The Young Adults' Experiences With Virtual Reality (YAES VR) Study

Launched by NYU LANGONE HEALTH · Mar 31, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The Young Adults' Experiences With Virtual Reality (YAES VR) Study is looking at how virtual reality (VR) food advertisements affect young adults' eating habits and feelings of hunger. The study will compare two groups: one that sees VR food marketing and another that experiences VR content without food. Researchers want to understand if there are differences in how Black and white young adults respond to these marketing techniques.

To participate, you need to be between 18 and 24 years old, identify as Black or white, and live in the NYC area. You should have normal or corrected vision and be comfortable moving around in a virtual reality setting. The study will last about two hours during a single visit, and you’ll be asked to provide consent before participating. Please note that if you have a history of motion sickness, specific dietary restrictions, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, you may not be eligible for this study. This research aims to provide insights into how food marketing affects young adults' choices and could help improve health outcomes in the future.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. 18-24 years old;
• • 2. self-identify as Black or white in order to determine racial/ethnic differences in responses to unhealthy VR-based food and beverage marketing;
• • 3. self-report normal or corrected-to-normal vision from glasses or contacts;
• • 4. self-report comfort and ability to walk around within a VR paradigm;
• • 5. able to read, write, understand, and respond to all study materials (including the VR paradigm) in English
• • 6. residing in the NYC-metropolitan area in order to be available for in-person study
• • 7. capacity and willingness to provide consent
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. report a history of disorders causing motion sickness or have a history of significant motion sickness, which could be triggered within the VR paradigm
• • 2. self-report dietary restriction, such as food allergies or veganism, which may lead to different effects when exposed to food marketing;
• • 3. Self-report disliking 50% or more of the snacks that will be offered during the laboratory test snack as determined by a score of 5 or less on the food preferences questionnaire, which may have a confounding effect on consumption;
• • 4. report being pregnant or breastfeeding, which may affect hunger;
• • 5. smoke or consume tobacco, which decreases salivary flow; or
• • 6. self-report being very hungry based on 100 mm VAS hunger rating, which minimizes the burden to participants to fast prior to the visit and maximizes the ability to detect differences between groups.Those excluded for being very hungry will have the option of returning to the visit on a different day.