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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1556672
Is scenery mandatory for restoration? Attention restoration without visual nature elements
Provisionally accepted
Hiroto Sakimura1*
Tomoko Sugawara1
Kohta Watatsu2Riho Watanabe3Keiko Tanaka2Akira Wakana2Koji Konuma2Yasuhiko Niimi3Tetsuo Kurahashi1
Hiroyuki Sakai1
Katsunori Kohda1Nobuhiko Muramoto1- 1Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories (Japan), Nagakute, Japan
- 2Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan), Toyota, Aichi, Japan
- 3Denso (Japan), Nisshin, Aichi, Japan
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This study examines the contribution of non-visual nature elements in attention restoration, addressing a gap in research that often prioritizes visual stimuli. While previous studies emphasize visual components, this research investigates whether attention restoration can occur in the absence of visual input. A within-subject experiment involving 47 participants compared three conditions: a multisensory nature-like environment (visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile stimuli), a similar environment without visual stimuli, and a control condition with no nature-like stimuli. Results showed a discrepancy between subjective and objective measures. Although self-reported restoration was improved by the existence of visual stimuli, both multisensory nature-like conditions promoted significant physiological benefits (parasympathetic activation and sympathetic deactivation were indicated from heart rate variability and electrodermal activity) with no substantial differences between the presence or absence of visual stimuli.No statistical significance was found in cognitive measures among all conditions. These findings challenge the vision-centric paradigm of restorative environments and highlight the potential of auditory, olfactory, and tactile stimuli to independently foster physiological recovery. By incorporating multisensory elements of nature, this study underscores the importance of non-visual modalities in restorative design. Practical implications include the development of restorative environments for urban spaces or healthcare settings where visual access to nature is limited.
Keywords: Attention Restoration Theory, Indoor environment, multisensory, Electrodermal activity, Heart rate variability
Received: 07 Jan 2025; Accepted: 04 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sakimura, Sugawara, Watatsu, Watanabe, Tanaka, Wakana, Konuma, Niimi, Kurahashi, Sakai, Kohda and Muramoto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hiroto Sakimura, Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories (Japan), Nagakute, Japan
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