Manipulating Stress Responses during Spaceflight Training with Virtual Stressors
Source abstract
Abstract
Virtual reality (VR) provides the ability to simulate stressors to replicated real-world situations. It allows for the creation and validation of training, therapy, and stress countermeasures in a safe and controlled setting. However, there is still much unknown about the cognitive appraisal of stressors and underlying elements. More research is needed on the creation of stressors and to verify that stress levels can be effectively manipulated by the virtual environment. The objective of this study was to investigate and validate different VR stressor levels from existing emergency spaceflight procedures. Experts in spaceflight procedures and the human stress response helped design a VR spaceflight environment and emergency fire task procedure. A within-subject experiment evaluated three stressor levels. Forty healthy participants each completed three trials (low, medium, high stressor levels) in VR to locate and extinguish a fire on the International Space Station (VR-ISS). Since stress is a complex construct, physiological data (heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, electrodermal activity) and self-assessment (workload, stress, anxiety) were collected for each stressor level. The results suggest that the environmental-based stressors can induce significantly different, distinguishable levels of stress in individuals.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Spaceflight effects on biology · Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts · Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Funding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
References (69)
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