Spatiotemporal Intervention for Restorative Virtual Environments in Long-Duration Spaceflight
Background: Long-duration spaceflight exposes crew members to persistent psychological stressors including spatial confinement and temporal disorientation for which restorative interventions remain limited. Objective: This study examines whether a spatiotemporally integrated VR environment, combining spatial expansiveness with a naturalistic day-night cycle, produces greater psychological and restorative benefits than a temporally static, spatially enclosed VR alternative. Method: 24 participants completed a between-subjects experiment involving a simulated spacecraft stressor task, followed by assignment to either or dynamic or static VR environment. Outcome measures included affect (PANAS), perceived restoration (PRS-11), sustained attention (SART), temporal awareness, and duration estimation accuracy. Results: No significant differences emerged for affect or sustained attention. Participants in the experimental condition reported significantly greater temporal awareness and demonstrated a trend toward more accurate time estimation. Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that embedding dynamic temporal cues in restorative VR environments may meaningfully support temporal orientation, with implications for intervention design in long duration spaceflight and extreme environments.