Revived interest in lunar and planetary exploration is heralding a new era for human spaceflight, characterized by frequent strain on astronaut’s mental well-being, which stems from increased exposure to isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) conditions. Whilst Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has been employed to facilitate self-help interventions to mitigate challenges caused by isolated environments in several domains, its applicability in support of future space expeditions remains largely unexplored. To address this limitation, we administered the use of distinct IVR environments to crew members $(n=5)$ partaking in a simulated lunar habitat study. Utilizing a Bayesian approach to scrutinize small group data, we discovered a significant relationship between IVR usage and a reduction in perceived stress-related symptoms, particularly those associated with asthenia (syndrome often linked to chronic fatigue and weakness; a condition characterized by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion that can be amplified in ICE conditions). The reductions were most prominent with the use of interactive virtual environments. The ’Aesthetic Realities’ - virtual environments conceived as art exhibits - received exceptional praise from our participants. These environments mark a fascinating convergence of art and science, holding promise to mitigate effects related to isolation in spaceflight training and beyond

Interpersonal touch remains one of the most puzzling and challenging aspects of communication in virtual reality. A brief touch can be used to influence one's behavior. Our study aimed to analyze the influence of an agent's touch on men's compliance and its psychophysiological correlates. Additionally, we asked whether social cues such as aspect, stereotypically related to masculinity/femininity and social status, modify that effectiveness. To answer these questions, we built an immersive version of the classic decision-making game Ultimatum in which a proposer offers how to split 10 coins and a responder decides whether to accept it or not. In our experiment, we used the game to observe whether men are more compliant to the agent if the offer was preceded by a touch, compared to two control conditions: no stimulus and a buzz. In two experiments, male participants played with four agents each, differing in gender and levels of stereotypically seen masculinity (study 1) and social status (study 2). Before the proposer made an offer, he/she could take additional action, namely, to send a sound (short buzz) or touch the participant. The key factor in securing compliance was the value of the offer made by the agent - the more generous the offer, the higher the chances for its acceptance. Surprisingly, even though the manipulation of the agent's characteristics was successful in both studies, neither touch nor the agent's gender influenced compliance in men. Additionally, the perceived level of the agent's social status slightly increased the chances of the offer being accepted. We registered a heart-rate deceleration in study 1 as a reaction to the agent's touch, which nevertheless did not affect participant's economic decisions. The results are discussed in the context of social characteristics important in agent design and the effectiveness of social influence techniques in virtual reality.