{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,15]],"date-time":"2026-04-15T09:04:49Z","timestamp":1776243889028,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,30]],"date-time":"2020-10-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1604016000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chromotherapy rooms are comfortable spaces, used in places like special needs schools, where stimuli are carefully selected to cope with stress. However, these rooms are expensive and require a space that cannot be reutilized. In this article, we propose the use of virtual reality (VR) as an inexpensive and portable alternative to chromotherapy rooms for stress relief. We recreated a chromotherapy room stress relief program using a commercial head mounted display (HD). We assessed the stress level of two groups (test and control) through an EEG biomarker, the relative gamma, while they experienced a relaxation session. First, participants were stressed using the Montreal imaging stress task (MIST). Then, for relaxing, the control group utilized a chromotherapy room while the test group used virtual reality. We performed a hypothesis test to compare the self- perceived stress level at different stages of the experiment and it yielded no significant differences in reducing stress for both groups, during relaxing (p-value: 0.8379, \u03b1 = 0.05) or any other block. Furthermore, according to participant surveys, the use of virtual reality was deemed immersive, comfortable and pleasant (3.9 out of 5). Our preliminary results validate our approach as an inexpensive and portable alternative to chromotherapy rooms for stress relief.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s20216211","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,30]],"date-time":"2020-10-30T21:34:47Z","timestamp":1604093687000},"page":"6211","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Virtual Reality as a Portable Alternative to Chromotherapy Rooms for Stress Relief: A Preliminary Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6684-9734","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel A.","family":"Vaquero-Blasco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Signal Theory, Telematics and Communications, University of Granada, Calle Periodista Daniel Saucedo Aranda, s\/n, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Research Centre for Information and Communications Technologies (CITIC), University of Granada, Calle Periodista Rafael G\u00f3mez Montero, 2, 18014 Granada, Spain"}]},{"given":"Eduardo","family":"Perez-Valero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre for Information and Communications Technologies (CITIC), University of Granada, Calle Periodista Rafael G\u00f3mez Montero, 2, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Computer Architecture and Technology, University of Granada, Calle Periodista Daniel Saucedo Aranda, s\/n, 18014 Granada, Spain"}]},{"given":"Miguel Angel","family":"Lopez-Gordo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Signal Theory, Telematics and Communications, University of Granada, Calle Periodista Daniel Saucedo Aranda, s\/n, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Nicolo Association, Churriana de la Vega, 18194 Granada, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4084-6241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christian","family":"Morillas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre for Information and Communications Technologies (CITIC), University of Granada, Calle Periodista Rafael G\u00f3mez Montero, 2, 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Computer Architecture and Technology, University of Granada, Calle Periodista Daniel Saucedo Aranda, s\/n, 18014 Granada, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ctim.2019.08.025","article-title":"The Mechanistic Basis of Chromotherapy: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives","volume":"46","author":"Azeemi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Complement. 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