The Impact of Micro Interaction with Natural Green Elements Through Virtual Reality on Attention Restoration (In a High-Rise Residential Building's Lobby)

Based on a study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the average hours per day spent in primary activities for the urban population, people spend most of their time at home, at work, and commuting between these two locations. The urban population of the world has multiplied from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018. Today, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Projections show that urbanization, the gradual shift in the residence of the human population from rural to urban areas, combined with the overall growth of the world's population, could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050. This population needs accommodations. One way of responding to this demand is high-density developments (densification). Densification means no front or back yards and limited access to a natural environment on the property. As a result, the benefits that citizens could gain from those interactions have diminished. Access to natural environments such as public open spaces and parks provide people with numerous health benefits. Access to vegetated areas such as parks, open spaces, and playgrounds is associated with multiple physical and mental health benefits such as positive perception about the living environment, reduced stress levels, reduced depression, and more (Kaplan, 2001). Recent research has also demonstrated that the green landscape can promote the cognitive functioning of the human brain and help people recover from attentional fatigue. Attention Restoration Theory (ART) indicates that sustained attention is one of the critical factors in successful cognitive functioning. It is also one of the cornerstones for maintaining focus, ignoring distractions, and constructive human interactions.  So, it is essential to increase individuals’ interaction with nature and maximize the benefits that citizens can receive during their limited interaction with natural elements. This research aims to explore: “Do daily micro-interactions with natural green elements can induce similar mental reactions in people as it would occur after their presence in nature?”. An experimental study was conducted to answer this question. Researchers compared the results of the sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) from 150 residents of a high-rise residential building. Participants were randomly assigned to experience one of the two versions of a building’s lobby modeled in a 3D virtual reality environment, one with and one without natural green elements. Two lobbies were modeled in Rhinoceros 3D software. The experience was conducted by using immersive virtual reality (VR) goggles. Participants completed the cognitive task twice. Once before experiencing the lobby to establish the baseline of their sustained attention and once after that. Participants of each group also filled out the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) after experiencing the building lobby. PRS was used to evaluate participants’ perception of the lobby’s attention restoration potential. The results indicate that those who interacted with natural green elements in the building lobby for 50 seconds obtained a higher SART score and demonstrated fewer cognitive errors. Also, only the people in the group with the natural green elements in the lobby evaluated the space as being capable of having a positive impact on their attention level. It can be argued that this research outcome is a testimony of the positive effect of micro-interaction with natural green elements on people’s perception of their living environment, attention restoration, and increased sustained attention.