Effects of a Multisensory Blue Space: The Role of Visual and Auditory Cues in a Virtual Coastal Environment

Blue spaces such as coastlines and beaches are linked to psychological well-being, yet regular access to these spaces is often limited. Virtual Reality (VR) offers a way to simulate these environments, and multisensory presentations may enhance their restorative effects. Prior research in a virtual forest setting found evidence for supra-additive effects – where the combined influence of multiple modalities exceeds the sum of their individual effects. This study examined whether a similar effect occurs in a VR coastal scene. Seventy-nine participants experienced one of three five-minute conditions via a head-mounted display: visual-only (360° coastal video), auditory-only (ocean sounds in a neutral room), or combined visual-auditory presentation. Measures of positive and negative affect, affective valence and arousal, and nature connectedness were collected before and after exposure, whereas presence and immersion were assessed only post-intervention. The results reveal that exposure to visual input led to improvements in affective valence and nature connectedness, as well as a reduction in negative affect. The visual-auditory condition outperformed auditory-only exposure but showed no advantage over visual-only, indicating no supra-additive effect. Subjective ratings of beauty, pleasantness, restoration and presence were higher for visual and visual-auditory conditions compared to auditory-only. These findings suggest that in visually rich VR coastal settings, visual cues might dominate restorative outcomes, with limited incremental benefits from matching ocean sounds. The results inform VR nature intervention design, highlighting a potential context-dependent role of multisensory integration.