Tracking stress via the computer mouse? Promises and challenges of a potential behavioral stress marker.

Computer mouse tracking offers a simple and cost-efficient way to gather continuous behavioral data and has mostly been utilized in psychological science to study cognitive processes. The present study extends the potential applicability of computer mouse tracking and investigates the feasibility of using computer mouse tracking for stress measurement. Drawing on first empirical results and theoretical considerations, we hypothesized that stress affects sensorimotor processes involved in mouse usage. To explore the relationship between stress and computer mouse usage, we conducted a between-participant field experiment in which N = 994 participants worked on four mouse tasks in a high-stress or low-stress condition. In the manipulation check, participants reported different stress levels between the two conditions. However, frequentist and machine learning data analysis approaches did not reveal a clear and systematic relationship between mouse usage and stress. These findings challenge the feasibility of using straightforward computer mouse tracking for generalized stress measurement.

Development and Pilot Test of a Virtual Reality Respiratory Biofeedback Approach.

Breathing exercises with biofeedback have benefits over breathing exercises without biofeedback. However, the traditional measurement of respiratory signals that is required as part of feeding back the breath incurs high cost and effort. We propose a novel virtual reality (VR) based approach to respiratory biofeedback that utilizes the positionally tracked hand controllers integrated into modern VR systems to capture and feedback the respiration-induced abdominal movements. In a randomized controlled laboratory study, we investigated the feasibility and efficacy of the developed biofeedback algorithm. In total, 72 participants performed a short breathing exercise in VR with or without respiratory biofeedback. The feedback integration resulted in a satisfactory user experience, a heightened breath awareness, a greater focus on slow diaphragmatic breathing and an increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia. This evidences that the novel biofeedback approach is low-cost, unobtrusive, usable and effective in increasing breath awareness and promoting slow diaphragmatic breathing in the context of VR-based breathing exercises. Future studies need to investigate the broader applicability and long-term effects.

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Based on Slow-Paced Breathing With Immersive Virtual Reality Nature Scenery.

This study investigated the benefits of using a virtual nature environment to administer immersive heart rate variability biofeedback (HRV-BF) based on slow-paced breathing. We compared the virtual reality (VR)-based HRV-BF with a standard implementation in a randomized controlled experiment with 60 healthy employees. After a cognitive stress induction, the participants performed a single-session of HRV-BF before repeating the cognitive stressor task. VR-based versus standard HRV-BF was comparable in terms of biofeedback performance (cardiac coherence and cardiac vagal tone). However, the VR-based implementation buffered perceived stress in the subsequent stressor task, increased relaxation self-efficacy more, reduced mind wandering, helped participants focus on the present moment, and helped preserve attentional resources. Potential long-term effects and generalizability need to be assessed in future research.