundaries of our moral consideration, leading to a generalized expansion in our moral worlds. Across five studies (N = 990), we examined whether awe might promote moral expansiveness; that is, increased moral concern across a broad range of entities (e.g., out-groups, animals, plants, environments). Cross-sectional Studies 1a and 1b, found dispositional awe was related to greater moral expansiveness. Experimental Studies 2 and 3, using video-induced awe, found consistent indirect effects on moral expansiveness, via self-reported awe and the small-self sense of vastness. Experimental Study 4, using Virtual Reality induced awe, found those in the awe condition (vs. control) reported greater moral expansiveness, and this was fully mediated by the small-self sense of vastness. Our findings show awe expands our sense of connectedness to the broader world, and through this, increases the breath of our moral concern.

Virtual Reality for Awe and Imagination

Empirical research has explored the potential of the emotion of awe to shape creativity, while theoretical work has sought to understand the link between this emotion and transformation in terms of imagining new possible worlds. This branch of study relies on the transformative potential of virtual reality (VR) to examine and invite cognitive and emotional components of transformative experiences (TEs) within the interdisciplinary model of Transformative Experience Design (TED) and the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF). TED suggests using the epistemic and emotional affordances of interactive technologies, such as VR, to invite TEs. The ATF can provide insight into the nature of these affordances and their relationship. This line of research draws on empirical evidence of the awe-creativity link to broaden the discourse and consider the potential impact of this emotion on core beliefs about the world. The combination of VR with these theoretical and design-oriented approaches may enable a new generation of potentially transformative experiences that remind people that they can aspire to more and inspire them to work toward imagining and creating a new possible world.

Responses of the public towards the government in times of crisis

We experimentally investigate how and when the public responds to government actions during times of crisis. Public reactions are shown to follow different processes, depending on whether government performs in exemplary or unsatisfactory ways to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 'how' question is addressed by proposing that negative moral emotions mediate public reactions to bad government actions, and positive moral emotions mediate reactions to good government actions. Tests of mediation are conducted while taking into account attitudes and trust in the government as rival hypotheses. The 'when' question is studied by examining self-regulatory moderators governing the experience of moral emotions and their effects. These include conspiracy beliefs, political ideology, attachment coping styles and collective values. A total of 357 citizens of a representative sample of adult Norwegians were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group, where complaining, putting pressure on the government and compliance to Covid-19 policies were dependent variables. The findings show that negative moral emotions mediate the effects of government doing badly on complaining and pressuring the government, with conspiracy beliefs moderating the experience of negative moral emotions and attachment coping moderating the effects of negative moral emotions. The results also show that positive moral emotions mediate the effects of government doing well on compliance with COVID-19 regulations, with political ideology moderating the experience of positive moral emotions and collective values moderating the effects of positive moral emotions.

Positive cyberpsychology as a field of study of the well-being of people interacting with and via technology

The aim of the article is to postulate introducing and developing positive cyberpsychology (PCyb) as a subdiscipline of cyberpsychology, which emerges at the intersection of cyberpsychology, positive psychology, and well-being informed design, and focuses on studying determinants of human well-being through interactions with and via technology. The article presents the rationale for considering the emergence of PCyb based on the importance of research on the positive transformation of people in the era of progressive digitalization and cyborgization, and the growing partnership of cyberpsychology, positive psychology, and well-being informed design in the form of paradigms and ongoing research. Moreover, it highlights the need to reframe cyberpsychology dominated by the study of the "dark side" of technology and the need to integrate and increase the "visibility" of research results on the beneficial effects of technology. The article also accentuates the opening perspective of a more in-depth analysis of the positive transformation process than the one existing within the well-being informed design and underlines a broader plan of innovation use than is taken into account in cyberpsychology and positive psychology. Lastly, it discusses the use of the results of research conducted within PCyb in the design of new technologies, consulting, and education, as well as the possibility of strengthening the voice of psychologists in the debate about the future of humans functioning in the constantly changing technosphere.

Designing digital nature for older adults: A mixed method approach

Objective

Loneliness and social isolation are pressing issues that can seriously impact the mental health and well-being of older adults. Interacting with nature can stimulate a feeling of connectedness. However, for older adults, access to nature is often troublesome because of physical limitations and mobility restrictions.

Methods

In the present mixed-method study, 37 older adults (62-99 years old) with varying care needs and mobility restrictions watched a video presenting a walkthrough of a simulated digital nature landscape.

Results

Quantitative results show a significant increase in social connectedness scores and enhanced peacefulness after experiencing a digital nature. Qualitative results stress the importance of variations in nature scenery and highlight the influence of contextual and person-related factors including nature experiences throughout the life span and mobility constraints that older adults may face.

Conclusion

These findings testify to the potential of using digital nature as a complementary strategy when interactions with outdoor nature become increasingly difficult due to old age.

A review of psychological research on kando as an inclusive concept of moving experiences

We are emotionally moved when we give birth to a child, witness the triumph of an athlete, listen to a beautiful piece of music, and so forth. Such moving experiences have been described as a form of emotion, by terms such as being moved, awe, and kama muta, each of which have been studied as a separate, but interrelated, psychological phenomenon. Japanese people use the term kando to describe these experiences collectively. In this study, we propose that kando should be treated as an umbrella term covering being moved, awe, and kama muta. To this end, we reviewed the literature on kando conducted by Japanese researchers and compared it to relevant concepts, mainly examined in Western countries. We also reviewed the literature on the generative mechanism of kando, and established that emotional and physical reactions are important to determine the degree of kando across the cases with and without storyline. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as trait empathy may generate a stronger degree of kando. Kando experiences can affect subsequent behaviors and cognition, though we still need evidence that such change can be triggered genuinely by the experience of kando. We suggest that kando may make our neuro-cognitive network tend toward more direct, unconscious, and impulsive decision making. One of the remaining questions in this domain is whether the mental construct of kando can find an equivalent to people in Western countries. For this purpose, events and reactions relevant to kando experiences should be systematically collected from a broad population.

The immersive experience of virtual reality during chemotherapy in patients with early breast and ovarian cancers: The patient’s dream study

Background

A virtual reality experience (VRE) could represent a viable non-pharmacological intervention to reduce and better manage the main factors of psychophysical distress related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Aim

The “Patient’s Dream” study was a two-arm randomized controlled trial conducted at the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute – IRCCS (Rome, Italy) from April 2019 to January 2020 to evaluate VRE impact in patients affected by breast or ovarian cancer. Before starting the first cycle of chemotherapy (CT), patients were randomized to receive the VRE (VRE arm) as “distraction therapy” or to entertain themselves with conventional means (control arm). The primary aims were the assessment of psychological distress, anxiety and quality of life between the two study arms. Secondary endpoints were the perceived time during the first course of CT and the acute and late toxicity.

Results

Fourty-four patients were enrolled, 22 patients were randomly assigned to the VRE arm and 22 to the control arm. Collected data underline the absence of prevalent disturbs of anxiety and depression in both groups. Nevertheless, even if the state anxiety values before and after CT decreased in both groups, this reduction was statistically significant over time only in the VRE arm. The duration of therapy perceived by patients undergoing distraction therapy was significantly shorter when compared to the control group. The use of VRE during the first CT cycle appeared to reduce asthenia outcomes.

Conclusion

Obtained data suggest that the VRE positively influenced the levels of state anxiety among cancer patients and support the continuous research on VRE as a distraction intervention, with the aim to meet the clinical need for effective nonpharmacologic adjunctive therapies.

Clinical trial registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05234996, identifier NCT05234996.

Defining Transformative Experiences: A Conceptual Analysis

The concept of transformative experience (TE) has been widely explored by several disciplines from philosophy to neurobiology, and in different domains, from the spiritual to the educational one. This attitude has engendered heterogeneous models to explain this phenomenon. However, a consistent and clear understanding of this construct remains elusive. The aim of this work is to provide an initial comprehensive interdisciplinary, cross-domain, up-to-date, and integrated overview on the concept of TEs. Firstly, all the models and theories on TEs were reviewed to extract and analyze TEs’ main components emerging from different disciplines. Then, this preliminary analysis was integrated with an in-depth examination of redundancies and particularities across domains and disciplines, to provide an integrated theoretical framework of TEs and a preliminary interdisciplinary operational definition of TEs. This examination, in turn, can help organize current research and theories, thus providing suggestions for operationalizing TEs as well as encouraging new interdisciplinary research endeavors.

What the Metaverse Is (Really) and Why We Need to Know About It

Major technology companies are investing significant sums of money in the creation of the metaverse whose main feature will be the fusion between the virtual world and the physical world. To allow this possibility is one of the less obvious features of the metaverse: the metaverse works like our minds. This ability makes the metaverse a significantly different technology from its predecessors. If television and social media are persuasive technologies, because of their ability to influence people's attitudes and behaviors, the metaverse is instead a transformative technology, capable of modifying what people think reality is. To achieve this goal, the technologies of the metaverse hack different key cognitive mechanisms: the experience of being in a place and in a body, the processes of brain-to-brain attunement and synchrony, and the ability of experiencing and inducing emotions. Clearly, these possibilities define totally new scenarios with positive and negative outcomes. Educating ourselves as to its promise, and the challenges it may present, is a necessity. This requires a "humane," integrated, and multidisciplinary approach, with stakeholders at the supranational level joining in the conversation.

Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics

With a growing body of research highlighting the therapeutic potential of experiential phenomenology which diminishes egoic identity and increases one’s sense of connectedness, there is significant interest in how to elicit such ‘self-transcendent experiences’ (STEs) in laboratory contexts. Psychedelic drugs (YDs) have proven particularly effective in this respect, producing subjective phenomenology which reliably elicits intense STEs. With virtual reality (VR) emerging as a powerful tool for constructing new perceptual environments, we describe a VR framework called ‘Isness-distributed’ (Isness-D) which harnesses the unique affordances of distributed multi-person VR to blur conventional self-other boundaries. Within Isness-D, groups of participants co-habit a shared virtual space, collectively experiencing their bodies as luminous energetic essences with diffuse spatial boundaries. It enables moments of ‘energetic coalescence’, a new class of embodied intersubjective experience where bodies can fluidly merge, enabling participants to include multiple others within their self-representation. To evaluate Isness-D, we adopted a citizen science approach, coordinating an international network of Isness-D 'nodes'. We analyzed the results (N = 58) using 4 different self-report scales previously applied to analyze subjective YD phenomenology (the inclusion of community in self scale, ego-dissolution inventory, communitas scale, and the MEQ30 mystical experience questionnaire). Despite the complexities associated with a distributed experiment like this, the Isness-D scores on all 4 scales were statistically indistinguishable from recently published YD studies, demonstrating that distributed VR can be used to design intersubjective STEs where people dissolve their sense of self in the connection to others.

Virtual reality for the assessment and rehabilitation of neglect: where are we now? A 6-year review update

Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is a frequent repercussion of a cerebrovascular accident, typically a stroke. USN patients fail to orient their attention to the contralesional side to detect auditory, visual, and somatosensory stimuli, as well as to collect and purposely use this information. Traditional methods for USN assessment and rehabilitation include paper-and-pencil procedures, which address cognitive functions as isolated from other aspects of patients' functioning within a real-life context. This might compromise the ecological validity of these procedures and limit their generalizability; moreover, USN evaluation and treatment currently lacks a gold standard. The field of technology has provided several promising tools that have been integrated within the clinical practice; over the years, a "first wave" has promoted computerized methods, which cannot provide an ecological and realistic environment and tasks. Thus, a "second wave" has fostered the implementation of virtual reality (VR) devices that, with different degrees of immersiveness, induce a sense of presence and allow patients to actively interact within the life-like setting. The present paper provides an updated, comprehensive picture of VR devices in the assessment and rehabilitation of USN, building on the review of Pedroli et al. (2015). The present paper analyzes the methodological and technological aspects of the studies selected, considering the issue of usability and ecological validity of virtual environments and tasks. Despite the technological advancement, the studies in this field lack methodological rigor as well as a proper evaluation of VR usability and should improve the ecological validity of VR-based assessment and rehabilitation of USN.

Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy with the use of psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), has demonstrated promise in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, addiction, and treatment-resistant depression. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PP) represents a unique psychopharmacological model that leverages the profound effects of the psychedelic experience. That experience is characterized by strong dependency on two key factors: participant mindset and the therapeutic environment. As such, therapeutic models that utilize psychedelics reflect the need for careful design that promotes an open, flexible, trusting mindset and a supportive setting. To meet this need, the PP model is increasingly supplemented by auxiliary methods, including meditation, relaxation, visualization or spiritual practices. We suggest virtual reality (VR) as a full-spectrum tool able to capitalize on and catalyze the innately therapeutic aspects of the psychedelic experience, such as detachment from familiar reality, alteration of self-experience, augmentation of sensory perception and induction of mystical-type experiences. This is facilitated by VR’s evidenced capacity to: aid relaxation and reduce anxiety; buffer from external stimuli; promote a mindful presence; train the mind to achieve altered states of consciousness (ASC); evoke mystical states; enhance therapeutic alliance and encourage self-efficacy. While these unique VR features appear promising, VR’s potential role in PP remains speculative due to lack of empirical evidence on the combined use of VR and PP. Given the increased commercial interest in this synergy there is an urgent need to evaluate this approach. We suggest specific VR models and their role within PP protocols to inspire future direction in scientific research, and provide a list of potential disadvantages, side effects and limitations that need to be carefully considered. These include sensory overstimulation, cyber-sickness, triggering memories of past traumatic events as well as distracting from the inner experience or strongly influencing its contents. A balanced, evidence-based approach may provide continuity across all phases of treatment, support transition into and out of an ASC, deepen acute ASC experiences including mystical states and enrich the psychotherapeutic process of integration. We conclude that the potential application of VR in modulating psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy demands further exploration and an evidence-based approach to both design and implementation.

Hospital Greenspaces and the Impacts on Wayfinding and Spatial Experience: An Explorative Experiment Through Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) Techniques

BACKGROUND

Navigating large hospitals can be very challenging due to the functional complexity as well as the evolving changes and expansions of such facilities. Hospital wayfinding issues could lead to stress, negative mood, and poor healthcare experience among patients, staff, and family members.

OBJECTIVES

A survey-embedded experiment was conducted using immersive virtual environment (IVE) techniques to explore people's wayfinding performance and their mood and spatial experience in hospital circulation spaces with or without visible greenspaces.

METHODS

Seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to either group to complete wayfinding tasks in a timed session. Participants' wayfinding performances were interpreted using several indicators, including task completion, duration, walking distance, stop, sign-viewing, and route selection. Participants' mood states and perceived environmental attractiveness and atmosphere were surveyed; their perceived levels of presence in the IVE hospitals were also reported.

RESULTS

The results revealed that participants performed better on high complexity wayfinding tasks in the IVE hospital with visible greenspaces, as indicated by less time consumed and shorter walking distance to find the correct destination, less frequent stops and sign viewing, and more efficient route selection. Participants also experienced enhanced mood states and favorable spatial experience and perceived aesthetics in the IVE hospital with visible greenspaces than the same environment without window views. IVE techniques could be an efficient tool to supplement environment-behavior studies with certain conditions noted.

CONCLUSIONS

Hospital greenspaces located at key decision points could serve as landmarks that positively attract people's attention, aid wayfinding, and improve their navigational experience.

Dispositional Awe and Online Altruism: Testing a Moderated Mediating Model

Dispositional awe has a positive effect on prosociality. However, it has not been tested whether this disposition appears in online altruism. Using a large sample of 3,080 Chinese undergraduates, this study tested a moderated mediating model that takes self-transcendent meaning in life (STML) as a mediator and subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) as a moderator. As predicted, dispositional awe was positively correlated with online altruism, partly via the indirect effect of STML. SSES moderated both the direct and indirect effects. Specifically, the predictive effects of dispositional awe on both online prosocial behavior and STML were greater for lower rather than higher SSES. This study extends the prosociality of dispositional awe to cyberspace. Other implications are also discussed herein.

The Potential Role of Awe for Depression: Reassembling the Puzzle

Recently, interest in the unique pathways linking discrete positive emotions to specific health outcomes has gained increasing attention, but the role of awe is yet to be elucidated. Awe is a complex and transformative emotion that can restructure individuals' mental frames so deeply that it could be considered a therapeutic asset for major mental health major issues, including depression. Despite sparse evidence showing a potential connection between depression and awe, this link has not been combined into a proposal resulting in specific intervention guidelines. The aim of this perspective was three-fold: (i) to provide a new unifying model of awe's functioning-the Matryoshka model; (ii) to show systematic and explicit connections between this emotion and depression; and (iii) to suggest specific guidelines of intervention utilizing the potential therapeutic role of awe for mental health, specifically for depression. This theoretical endeavor in its entirety has been framed within the health domain.

Meditating in Virtual Reality 3: 360° Video of Perceptual Presence of Instructor

Objectives

The need for remote delivery of mental health interventions including instruction in meditation has become paramount in the wake of the current global pandemic. However, the support one may usually feel within the physical presence of an instructor may be weakened when interventions are delivered remotely, potentially impacting one's meditative experiences. Use of head-mounted displays (HMD) to display video-recorded instruction may increase one's sense of psychological presence with the instructor as compared to presentation via regular flatscreen (e.g., laptop) monitor. This research therefore evaluated a didactic, trauma-informed care approach to instruction in mindfulness meditation by comparing meditative responses to an instructor-guided meditation when delivered face-to-face vs. by pre-recorded 360° videos viewed either on a standard flatscreen monitor (2D format) or via HMD (i.e., virtual reality [VR] headset; 3D format).

Methods

Young adults (n = 82) were recruited from a university introductory course and experienced a 360° video-guided meditation via HMD (VR condition, 3D format). They were also randomly assigned to practice the same meditation either via scripted face-to-face instruction (in vivo [IV] format) or when viewed on a standard laptop display (non-VR condition, 2D format). Positive and negative affect and meditative experience ratings were self-reported and participants' maintenance of focused attention to breathing (i.e., meditation breath attention scores [MBAS]) were recorded during each meditation.

Results

Meditating in VR (3D format) was associated with a heightened experience of awe overall. When compared to face-to-face instruction (IV format), VR meditation was rated as less embarrassing but also less enjoyable and more tiring. When compared to 2D format, VR meditations were associated with greater experiences of relaxation, less distractibility from the process of breathing, and less fatigue. No differences were found between VR and non-VR meditation in concentration (MBAS). Baseline posttraumatic stress symptoms were risk factors for experiencing distress while meditating in either (VR and non-VR) instructional format. Of those who reported a preference for one format, approximately half preferred the VR format and approximately half preferred the IV format.

Conclusions

Recorded 360° video instruction in meditation viewed with a HMD (i.e., VR/3D format) appears to offer some experiential advantage over instructions given in 2D format and may offer a safe-and for some even preferred-alternative to teaching meditation face-to-face.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-021-01612-w.

Digital Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment: Artificial Intelligence Meets Virtual Reality

Elderly people affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) usually report a perceived decline in cognitive functions that deeply impacts their quality of life. This subtle waning, although it cannot be diagnosable as dementia, is noted by caregivers on the basis of their relative’s behaviors. Crucially, if this condition is also not detected in time by clinicians, it can easily turn into dementia. Thus, early detection of MCI is strongly needed. Classical neuropsychological measures – underlying a categorical model of diagnosis - could be integrated with a dimensional assessment approach involving Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). VR can be used to create highly ecologically controlled simulations resembling the daily life contexts in which patients’ daily instrumental activities (IADL) usually take place. Clinicians can record patients’ kinematics, particularly gait, while performing IADL (Digital Biomarkers). Then, Artificial Intelligence employs Machine Learning (ML) to analyze them in combination with clinical and neuropsychological data. This integrated computational approach would enable the creation of a predictive model to identify specific patterns of cognitive and motor impairment in MCI. Therefore, this new dimensional cognitive-behavioral assessment would reveal elderly people’s neural alterations and impaired cognitive functions, typical of MCI and dementia, even in early stages for more time-sensitive interventions.

Awe and the Experience of the Sublime: A Complex Relationship

Awe seems to be a complex emotion or emotional construct characterized by a mix of positive (contentment, happiness), and negative affective components (fear and a sense of being smaller, humbler or insignificant). It is striking that the elicitors of awe correspond closely to what philosophical aesthetics, and especially Burke and Kant, have called “the sublime.” As a matter of fact, awe is almost absent from the philosophical agenda, while there are very few studies on the experience of the sublime as such in the psychological literature. The aim of this paper is to throw light on the complex relationship between awe (as understood by psychologists) and the experience of the sublime (as discussed by philosophers). We distinguish seven ways of conceiving this relationship and highlight those that seem more promising to us. Once we have a clearer picture of how awe and the experience of the sublime are related, we can use it to enhance collaboration between these domains. We would be able to use empirical results about awe in a philosophical analysis of the experience of the sublime, which in turn can help us to design novel experimental hypotheses about the contexts in which we experience awe.

Proof of Concept of an Eclectic, Integrative Therapeutic Approach to Mental Health and Well-Being Through Virtual Reality Technology

Across three studies, we provide a proof-of-concept evaluation of an integrative psychotherapeutic application of virtual reality (VR) technology. Study 1 (n = 36) evaluated an unguided “safe-place” imagery task, where participants were instructed “to create a safe space… [such as] a scene, item, design, or any visual representation that makes you feel safe” using either the Google Tilt Brush application (VR condition), the standard Microsoft Paint application (2-D condition), or via eyes-closed mental imagery alone (IMG condition). Study 2 (n = 48) evaluated a narrative episodic recall task, where participants viewed their childhood and adult homes and places of schooling either using either the Google Earth VR application (VR condition) or the standard Google Earth application (2-D condition) or recalled these places with their eyes closed via mental imagery alone (IMG condition). Finally, Study 3 (n = 48) evaluated a guided wilderness imagery task, during which different scripts were narrated, specifically, a trail walk in autumn, a spring meadow, and a hillside walk in snowy winter, while either these same scenes were visually presented using the Nature Treks VR application (VR condition), the scenes were presented using the same software but shown on standard computer monitor (2-D condition), or participants’ eyes were closed (IMG condition). Order of intervention format was randomized across participants. Across all three studies, quantitative survey ratings showed that the VR format of intervention delivery produced greater positive affect and satisfaction and perceived credibility ratings as an intervention for trauma- and stressor-related disorders and psychological well-being as rated by university students who varied in traumatic and stressful life event history and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, whereas qualitative findings revealed additional themes of experiential response including increased experience of presence and vividness in the VR condition. Future research directions and clinical applications are discussed.

Experimentally induced awe does not affect implicit and explicit time perception

The effects of emotion on time perception are elusive: depending on the intensity, valence and arousal of the situation, implicit and explicit time perception seems to slow down or speed up. Awe is a strong and powerful positive emotion that is typically elicited in response to vast stimuli and therefore inducing awe may be optimally suited for studying the relationship between emotion and time perception. In two studies we investigated whether the experience of awe would result in an expanded perception of time. Participants watched awe-eliciting, positive and neutral videos and simultaneously conducted a temporal bisection task, in which they classified vibrotactile stimuli as short or long. As expected awe videos elicited stronger feelings of awe than positive and control videos, while they were matched with positive videos in terms of subjective valence and arousal. However across both studies we did not find consistent effects of awe on implicit and retrospective time perception. Only in the first study, stronger subjective feelings of awe were associated with an increased dilation of time perception. The current findings indicate that lab-induced awe does not affect implicit and explicit time perception and we suggest that more ecologically valid ways to induce awe may be required in future studies.

Using Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) to Conduct Environmental Design Research: A Primer and Decision Framework

PURPOSE

We propose a methodological framework to use immersive virtual environments (IVEs) in head-mounted displays for environmental design research.

BACKGROUND

IVEs offer researchers with experimental control and realistic representations of environments with high levels of ecological validity. IVEs are also increasingly being used to visualize proposed designs. Despite these tremendous benefits, IVEs are underutilized in environmental design research. We are unaware of preexisting frameworks that synthesize the methodological decisions related to the use of IVEs to conduct environmental design research.

METHODS/RESULTS

We define the concepts necessary to conduct IVE research (virtual reality [VR], IVEs, ecological validity, visual realism, behavioral realism, and contextual realism). We also summarize the available study designs (correlational studies, experimental studies, and performance evaluations) and software systems used to create IVEs. We conclude with a conceptual framework that describes how research questions and study designs inform IVE selection and ecological validity. This framework is accompanied by a workflow that operationalizes the creation and use of IVEs in research.

CONCLUSIONS

VR provides a robust and innovative research strategy for environmental design research because of its high degree of experimental control, rich data collection options, and opportunities for systematic evaluation of alternative design configurations.

The proximal experience of awe

Research on awe has grown exponentially in recent decades; however, few studies have considered whether awe-inspiring experiences also inspire other emotions. In two studies, we explored whether interventions targeting awe also evoke other discrete emotions. Additionally, we considered two constructs that may be associated with increases in each emotion—self-relevant thoughts and connectedness. In Study 1, we manipulated awe in virtual reality and examined the potential effects of a prototypical awe experience—a spacewalk accompanied by an audio clip of Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot. In Study 2, we manipulated awe with a video depicting scenes of Earth from outer space paired with the same audio clip. Across both studies, a prototypical awe experience was associated not only with awe, but with compassion, gratitude, love, and optimism, along with connectedness and self-relevant thoughts. Furthermore, we found that increases in self-relevant thoughts and connectedness in response to the awe induction predicted increases in each emotion evoked and vice-versa. These findings suggest that experiences that are commonly considered awe-inspiring—such as viewing a picturesque landscape—may be more appropriately conceptualized more broadly as self-transcendent. More work is needed to determine whether the documented benefits of awe may be more appropriately interpreted as the benefits of self-transcendent emotions.

A Process for Digitizing and Simulating Biologically Realistic Oligocellular Networks Demonstrated for the Neuro-Glio-Vascular Ensemble

One will not understand the brain without an integrated exploration of structure and function, these attributes being two sides of the same coin: together they form the currency of biological computation. Accordingly, biologically realistic models require the re-creation of the architecture of the cellular components in which biochemical reactions are contained. We describe here a process of reconstructing a functional oligocellular assembly that is responsible for energy supply management in the brain and creating a computational model of the associated biochemical and biophysical processes. The reactions that underwrite thought are both constrained by and take advantage of brain morphologies pertaining to neurons, astrocytes and the blood vessels that deliver oxygen, glucose and other nutrients. Each component of this neuro-glio-vasculature ensemble (NGV) carries-out delegated tasks, as the dynamics of this system provide for each cell-type its own energy requirements while including mechanisms that allow cooperative energy transfers. Our process for recreating the ultrastructure of cellular components and modeling the reactions that describe energy flow uses an amalgam of state-of the-art techniques, including digital reconstructions of electron micrographs, advanced data analysis tools, computational simulations and in silico visualization software. While we demonstrate this process with the NGV, it is equally well adapted to any cellular system for integrating multimodal cellular data in a coherent framework.

Current perspectives on psychedelic therapy: use of serotonergic hallucinogens in clinical interventions

Humans have used serotonergic hallucinogens (i.e. psychedelics) for spiritual, ceremonial, and recreational purposes for thousands of years, but their administration as part of a structured therapeutic intervention is still a relatively novel practice within Western medical and psychological frameworks. In the mid-20^th century, considerable advances were made in developing therapeutic approaches integrating administration of low (psycholytic) and high (psychedelic) doses of serotonergic hallucinogens for treatment of a variety of conditions, often incorporating psychoanalytic concepts prevalent at that time. This work contributed seminal insights regarding how these substances may be employed with efficacy and safety in targeted therapeutic interventions, including the importance of optimizing set (frame of mind) and setting (therapeutic environment). More recently, clinical and pharmacological research has revisited the effects and therapeutic potential of psychedelics utilizing a variety of approaches. The current article provides an overview of past and present models of psychedelic therapy, and discusses important considerations for future interventions incorporating the use of psychedelics in research and clinical practice.

The Future of Technology in Positive Psychology: Methodological Advances in the Science of Well-Being

Advances in biotechnology and information technology are poised to transform well-being research. This article reviews the technologies that we predict will have the most impact on both measurement and intervention in the field of positive psychology over the next decade. These technologies include: psychopharmacology, non-invasive brain stimulation, virtual reality environments, and big-data methods for large-scale multivariate analysis. Some particularly relevant potential costs and benefits to individual and collective well-being are considered for each technology as well as ethical considerations. As these technologies may substantially enhance the capacity of psychologists to intervene on and measure well-being, now is the time to discuss the potential promise and pitfalls of these technologies.

Designing Awe in Virtual Reality: An Experimental Study

Awe is a little-studied emotion with a great transformative potential. Therefore, the interest toward the study of awe's underlying mechanisms has been increased. Specifically, researchers have been interested in how to reproduce intense feelings of awe within laboratory conditions. It has been proposed that the use of virtual reality (VR) could be an effective way to induce awe in controlled experimental settings, thanks to its ability of providing participants with a sense of "presence," that is, the subjective feeling of being displaced in another physical or imaginary place. However, the potential of VR as awe-inducing medium has not been fully tested yet. In the present study, we provided an evidence-based design and a validation of four immersive virtual environments (VEs) involving 36 participants in a within-subject design. Of these, three VEs were designed to induce awe, whereas the fourth VE was targeted as an emotionally neutral stimulus. Participants self-reported the extent to which they felt awe, general affect and sense of presence related to each environment. As expected, results showed that awe-VEs could induce significantly higher levels of awe and presence as compared to the neutral VE. Furthermore, these VEs induced significantly more positive than negative affect. These findings supported the potential of immersive VR for inducing awe and provide useful indications for the design of awe-inspiring virtual environments.

Highly immersive virtual reality laparoscopy simulation: development and future aspects

PURPOSE

Virtual reality (VR) applications with head-mounted displays (HMDs) have had an impact on information and multimedia technologies. The current work aimed to describe the process of developing a highly immersive VR simulation for laparoscopic surgery.

METHODS

We combined a VR laparoscopy simulator (LapSim) and a VR-HMD to create a user-friendly VR simulation scenario. Continuous clinical feedback was an essential aspect of the development process. We created an artificial VR (AVR) scenario by integrating the simulator video output with VR game components of figures and equipment in an operating room. We also created a highly immersive VR surrounding (IVR) by integrating the simulator video output with a [Formula: see text] video of a standard laparoscopy scenario in the department's operating room.

RESULTS

Clinical feedback led to optimization of the visualization, synchronization, and resolution of the virtual operating rooms (in both the IVR and the AVR). Preliminary testing results revealed that individuals experienced a high degree of exhilaration and presence, with rare events of motion sickness. The technical performance showed no significant difference compared to that achieved with the standard LapSim.

CONCLUSION

Our results provided a proof of concept for the technical feasibility of an custom highly immersive VR-HMD setup. Future technical research is needed to improve the visualization, immersion, and capability of interacting within the virtual scenario.

The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience

Various forms of self-loss have been described as aspects of mental illness (e.g., depersonalization disorder), but might self-loss also be related to mental health? In this integrative review and proposed organizational framework, we focus on self-transcendent experiences (STEs)—transient mental states marked by decreased self-salience and increased feelings of connectedness. We first identify common psychological constructs that contain a self-transcendent aspect, including mindfulness, flow, peak experiences, mystical-type experiences, and certain positive emotions (e.g., love, awe). We then propose psychological and neurobiological mechanisms that may mediate the effects of STEs based on a review of the extant literature from social psychology, clinical psychology, and affective neuroscience. We conclude with future directions for further empirical research on these experiences.

Effectiveness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental Study

Awe, a complex emotion composed by the appraisal components of vastness and need for accommodation, is a profound and often meaningful experience. Despite its importance, psychologists have only recently begun empirical study of awe. At the experimental level, a main issue concerns how to elicit high intensity awe experiences in the lab. To address this issue, Virtual Reality (VR) has been proposed as a potential solution. Here, we considered the highest realistic form of VR: immersive videos. 42 participants watched at immersive and normal 2D videos displaying an awe or a neutral content. After the experience, they rated their level of awe and sense of presence. Participants' psychophysiological responses (BVP, SC, sEMG) were recorded during the whole video exposure. We hypothesized that the immersive video condition would increase the intensity of awe experienced compared to 2D screen videos. Results indicated that immersive videos significantly enhanced the self-reported intensity of awe as well as the sense of presence. Immersive videos displaying an awe content also led to higher parasympathetic activation. These findings indicate the advantages of using VR in the experimental study of awe, with methodological implications for the study of other emotions.

Virtual Reality for Research in Social Neuroscience

The emergence of social neuroscience has significantly advanced our understanding of the relationship that exists between social processes and their neurobiological underpinnings. Social neuroscience research often involves the use of simple and static stimuli lacking many of the potentially important aspects of real world activities and social interactions. Whilst this research has merit, there is a growing interest in the presentation of dynamic stimuli in a manner that allows researchers to assess the integrative processes carried out by perceivers over time. Herein, we discuss the potential of virtual reality for enhancing ecological validity while maintaining experimental control in social neuroscience research. Virtual reality is a technology that allows for the creation of fully interactive, three-dimensional computerized models of social situations that can be fully controlled by the experimenter. Furthermore, the introduction of interactive virtual characters—either driven by a human or by a computer—allows the researcher to test, in a systematic and independent manner, the effects of various social cues. We first introduce key technical features and concepts related to virtual reality. Next, we discuss the potential of this technology for enhancing social neuroscience protocols, drawing on illustrative experiments from the literature.