Virtual Reality Meets Landslides: Understanding Human Responses to Improve Disaster Readiness

Landslides pose a risk to lives and infrastructure, yet human responses are understudied. We employed virtual reality here to simulate landslide risk and measure perceived risk and lighting impact on driving performance and arousal. Eighty subjects drove in VR for four conditions: high versus low landslide risk and day versus night. We recorded collisions, speed, course deviation, and heart rate variability (mean RR interval, PNN50, Sympathetic Nervous System Index). High landslide risk increased collisions, speed, and course deviation, demonstrating risk-induced control impairment. Surprisingly, HRV changes were associated with lighting: nighttime driving increased sympathetic activation and decreased mean RR, reflecting increased arousal. Results imply visual demands might contribute more to autonomic response than hazard probability. Employing immersive VR with psychophysiological measures provides a novel approach to investigate disaster cognition and create training tools for improved hazard navigation and stress regulation.