Imagine you’re having one of those days at work: stressed, irritable and possibly even angry. Now imagine that in just 10 minutes your whole mood is transformed through a virtual reality/five senses relaxation experience that your company, not only has readily available, but also encourages you to utilise.

Sound like something from a sci-fi movie? Not exactly. While it’s not available just yet, one young scientist has made it his mission to discover how Virtual Reality can reduce stress levels in the workplace. In his quest, Lucas Negro recruited the recruiters at Alexander Appointments to help him find out.

“I wanted to investigate whether new technology, such as Virtual Reality which also utilises a five senses experience, could be a viable stress management solution to relieving stress in the workplace,” said Lucas.

Lucas understands all about workplace pressure. Despite being only 12 years old, he has seen the stress that comes with running a business. His parents, Danijela and Daniel Negro, own and operate the successful recruitment company, Alexander Appointments.

While Lucas wanted to tackle workplace stress, he also understood that employers wouldn’t be keen to let their staff take time extended periods of time away from their work. So, he devised an experience which would take only 10 minutes.

Lying back on a comfortable massage table, covered with a weighted blanket, wearing headphones and Virtual Reality goggles, participants were taken on a virtual journey through clouds, across snow-capped mountains and calm tranquil beaches while being stimulated by peaceful sounds and relaxing aromatherapy scents. Participants could even feel the wind in their hair thanks to the ingenius use of a fan.

“I wanted to make the participants feel as if they were really there,” Lucas said.

Keen to discover whether there would be any difference between the VR/five senses experience and simply meditating or sitting quietly for 10 minutes, Lucas put the participants into two separate groups and then recorded physiological measurements such as blood pressure and heart rate.

“I looked at physiological changes and also workers’ psychological feedback to help me decide which option was the best for stress relief.”

Overall, there weren’t major differences in blood pressure and heart rate (before and after) which, Lucas explains, could be because 10 minutes is not enough time to see physiological changes. However, the feedback from participants showed that those who took part in the VR/5 senses experience felt more relaxed than the participants who simply sat quietly for 10 minutes.

“After reviewing all the results, I think that developing a product which utilises VR/5 senses is definitely worth trying. More research and trial will have to be done, but it is something worth looking at,” Lucas said.