Search Results (578)

Background/Objectives: Mental health and emotional well-being are critical yet often overlooked in older adults. Immersive virtual reality (VR) may offer novel strategies for promoting relaxation in this population, but the diversity of intervention designs and underlying mechanisms remains insufficiently mapped. This scoping review aimed to systematically examine head-mounted display (HMD) VR interventions for relaxation in older adults, focusing on core scenarios, mechanisms, and conceptual paradigms. Methods: Following the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, comprehensive searches of MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Scopus were conducted for empirical studies of HMD-based VR relaxation interventions in adults aged 60 and older. Data on study characteristics, hardware, intervention scenarios, and reported physiological and psychological mechanisms were extracted and categorized into conceptual paradigms. Results: Twenty-four studies were included, covering diverse clinical and community samples. Four main VR relaxation paradigms emerged: environmental relaxation, guided meditation, psychotherapy integration, and interactive gamified relaxation. Reported mechanisms included parasympathetic activation, multisensory immersion, attentional distraction, positive affect induction, mindfulness, cognitive engagement, and reminiscence activation. Considerable heterogeneity was found in intervention design and outcomes, with mechanisms often inferred rather than directly described. Conclusions: Similar relaxation mechanisms were engaged across paradigms, including hybrid interventions combining multiple approaches, highlighting the adaptability of VR to meet diverse needs. Identifying these four paradigms provides a foundation for future research and development of targeted VR-based relaxation for older adults. Further studies should clarify mechanisms, use standardized physiological outcome measures, and assess long-term benefits of VR relaxation interventions in geriatric populations. Full article

Background: Preterm birth is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Although standardized tools such as the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development—Third Edition (BSID-III) are widely used for early developmental assessment, parent-report measures may offer complementary and cost-effective alternatives. The Developmental Profile 3 (DP-3) is a parent questionnaire with potential utility in preterm follow-up programs. Objective: To compare developmental outcomes of preterm infants at 12 months corrected age assessed using the BSID-III and the DP-3 questionnaires and to evaluate the agreement between these tools across cognitive, language-communication, motor, and social-emotional domains. Methods: Fifty-five preterm infants (mean GA = 30.3 weeks; mean BW = 1388 g) were assessed using both the BSID-III (administered by professionals) and the DP-3 (completed by parents) at 12 months corrected age. Mean scores were computed for each domain, and infants were assigned to the corresponding descriptive categories. The agreement between BSID-III and DP-3 scores was statistically evaluated. Results: Both instruments identified similar developmental trends, with motor development emerging as the most vulnerable domain for preterm infants. DP-3 scores were higher than BSID-III scores in virtually all domains, and absolute intraclass correlation coefficients showed a generally moderate agreement between measurements. The BSID-III identified significantly more infants at risk in the cognitive and social-emotional areas compared to the DP-3. Conclusions: The DP-3 showed fair convergence with the BSID-III, supporting its use as a complementary tool in preterm follow-up. Extending follow-up assessments into later developmental stages will be essential to more accurately determine the predictive validity of the DP-3. Full article

This convergent mixed-methods investigation explores the changing place of Buddhism in Chinese youth lives in the post-pandemic era using data from a national survey (N = 2812) and semi-structured interviews (n = 24). Although traditional religious affiliation is still generally low among participants, Buddhism still serves as an important psychosocial and symbolic resource. In contrast to doctrinal commitments, youth connect with Buddhism through emotional identification, ritual adaptability, and virtual arenas. Results indicate a unique profile of symbolic-affective religiosity, whereby Buddhism is selectively taken up as an emotional regulation tool, moral guide, and existential reassurer. This form of engagement is frequently enabled by digital rituals, smartphone applications, and social media interactions, highlighting the mediatized character of modern spiritual engagement. Subgroup analysis reveals considerable heterogeneity among this population with differences by region, gender, level of education, and religion of family background, which implies that “Buddhist youth” in China must be conceived as a pluralistic and fluid category. The study contributes to scholarship on youth spirituality and post-institutional religion by emphasizing the functional rather than theological dimensions of religious engagement among East Asia’s younger generations. Full article

The integration of virtual reality, digital twins, and spatial behavior-tracking technologies is reshaping cultural exhibition architecture, shifting the design focus from functional efficiency to immersive, user-centered experiences. However, the behavioral dynamics within these interactive environments remain insufficiently addressed. This study proposes a behavior-oriented spatial typology grounded in Bitgood’s attention–value model, which maps the psychological stages—Attraction, Hold, Engagement, and Exit—onto four spatial categories: Threshold Space, Transitional Space, Narrative Focus Space, and Closure Space. Each represents a distinct phase of perceptual and behavioral response along the exhibition sequence. A mixed-method approach was employed, combining eye-tracking experiments with structured questionnaires to capture both physiological reactions and subjective evaluations. Key spatial variables—enclosure (X₁), visual corridors (X₂), spatial scale (X₃), and light–shadow articulation (X₄)—were analyzed using multiple regression to assess their impact on interest and dwell time. The results show that enclosure (α = −0.094; β = −0.319) and light–shadow articulation (α = −0.057; β = 0.156), respectively, decreased interest and increased dwell time, while spatial scale (α = 0.042; β = 0.186) positively affected both. Visual corridors had minimal influence (α = −0.007; β = 0.022). These spatial effects align with the proposed typology: Threshold Spaces support rapid orientation and exploratory behavior, while Transitional Spaces aid navigation but reduce sustained attention. Narrative Focus Spaces enhance cognitive engagement and decision making, and Closure Spaces foster emotional resolution and extended presence. These findings validate the proposed typology and establish a quantifiable link between spatial attributes and visitor behavior, offering a practical framework for optimizing immersive exhibition sequences. Full article

In this perspective article, we introduce Ecocebo as a novel concept describing the modulatory effects of physical environments, whether natural or built, on drug effect. Positioned as a spatial component of the placebo effect, Ecocebo is grounded in evidence-based design principles and proposes that environmental features such as natural light, greenery, spatial geometry, and calming esthetics can significantly influence sensory, emotional, and cognitive processes. These environmental factors may enhance or modify pharmacological responses, especially for analgesics, anxiolytics, and antidepressants. We highlighted how exposure to restorative spaces can reduce pain perception, stress, and the need for medication, paralleling findings in placebo research where contextual and sensory cues influence brain regions linked to emotion and pain regulation. We propose virtual reality (VR) as the most suitable methodological tool to study Ecocebo in controlled and ecologically valid settings. VR allows for the precise manipulation of spatial features and real-time monitoring of physiological and psychological responses. We also propose integrating VR with neuromodulation techniques to investigate brain–environment–drug interactions. Finally, we addressed key methodological challenges such as defining control conditions and standardizing the measurement of presence. This perspective opens new directions for the integration of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions and personalized therapeutic environments to optimize clinical outcomes. Full article

Technological innovation in immersive virtual reality is fostering the development of novel psychotherapeutic interventions in mental health, particularly benefiting populations with limited access to specialized services. This pilot study explores the feasibility, tolerability, and therapeutic potential of an immersive virtual reality-based psychotherapeutic intervention for adolescents and young people with eating disorders in a rural setting. A quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design was used, with a control group (n = 5) and an experimental group (n = 5), applying weekly immersive virtual reality sessions focused on body perception and food exposure. Preliminary results showed good acceptance and a low incidence of cybersickness. However, a reduction in anxiety levels was observed in the experimental group after immersive virtual reality exposure, particularly in trait anxiety, suggesting a potential effect of the intervention on emotional regulation. While these changes were not statistically significant, the direction and magnitude of the effect warrant further investigation. Changes in body mass index were also noted during the intervention. The remotely guided sessions, conducted via fifth-generation mobile network connectivity, demonstrated technical feasibility and encouraging clinical outcomes, even in geographically isolated or underserved areas. These findings support the use of immersive VR as a complementary tool in the early stages of treatment for eating disorders, contributing to improved body perception and emotional self-regulation. This work not only reinforces the applicability of immersive technology in real-world clinical practice but also opens new avenues for the development of personalized, accessible, and emotionally meaningful interventions in child and adolescent mental health. Full article

As an introductory core course in computer science and related fields, “Fundamentals of Programming” has always faced many challenges in stimulating students’ interest in learning and cultivating their practical coding abilities. The traditional teaching model often fails to effectively connect theoretical knowledge with practical applications, resulting in a low retention rate of students’ learning and a weak ability to solve practical problems. Digital twin (DT) technology offers a novel approach to addressing these challenges by creating dynamic, virtual replicas of physical systems with real-time, interactive capabilities. This study explores DT integration in programming teaching and its impact on learning engagement (behavioral, cognitive, emotional) and skill acquisition (syntax, algorithm design, debugging). A quasi-experimental design was employed to study 135 first-year undergraduate students, divided into an experimental group (n = 90) using a DT-based learning environment and a control group (n = 45) receiving traditional instruction. Quantitative data analysis was conducted on participation surveys, planning evaluations, and qualitative feedback. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the DT group exhibited a higher level of sustained participation (p < 0.01) and achieved better results in actual coding tasks (p < 0.05). Students with limited coding experience showed the most significant progress in algorithmic thinking. The findings highlight that digital twin technology significantly enhances engagement and skill acquisition in introductory programming, particularly benefiting novice learners through immersive, theory-aligned experiences. This study establishes a new paradigm for introductory programming education by addressing two critical gaps in digital twin applications: (1) differential effects on students with varying prior knowledge (engagement/skill acquisition) and (2) pedagogical mechanisms in conceptual visualization and authentic context creation. Full article

In today’s volatile business environment, command and control leadership is increasingly inadequate for sustaining engagement, innovation and resilience. This review synthesises peer-reviewed evidence on coaching leadership style (CLS) published between 2000 and 2025. A systematic search across four databases yielded eleven high-quality empirical studies and three meta-analyses. The findings indicate that CLS enhances employee motivation, facilitates skill development, promotes psychological safety and strengthens organisational adaptability, while concurrently advancing leaders’ effectiveness and emotional intelligence. Notably, recent trials demonstrate that both virtual and face-to-face coaching modalities produce comparable performance gains. This review also identifies contextual constraints—such as time intensity and crisis-driven situations—where CLS may be less advantageous. Practical recommendations are offered for embedding coaching behaviours into daily management routines, including phased roll outs, leader as coach training and metrics for monitoring engagement and innovation. Future research should prioritise longitudinal, cross-cultural studies that examine CLS efficacy in digitally transformed, post-pandemic workplaces. Collectively, the evidence positions coaching leadership not as an optional enhancement but as a strategic requirement for organisations seeking sustained competitive advantage. Full article

This study aims to understand the meaning nursing professionals attribute to their lived experiences of providing humanized care within a public hospital setting. Grounded in Jean Watson’s theory of human caring, the research adopts a qualitative, descriptive phenomenological design to capture the perceptions and emotions of nurses regarding humanized care. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with nine experienced nurses, selected through purposive sampling. The interviews, conducted virtually between July and December 2024, were analyzed using Colaizzi’s method and supported by Atlas.ti software. Four main thematic categories emerged: institutional health policies, professional image and identity, strengths and challenges in care, and essential competencies for humanized care. The findings highlight the critical role of empathy, cultural sensitivity, ethical commitment, and emotional presence in delivering compassionate care. Participants emphasized that, beyond clinical procedures, humanized care requires relational and contextual sensitivity, often hindered by institutional limitations and excessive administrative burdens. The study concludes that nursing professionals are key agents in promoting ethical, empathetic, and culturally respectful practices that humanize health services. These insights offer valuable contributions for designing policies and training strategies aimed at strengthening humanized care as a cornerstone of quality healthcare systems. Full article

Industrial building renovation is a sustainable strategy to preserve urban heritage while meeting modern needs. However, how interior material scenes affect users’ emotions, thermal perception, and functional preferences remains underexplored in adaptive reuse contexts. This study used virtual reality (VR) to examine four common material scenes—wood, concrete, red brick, and white-painted surfaces—within industrial renovation settings. A total of 159 participants experienced four Lumion-rendered VR environments and rated them on thermal perception (visual warmth, thermal sensation, comfort), emotional response (arousal, pleasure, restoration), and functional preference. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Wood and red brick scenes were associated with warm visuals; wood scenes received the highest ratings for thermal comfort and pleasure, white-painted scenes for restoration and arousal, and concrete scenes, the lowest scores overall. Functional preferences varied by space: white-painted and concrete scenes were most preferred in study/work settings, wood in social spaces, wood and red brick in rest areas, and concrete in exhibition spaces. By isolating material variables in VR, this study offers a novel empirical approach and practical guidance for material selection in adaptive reuse to enhance user comfort, emotional well-being, and spatial functionality in industrial heritage renovations. Full article

Background/Objectives: The aim was to identify patterns of autonomic and neuroendocrine reactivity to an immersive virtual reality (VR) social-emotional stressor and explore their associations with perceived stress and eating behavior. Methods: This one-group pretest–posttest study included 30 children and adolescents with obesity (15 boys and 15 girls), aged 8 to 17 years. The VR protocol consisted of two consecutive phases: a 5 min relaxation phase using the Forest application and a 5 min stimulation phase using a cognitively engaging VR game designed to elicit social-emotional stress. Physiological responses were measured using heart rate variability (HRV) indices and salivary stress biomarkers, including cortisol and alpha amylase. Subjective stress and eating responses were assessed via visual analogue scales (VAS) administered immediately post-exposure. The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-R21C) was used to evaluate cognitive restraint (CR), uncontrolled eating (UE), and emotional eating (EE). Results: The cortisol reactivity was blunted and may reflect both the attenuated HPA axis responsiveness characteristic of pediatric obesity and the moderate psychological challenge of the VR stressor used in this study. Two distinct autonomic response patterns were identified via exploratory factor analysis: (1) parasympathetic reactivity, associated with increased RMSSD and SDNN and decreased LF/HF, and (2) sympathetic activation, associated with increased heart rate and alpha-amylase levels and reduced RR intervals. Parasympathetic reactivity was correlated with lower perceived stress and anxiety, but also paradoxically with higher uncontrolled eating (UE). In contrast, sympathetic activation was associated with greater cognitive restraint (CR) and higher anxiety ratings. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that immersive VR game exposure elicits measurable autonomic and subjective stress responses in children and adolescents with obesity, and that individual differences in physiological reactivity are relevantly associated with eating behavior traits. The findings suggest that parasympathetic and sympathetic profiles may represent distinct behavioral patterns with implications for targeted intervention. Full article

Increasing automation and the rapidly growing use of robots in industrial as well as social areas result in a greater need for research regarding collaboration between humans and robots. Key factors for a safe and successful combination of human and robot abilities include acceptance and trust in the robot. In order to prevent physical and psychological harm to humans, reducing these negative emotions and increasing trust and acceptance are essential. One way to achieve this is through the use of virtual training methods and environments. However, current research scarcely covers this approach. Therefore, this research focusses on an experimental approach to investigate emotional and psychophysiological (ECG, EDA) reactions while performing a collaborative assembly task (screwing) with an industrial robot in a real and a virtual setting, respectively. The study sample consisted of 46 participants (23 female) with an age range from 20 to 58 years. The results of the analyzed subjective and objective psychophysiological (cardiovascular and electrodermal responses) measures provide more information regarding the suitability of virtual trainings for human–robot collaboration. Differences in task complexity were measurable in both virtual and real environments. Furthermore, gender differences were also shown. Full article

Against the backdrop of the rapid advancement of intelligent speech interaction and holographic display technologies, this paper introduces an interactive holographic display system. This paper applies 2D-to-3D technology to acquisition work and uses a Complex-valued Convolutional Neural Network Point Cloud Gridding (CCNN-PCG) algorithm to generate a computer-generated hologram (CGH) with depth information for application in point cloud data. During digital human hologram building, 2D-to-3D conversion yields high-precision point cloud data. The system uses ChatGLM for natural language processing and emotion-adaptive responses, enabling multi-turn voice dialogs and text-driven model generation. The CCNN-PCG algorithm reduces computational complexity and improves display quality. Simulations and experiments show that CCNN-PCG enhances reconstruction quality and speeds up computation by over 2.2 times. This research provides a theoretical framework and practical technology for holographic interactive systems, applicable in virtual assistants, educational displays, and other fields. Full article

This study presents a systematic review regarding the use of augmented reality and virtual reality in exergaming by analyzing studies published during 2010–2025. This study focuses on providing an overview of the field and on examining and synthesizing the findings of related studies to identify the contexts, applications, and domains in which extended reality exergames are being used and the related implications, benefits, and challenges. Based on the results, augmented reality and virtual reality exergames offer immersive, enjoyable, engaging, and personalized experiences that support physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being, while enhancing physical performance, cognitive functioning, psychological outcomes, and mental health. They promote motivation, active lifestyles, and sustainable health behaviors across diverse populations, including older adults, individuals with disabilities, and neurological groups, as well as the general adult and youth populations. Although emphasis is placed on their use in physical and cognitive rehabilitation and treatment, they also show great potential to be effectively used in different domains, including education. Among the technologies examined, the significant majority of studies focused on virtual reality exergames, a limited number of studies involved augmented reality, and only a few studies examined mixed reality, extended reality, and the metaverse. Finally, nine main topics were identified through topic modeling, providing a clear representation of the core themes within the literature. Full article

Immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have emerged as powerful tools in cultural heritage education and preservation. Building on prior work that demonstrated the effectiveness of gamified XR applications in engaging users with heritage content and drawing on existing studies in neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this study explores how immersive experiences support multisensory integration, emotional engagement, and spatial presence—all of which contribute to the deeper encoding and recall of heritage narratives. Through a theoretical lens supported by the empirical literature, we argue that the interactive and embodied nature of AR/VR aligns with principles of cognitive load theory, dual coding theory, and affective neuroscience, supporting enhanced learning and memory consolidation. This paper aims to bridge the gap between technological innovation and cognitive understanding in cultural heritage dissemination, identifying concrete design principles for memory-driven digital heritage experiences. While promising, these approaches also raise important ethical considerations, including accessibility, cultural representation, and inclusivity—factors essential for equitable digital heritage dissemination. Full article