How Cyberpsychology and Virtual Reality Can Help Us to Overcome the Psychological Burden of Coronavirus

Living in the time of the coronavirus means experiencing not only a global health emergency but also extreme psychological stress that puts a strain on our identity and our relationships. The coronavirus forces us to manage three different psychological dilemmas simultaneously: the stress of the disease, the disappearance of places, and the crisis of the sense of community. Being able to deal with these three dilemmas at the same time is not easy. However, positive technology5 can help us through the use of an innovative technology, virtual reality (VR). For a long time, the main barrier to a broad use of VR technology was its cost. However, now the simplest and cheapest form of VR comprises nothing but a pair of magnifying lenses and a sheet of cardboard or a plastic box. These headsets sell for 15–30 USD and use a standard smartphone as a tracker and display to generate the three-dimensional (3D) environment. Mobile-based VR is particularly suited to a specific VR content that can be very useful to address the coronavirus stress: 360-degree videos. To help our readers to discover the well-being potential of VR, in this paper we suggest the use of a freely available VR tool: “The Secret Garden.” It is a 10-minute 3D 360-degree video (4K resolution supported) that can be found here—https://www.covidfeelgood.com/—designed to combat stress and counter the disappearance of places and communities generated by the coronavirus.