2nd Edition of Public Health World Conference (PHWC) 2026

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and the increase in everyday tension in modern society have intensified individuals’ psychological stress, drawing growing attention to the importance of psychological restoration through natural environments. Coastal landscapes, in particular, are recognized as representative natural settings that can promote psychological stability and recovery through their openness and naturalness. Recently, attempts have been made to experimentally investigate human responses to real natural environments using virtual reality (VR) however, studies empirically analyzing the effects of East Coast seascapes on electroencephalography (EEG) changes remain limited. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effects of VR-based viewing of East Coast seascapes on EEG responses and to explore the restorative potential of coastal landscapes.

The stimulus videos were produced based on coastal landscapes recorded on-site in November using an Insta360 X4 camera. The collected videos were edited using Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro to correct and remove visual disturbances such as people and birds. Each experimental session began with a 20-second gray screen, followed by a 1-minute coastal video, with a 10-second gray screen inserted between stimulus videos to reduce interference caused by continuous visual exposure. The stimuli were categorized into four coastal landscape types: sandy coast with weak waves, mixed rocky-sandy coast with weak waves, sandy coast with strong waves, and mixed rocky-sandy coast with strong waves. A total of 20 university and graduate students participated in the experiment, which was conducted in an indoor booth using a Meta Quest 3 VR headset. Prior to the main experiment, participants performed a Stroop test while wearing the VR headset to more precisely assess stress-reduction responses, during which baseline EEG was recorded. EEG signals were collected using 16 channels and processed with Laxtha TeleScan.

Analysis of the four coastal landscape types showed that alpha wave activity increased in all conditions compared with baseline, whereas beta and high beta wave activity tended to decrease. In addition, RAB (Ratio of Alpha to Beta) and RAHB (Ratio of Alpha to High Beta), which indicate the relative ratios of alpha activity to beta and high beta activity, also showed an overall increasing pattern, suggesting that VR-based viewing of coastal landscapes may induce positive responses associated with psychological stability and relaxation. This tendency was observed consistently across overall coastal landscape conditions rather than being limited to a specific type. In particular, the most prominent changes were found in the strong-wave mixed rocky-sandy condition, where post-exposure alpha activity was highest, while beta and high beta activity were lowest, indicating a relatively stable response. Meanwhile, even under the relatively mild stimulation condition of weak waves and sandy coast, positive changes were observed in 15 of the 20 participants for alpha and RAB, and in 12 participants for RAHB and RST, suggesting that general coastal landscape viewing may also be associated with a certain level of restorative response. Furthermore, mean comparisons by wave type indicated that strong waves produced greater stress-reduction effects than weak waves, while comparisons by landscape type showed that landscapes including rocky elements produced greater effects than sandy landscapes.

This pilot study quantitatively demonstrated through EEG analysis that viewing East Coast coastal landscapes may have a positive effect on stress reduction.