Victoria Interrante
Harnessing the Potential of Virtual Reality-Based Nature Immersion to Improve Wellbeing
Victoria Interrante, University of Minnesota
Abstract
Significant research, since the mid-1980s, has associated both short- and long-term exposure to natural outdoor environments with multiple benefits to physical and mental health and well-being. Over the past 5-10 years, a growing body of research has been exploring the potential of virtual reality-based nature immersion to deliver similar benefits in situations where access to real-world nature isn’t possible. In this talk, I will review some of my lab’s recent research in this topic area and outline a comprehensive agenda for future work.
Biography
Victoria Interrante joined the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1998 as an assistant professor and was later promoted to a professor in 2015. She was named a McKnight Land Grant Professor in 2001. Before coming to the University, Interrante served as a research assistant at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 1984 and as a staff scientist at the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering from 1996-98. In 1999, she received the National Science Foundation’s PECASE Award and was inducted into the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy in 2022.