Enhancing Student Well-Being: Virtual Reality for Coping with Exam Stress

University students frequently experience high levels of stress, particularly during assessment situations such as exams and oral presentations. This study explores the development of a virtual reality (VR) tool for coping with and regulating stress in assessment situations. The approach integrates immersive VR experiences with thoughtfully designed physical environments to provide a comprehensive stress-relief solution. The development process included an initial diagnostic phase aimed at identifying students’ preferences for facilitating environments and activities for emotional regulation. A second phase focused on the design of VR scenarios and tools that integrated natural environments, guided relaxation techniques and interactive elements. The last phase implies usability studies and physiological measurements that objectively validated the tools’ effectiveness, while self-reported stress levels provided additional subjective insights. Iterative improvements based on user feedback further enhanced the application’s realism and interactivity. Users reported weaknesses that allowed for improvements related to the level of realism and interactivity of the application. The effectiveness of the tool was confirmed through measurements of a physiological nature, as well as through subjective measures obtained through a validated questionnaire. The findings indicate that VR-based interventions can be useful in promoting emotional competencies in students that are conducive to emotional well-being and mental health.