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Validation of VR-based Immersive High-altitude Scene in Inducing Stress Response

Cognitive impairment under stress is a topic of concern in the field of human factors. Compared to traditional stress-inducing paradigms, the current study aimed to establish a repeatable and easy-to-operate stress-inducing paradigm and verify its effectiveness in inducing an individual’s stress response. A VR-based immersive high-altitude scene and a corresponding simulated long prop was created and three stress-inducing tasks (“experiencing the high-altitude”, “rescuing the cat”, and “avoiding flying birds”) were designed. A cognitive task (n-back) was nested into the VR scene as well to assess the effects of stress on the cognitive performance. Participants were asked to accomplish the three stress-inducing tasks on the long board and the same n-back task before and after the stress. Both reported stress level and salivary cortisol level were collected. Results showed that the current VR-based immersive high-altitude scene was able to induce an individual’s stress response according to both subjective and objective indices, which could reach the similar level as that of the previous VR-based Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) paradigm.