Viewing Hot Virtual Reality Landscapes Increases Cardiovascular Strain During Exercise in Neutral but not Hyperthermic Environments

Exercise, especially in the heat, forces the body to send a large portion of blood flow to the skin for heat dissipation in addition to skeletal muscle. This physiological challenge increases cardiovascular (CV) strain during exercise, especially as temperature and/or exercise intensity increases. While these physiological responses are well known, there has been limited research on the contribution, if any, that one’s perception of the environmental temperature has on CV strain during hyperthermic exercise. Thus, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that viewing hot virtual reality (VR) landscapes would increase CV strain during exercise in neutral and hyperthermic environments. Nine participants (four females and five males, n=9) were recruited for the study (age: 21.2 ± 1.9 years, height: 172.6 ± 10.5 cm, mass: 71.4 ± 11.3 kg). After a screening visit, participants exercised at a fixed work rate (5 W/kg of metabolic heat production) for 40 minutes in: 1) a neutral environment (21°C, 30% RH) viewing cold VR (N+COLD), 2) a neutral environment (21°C, 30% RH) viewing hot VR (N+HOT), 3) a hyperthermic environment (30°C, 30% RH) viewing cold VR (H+COLD), and 4) a hyperthermic environment (30°C, 30% RH) viewing hot VR (H+HOT). Core body temperature (Tcore: telemetric pill), heart rate (HR: Polar), and thermosensitivity (TS: ASHRAE) were collected throughout the study. CV strain was assessed via mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), change in heart rate from baseline (ΔHR), rate-pressure product (RPP), and the magnitude of cardiovascular drift (%ΔHR minute 10 to minute 40). Our analysis of CV strain in a neutral environment demonstrated significant differences: MAP was greater when viewing hot VR landscapes (N+HOT: 99.9 ± 8.39 mmHg vs. N+COLD: 96.0 ± 6.74 mmHg, main effect: p = 0.036), there were significant VR condition × time interactions for ΔHR (p = 0.002) and RPP (p = 0.014), and CV drift was significantly greater when viewing hot VR (N+HOT: 11.6 ± 3.7% vs. N+COLD: 6.6 ± 3.9%, p = 0.035). This evidence of increased CV strain is seen despite a significantly greater rise in Tcore in N+COLD at the same time points (VR condition × time interaction: p 0.05). Taken together, participants in N+COLD had a significantly higher Tcore yet lower CV strain compared to those viewing hot VR landscapes; there was no significant evidence of increased CV strain during hyperthermic exercise due to VR. This indicates that, to some extent, perceptual heat cues may increase CV demand despite thermal strain being otherwise minimal. Further research is needed to understand how perception may modulate CV and thermoregulatory control during exercise. This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2026 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.