Does virtual reality enhance the management of stress when paired with exercise? An exploratory study.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the psychological benefits of virtual reality paired with aerobic exercise in a laboratory setting. In this study, 154 introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 20-min conditions (a) walking outside around campus, (b) walking on a laboratory treadmill combined with virtual reality to experience both virtual and actual exercise, (c) walking on the laboratory treadmill without virtual reality, and (d) experiencing a virtual walk with virtual reality without actual exercise. Our results suggest that virtual reality may enhance some of the psychological benefits of exercise when paired with actual exercise under certain conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved