## 4 Synthesis of Studies across the 360-Degree Video and 3D Virtual Environment
### Studies Using the 3D Virtual Environment Group  
Studies using 3D virtual environment as VR mode is tabulated in Table 4. In the 3D virtual environment group, the results in 4 out of 6 studies showed that exposure to virtual nature had comparable effects with exposure to nature in the real world. One study [45] found no change in affect in both the VR condition and the real-world condition but a mild to moderate change in relaxation scores. Given the negative result even in the real-world exposure, we omitted the result instead of treating it as comparable. In this study, [PERSON] et al. [45] described a method for creating a digital twin of a physical forest from a LIDAR scan of the physical forest. They recruited 25 participants, of which 10 participants participated in both the VR forest condition and the real-world forest condition. They found no change in affect in both the VR condition and the real-world condition but a statistically significant but mild to moderate change in relaxation scores. Thus, even though they found no change in effect, the results did not differ between the VR forest and the real-world forest conditions. In another study, [PERSON] et al. [33] compared the restorative effects of a VR forest environment with the restorative effect of real forests. It was found that a short exposure to this environment resulted in significant improvements in mood, vitality, and perceived restoration outcomes. Additionally, the VR environment was generally perceived as restorative as physical forests, indicating that VR could be an effective restorative tool during a typical work or school day. [PERSON] et al. [35] showed that a virtual natural environment of a butterfly garden produced greater restoration than a virtual urban environment and was similar to the physical butterfly garden, which the virtual butterfly garden was modeled after, complete with soundscape and motion of the butterflies. [PERSON] et al. [46] produced one of the few studies that employed physiological measurements, which include ECG and EEG. They compared the full-scale window with blinds open and the full-scale window with blinds closed in an office setting and found comparable evidence based on physiological measurements for virtual and real conditions. [PERSON] et al. [34] conducted an experiment with two virtual conditions: a 3D forest environment and a 360-degree video of the forest, both experienced through HMD and measured both psychological and physiological restoration. They found that in terms of physiological measurements like HR and HRV, real forests were more restorative than virtual forests, even though results were more comparable when using psychological measurements. They also concluded that 3D forests were more restorative than 360-degree videos of the same forests, even though both are experienced through HMD. [PERSON] et al. [47] compared forest bathing both physically and through VR and found that there was no significant difference between the two interventions. Before and after measurements show that in both conditions, the positive and negative affect, subjective vitality, and stress improved. Thus, compared to studies using 360-degree videos for nature exposure, there appears to be a greater consensus among studies using 3D virtual environments that nature exposure in VR has the same efficacy as nature in the real world.