Luminous vs. nocturnal canopy: a comparative qualitative study of two VR horticultural scenes for relaxation

Virtual reality is rapidly expanding beyond entertainment and gaming into the realm of clinical and environmental psychology, offering unprecedented opportunities for therapeutic intervention. A recent study conducted during an 11-day public exhibition at the Wujie Art Space in Wuhan, China, explored how distinct visual tones and environmental configurations in virtual reality (VR) horticultural spaces impact user relaxation, emotional processing, and psychological wellbeing. Entitled Grounded, the project investigated two contrasting virtual canopy environments—the Luminous Canopy and the Nocturnal Canopy—to determine how environmental lighting, color palettes, plant familiarity, and spatial audio shape user experience.

The findings challenge the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach to digital therapeutics. By demonstrating that user preferences are deeply tied to individual moods, personal backgrounds, and situational contexts, the research highlights the critical need for dynamic, personalized VR environments in future mental health interventions.

Setting the Scene: The Public Exhibition and Methodology

The study took place from May 30 to June 9, 2026, following initial setup days at the Wujie Art Space in Dazhi Wujie, Wuhan. Researchers deployed Pico 4 all-in-one VR head-mounted displays, utilizing their standalone 6DoF tracking capabilities to create an accessible public testing environment without the encumbrance of external PCs. To maximize immersion and minimize outside distractions, the testing area featured a recumbent setup: participants lay comfortably in bed, observing digital plants suspended downward from a virtual ceiling. The physical bed was surrounded by soft fabric drapes, creating a semi-enclosed, private sanctuary within the busy public art space. An external monitor mirrored the headset view in real time, allowing waiting visitors and researchers to monitor the session.

The study employed a rigorous within-subjects, mixed-method design. Fourteen participants, ranging in age from 6 to 58 years (mean age 29.6 years), experienced both VR environments in a counterbalanced sequence to neutralize order effects. Each immersive session lasted between 3 and 5 minutes, separated by a strict 2-min rest interval to mitigate any potential cybersickness or fatigue. Quantitative metrics—including relaxation scores on a 1-to-10 scale and scene preference intensities—were collected alongside qualitative field notes. Because qualitative data served as the primary focus, researchers meticulously documented verbatim participant phrases, emotional expressions, and contextual feedback during and immediately following the sessions.

Contrasting Environmental Configurations: Luminous Versus Nocturnal Canopy

The project deliberately contrasted two multi-sensory atmospheres, allowing researchers to evaluate how holistic visual and auditory configurations influence psychological restoration.

The Luminous Canopy scene was built around a high-lightness, warm-toned palette featuring familiar blossoms such as pink and white daisies, yellow dandelions, and light-blue lavender. Illuminated by simulated bright daylight, the scene leveraged color psychology and Attention Restoration Theory, which posits that natural forms facilitate the recovery of directed attention through "soft fascination." The auditory architecture utilized directional sound sources, featuring bird calls emanating from the left and stream sounds from below, accompanied by upbeat major-key piano and acoustic guitar melodies.

In stark contrast, the Nocturnal Canopy leaned into the surreal and introspective qualities enabled by virtual reality. This scene featured deep-hued, unfamiliar, or entirely imaginary flora, including bioluminescent glowing mushrooms, surreal blue roses, and dark orchids. Bathed in a dark palette of deep green, purple-brown, dark blue, and fluorescent cyan, the environment was lit by simulated moonlight, starlight, and the self-illumination of the mushrooms. The auditory design departed entirely from the Luminous scene, employing a 360-degree surround sound field filled with the hum of night insects, distant wind chimes, and low-frequency minor-key synthesizer pads and double bass ambient music.

Quantitative Results and Participant Preferences

While both environments successfully induced feelings of relaxation, quantitative descriptive analysis revealed a clear preference lean toward the brighter, familiar setting. The Luminous Canopy yielded a mean relaxation score of 7.36 out of 10 (SD = 1.28), while the Nocturnal Canopy achieved a respectable mean score of 6.64 (SD = 1.28). Both environments recorded score spreads ranging from 5 to 9, indicating broad baseline effectiveness.

When asked to choose a definitive favorite, 64.3% of participants (nine individuals) favored the Luminous Canopy, while 28.6% (four individuals) preferred the Nocturnal Canopy, and 7.1% (one individual) remained neutral. Among those expressing a preference, preference intensity was notably high, averaging 8.2 out of 10 for the Luminous Canopy proponents and 7.0 for the Nocturnal Canopy supporters.

Thematic Analysis: Unpacking the Experiential Layers

Through systematic thematic analysis of field notes, researchers identified four interconnected themes that illuminate the psychological mechanisms at play during immersive horticultural therapy:

1. Emotional and Sensory Responses: Participants reported divergent psychological trajectories. The Luminous Canopy evoked feelings of vitality, hope, and childhood nostalgia, largely driven by recognizable flora and uplifting directional audio. Conversely, the Nocturnal Canopy successfully induced calmness, introspection, and tranquility, with participants describing the surreal flora and immersive surround sound as dreamlike and deeply centering.

2. Plant Familiarity and Recognition: A clear psychological division emerged regarding plant familiarity. Universally recognized plants in the Luminous environment anchored participants in a sense of safety, comfort, and cognitive ease. In contrast, the unfamiliar, alien flora of the Nocturnal scene triggered a duality of responses: some users felt a refreshing sense of intellectual curiosity, while others experienced mild apprehension when confronted with strange visual forms.

3. The Safety-Exploration Tension: The study highlighted an inherent psychological tension between seeking safety and engaging in exploration. Familiar, bright environments satisfied immediate safety needs, whereas dark, novel environments encouraged a willingness to explore the unknown, moving users from initial hesitation to profound peace.

4. Contextual Fit and Situational Preference: Perhaps the most vital finding for future application was that user preference was not static. Participants emphasized that their choice depended entirely on their momentary mood and daily life context. Individuals arriving at the exhibition feeling fatigued, overstimulated, or stressed frequently gravitated toward the Nocturnal Canopy as a quiet mental sanctuary. Conversely, those in high-energy moods or with a preference for morning routines favored the bright, revitalizing atmosphere of the Luminous Canopy.

Implications for Future Therapeutic Design

The research team, led by corresponding author Fan Zhang from the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, notes that these findings carry significant implications for the future of digital health and environmental architecture. Traditional mental health applications often rely on a single, generalized nature simulation. However, the diverse psychological responses recorded in this study suggest that effective VR therapeutic tools must embrace personalization.

By accommodating individual differences in circadian rhythm preferences, baseline anxiety levels, and emotional states, future VR systems could dynamically adapt their visual tones, lighting intensities, and auditory landscapes in real time. Furthermore, the introduction of a recumbent posture combined with ceiling-suspended visuals offers a viable blueprint for designing accessibility-focused interventions tailored to individuals with limited mobility or severe fatigue.

Broader Context and Limitations

Supported by the Science and Technology Research Project of the Hubei Provincial Department of Education and the Scientific Research Start-up Fund of the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, this exploratory project lays essential groundwork for integrating environmental psychology with immersive technology.

Nevertheless, the authors acknowledge several methodological limitations. The study relied on a relatively small sample size of 14 participants during an 11-day exhibition, restricting broad demographic generalization. The wide age span (6 to 58 years) introduced age-related variability in technological literacy and emotional articulation that the exploratory design could not statistically isolate. Additionally, because the scenes varied simultaneously across multiple variables—including color, lighting, plant species, and sound design—the observed differences cannot be attributed solely to visual tone. Finally, reliance on single-item relaxation scales and qualitative field notes points to the necessity for future research to integrate clinical psychometric instruments, such as the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), alongside physiological markers like heart rate variability.

Conclusion and Future Directions

The Grounded project demonstrates that virtual reality horticultural environments hold immense potential for psychological restoration, provided their design respects the complex emotional needs of the user. As researchers look ahead, future investigations will likely focus on expanding sample sizes, incorporating clinical populations experiencing diagnosed anxiety or depression, and deploying longitudinal frameworks to track the cumulative effects of repeated VR exposure. By bridging environmental psychology with advanced spatial computing, the development of intelligent, adaptive VR therapy rooms moves one step closer to clinical reality.