Virtual reality reproducing outdoor audio-visual environments in nursing homes: exploring the restorative effects of soundscapes on the elderly

As many countries across the globe are fraught with challenges brought by aging populations, the issue of how the quality of the elderly's living environment and their health status are connected has captured widespread public attention. Previous studies have shown that the acoustic environment is closely associated with our health. The existing research on the acoustic environment of nursing institutions mainly focused on indoor environments, while this study aims to explore the restorative effects of the soundscape in the outdoor environment of nursing homes on the elderly. In the experiment, the outdoor audio-visual environment of the nursing home was reproduced in a laboratory environment using virtual reality technology. Subjects are provided with 360-degree visual information via a head-mounted display (HMD) and audio information with head-tracking technology through headphone-based 3D spatialized sound using first-order ambisonics (FOA). A within-subjects design was used to measure changes in participants 'mood levels, attention capacity, physiological and psychological responses, and perceived restorativeness (N=29). By comparing the data from audiovisual experiments and pure visual experiments, the restorative effects of soundscapes on the elderly in three typical outdoor scenarios of nursing homes were analyzed.