Impact of Gamified Interaction with Virtual Nature on Sustained Attention and Self-Reported Restoration — A Pilot Study

Interaction with nature in virtual reality has been shown to induce similar restorative benefits as interaction with real-life nature. Drawing from Attention restoration theory, restorative benefits from being in virtual nature are likely to be improved through greater active engagement techniques with specific virtual natural features. Gamification is the process of adding game design elements in non-game scenarios in order to improve engagement and motivation. In the present pilot study, six participants completed either a gamified interaction with virtual nature, one where game design elements had been added in order to improve engagement with specific virtual nature features and thus possibly further facilitating sustained attention and self-reported restoration, having them pick plants and gain rewards such as a higher level in return, or a non-gamified task, one where they explored the virtual nature environment and looked at plants at their own pace without any game design elements. Gamified interaction improved sustained attention restoration more than non-gamified interaction. Additionally, gamified interaction was also shown to have reduced negative effect in self-reported restoration more than non-gamified interaction. While there are still several limitations, gamified interaction with virtual nature seems to offer vast potential as an engagement technique in improving sustained attention and self-reported restoration.