Virtual forests and human well-being: A systematic review of forest characteristics and psycho-physiological responses

Virtual reality (VR) is emerging as a tool to study the well-being benefits of forest exposure under controlled conditions, with potential implications for forest planning and policy design. This paper systematically reviews 34 VR-based studies to assess how forest features are represented and how their effects on human well-being are measured. The analysis reveals significant inconsistencies between VR-based evidence and established knowledge from real forest settings. Most studies rely on simplified forest representations, with limited attention to key structural attributes such as density, understory, and deadwood, despite their relevance for recreational preferences and ecosystem services. Additionally, mixed and coniferous forests—often preferred in real contexts—are underrepresented. Multisensory components remain only partially integrated, with sound widely used but other sensory inputs largely neglected. From a policy perspective, these limitations reduce the transferability of VR findings to real-world forest management. At the same time, VR offers advantages in terms of experimental control and the ability to isolate specific forest features, supporting causal inference. The review also highlights a mismatch between indicators used in VR and those adopted in field studies, which complicates comparison and policy interpretation. Overall, VR represents a promising but still underdeveloped tool for informing forest policy aimed at enhancing human well-being. Future research should prioritize more realistic and standardized forest representations, improved multisensory integration, and closer alignment with policy-relevant indicators to strengthen the applicability of VR-based evidence.