Virtual Natural Environments based on Fractal Geometry in Automated Vehicles for Optimizing Restorative Effects

Immersion in virtual nature settings has been shown to have similar restorative effects as exposure to surrogate nature. And the mysteries of natural environments are fractals-a quantifiable parameter. The restorative effects of 3D virtual natural scenes with fractal dimension 2,3 were proved and preferred. In this paper, we aim at the synchronisation between the movement of the fractal patterns designed as visual cues in VR scenes and the movement of vehicles in reality. We focus on four different conditions: moving car with dynamic fractals and static car with static fractals(synchronization), moving car with static fractals and static car with dynamic fractals(non-synchronization). Hence, we will present a study that investigates how do the degrees of synchronization affects the restorative effects of virtual environments based on fractal geometry 2,3. This is a way to improve the in-car experience for passengers, also for automated vehicle occupants.

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