Virtual nature - The future effects of information technology on our relationship to nature

In the future, virtual reality technology will allow people to experience n ature in a simulated environment-virtual nature. This article examines the implications of the availability of virtual nature experiences in three res earch studies. The first study showed that people would be interested in ow ning a virtual nature system and have a variety of expected uses for it. Th e second study showed that the commercial media's presentation of nature te nds to cause people to devalue their emotional experience of local natural areas. The third study showed that one of the effects of simulated nature e xperiences is to increase support for the preservation of national parks an d forests, but it decreases support for the acquisition and preservation of local natural areas. Overall, these results suggest some of the dangers of the increasing use of information technology to simulate environments for people to experience. Widespread use of virtual nature could reduce support for the preservation of local natural environments, and these environments play a key role in the global ecology.