DOI: 10.34894/1bbvzl
title: Smell-e Technology: Validating immersive multisensory VR food environments to study food choice

description: The key objective of the research was to empirically examine the validity of immersive multisensory VR (food) environments for modeling real-world food cue responses [FCR]. We conducted a lab-based "proof-of-principle" study to systematically compare individuals’ FCRs (i.e., self-reported craving and salivation levels) between a unisensory (vision only) VR environment, multisensory (vision + olfaction) VR environment, and a comparable real-life setting. Furthermore, we investigated possible mechanisms (i.e., presence) underlying FCR-enhancing effects of a multisensory VR environment.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;

Research Questions:
&lt;ol&gt;
&lt;li&gt;To what extent do individuals’ psychological (i.e., subjective craving) and physiological (i.e., salivary volume) responses to food cues (versus non-food cues) differ between a unisensory (vision only) VR environment versus a multisensory (vision + olfaction) VR environment versus a comparable real-life setting? 
&lt;li&gt;What mechanisms underlie (indirect) FCR-enhancing effects of the multisensory VR environment?
&lt;/ol&gt;
This lab-based study had a within-subjects cue exposure paradigm with a 2 (Stimuli Type: Non-food vs Food) by 3 (Exposure Mode: Unisensory VR vs Multisensory VR vs Real-life) factorial design. In total, there were 6 experimental conditions. Participants attended one screening session (~10 minutes) and one lab-based test session (~45 minutes) at the university, consisting of the six experimental conditions in a (pseudo)randomized order. During the test session, participants performed a cue exposure task in both virtual and real-life conditions, and answered a series of questionnaires.
description: Data files:<br>

SMELLETECHNOLOGY_Dataset_FINAL– cleaned dataset for all participants in all experimental conditions
CodingScheme_AdditionalExplanation_Dataset – additional explanation for some variable labels and values in the final dataset
The following are raw data files (Excel/csv) from the Qualtrics questionnaires during lab test sessions, grouped per randomization order: <br>
RAOrder_1_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_2_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_3_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_4_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_5_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_6_QualtricsSurvey
The following are raw data files (Excel/csv) from the screening session<br>
Screening_QualtricsFile<br>
SniffinSticks_AnswerExcelSheet


Supplemental material

InformedConsent: Informed consent form (in English)
TestSession_Questionnaires: All study questionnaires used (during the lab test session)

<br>
Structure data package<br><br>
Data files

Data files folder &gt; Cleaned datasets &gt; SMELLETECHNOLOGY_Dataset_FINAL
CodingScheme_AdditionalExplanation_Dataset
Data files folder &gt; Raw Qualtrics data files &gt; Lab test session &gt;<br>
RAOrder_1_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_2_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_3_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_4_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_5_QualtricsSurvey<br>
RAOrder_6_QualtricsSurvey
Data files folder &gt; Raw Qualtrics data files &gt; Screening session &gt; Screening_QualtricsFile<br>
SniffinSticks_AnswerExcelSheet


Supplementary Materials

Supplemental Materials folder &gt; InformedConsent<br>
TestSession_Questionnaires
description: Ethical clearance: This study was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (Tilburg University; file number: REDC 2023.62).<br><br>
Preregistration: The hypotheses, study design, and analysis plan were preregistered (https://osf.io/6hjax)<br><br>
Production date: Begin date: 15-01-2024 to End date: 31-03-2024<br><br>
Method: Lab-based experiment, consisting of a cue exposure task and series of questionnaires (Qualtrics)<br><br>
Universe 70 healthy university students (59% female; MAge = 20.71 years) from diverse educational tracks took part in the research. All participants were fluent English speakers and screened on certain eligibility criteria. <br>
See pre-registration for specific inclusion and exclusion criteria.<br><br>
Country / Nation: The Netherlands.
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The spreadsheet files (one-sheet xlsx files) are also present in their preferred file format csv. Preferred formats are file formats of which DANS – based on international agreements – is confident that they will offer the best long-term guarantees in terms of usability, accessibility and sustainability. For more information on preferred file formats, see https://dans.knaw.nl/en/file-formats/.
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Data cannot be used for commercial purposes (see license).