ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
The scent of serenity: lessons learned from olfactory-enhanced virtual reality for stress reduction in isolated and confined environments.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: Chronic stress and the lack of restorative environments negatively impact behavioral health, especially in isolated, confined, or operational settings. Virtual reality (VR) is a promising behavioral health tool, with virtual nature scenes shown to promote relaxation and improve mood. Enhancing VR with olfactory stimuli to create a multisensory virtual nature experience may amplify these restorative effects. Methods: This exploratory study examined the feasibility of utilizing an olfactory-enhanced VR (OVR) intervention, comparing psychological and cognitive performance outcomes over 2 weeks aboard a US Navy ship for three groups: OVR, standard VR, and a no-intervention control. Twenty-nine participants were assigned to the Control, VR only, or OVR group. Participants completed cognitive performance tasks and surveys measuring affect, perceived stress, presence, and restoration. Results: The OVR group showed significant reductions in negative affect immediately post-intervention ( Discussion: Overall, olfactory-enhanced VR was associated with immediate improvements in negative affect but lacked evidence of extended psychological or cognitive performance benefits under the conditions tested. These findings provide preliminary feasibility evidence supporting further investigations examining multisensory VR as an acute affective-support tool in operational environments. Further research should explore benefit duration, exposure dosage, and individual differences to optimize the effectiveness of VR nature interventions.
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