Effects of Biophilic Interventions in Office on Stress Reaction and Cognitive Function: A Randomized Crossover Study in Virtual Reality

Details

• Personal Author:
  Allen JG ; Arfaei N ; Catalano PJ ; MacNaughton P ; Spengler JD ; Yin J
• Description:
  Biophilia hypothesis suggests humans have an innate connection to nature which may affect our health and productivity. Yet we currently live in a world that is rapidly urbanizing with people spending most of their time indoors. We designed a randomized crossover study to let 30 participants experience three versions of biophilic design in simulated open and enclosed office spaces in virtual reality (VR). Throughout the VR session, we measured blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance level and administered cognitive tests to measure their reaction time and creativity. Compared to the base case, participants in three spaces with biophilic elements had consistently lower level of physiological stress indicators and higher creativity scores. In addition, we captured the variation in the intensity of virtual exposure to biophilic elements by using eye-tracking technology. These results suggest that biophilic interventions could help reduce stress and improve creativity. Moreover, those effects are related to both the types of biophilic elements and may be different based on the workspace type (open vs enclosed). This research demonstrates that VR-simulated office spaces are useful in differentiating responses to two configurations and among biophilic elements. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Biomonitoring Sensors Biophilic Design Cognitive Function Eye-tracking Health Effects Human Responses Indoor Environments Office Environments Physiological Stress Virtual Reality Workspace

  More +
• ISSN:
  0905-6947
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057431
• Citation:
  Indoor Air 2019 Nov; 29(6):1028-1039
• Contact Point Address:
  Jie Yin, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
• Email:
  jieyin@fas.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Indoor Air
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:de64841a9a530ee47cef2a8a158877968c7e66b7038377d1cb9057bdfb37f4e634b9d5cd12ecfa2707112b9e72a256ab07fe3623545a34699d19973bca35940a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214788/cdc_214788_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 828.35 KB ]