Inclusion Criteria:

• Able to understand the goals of the study and provide informed consent.
• Any hospitalized patient scheduled for a first-time sternotomy or thoracotomy under the care of Mayo Clinic cardiovascular inpatient service or thoracic inpatient service admitted after 1 February 2020, who is not excluded due to criteria listed below.
• Between the ages of 21 and 80 years old.
• English speaking.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to consent to study due to cognitive difficulty.
• Current diagnosis of epilepsy, dementia, or other neurological disease that may prevent use of virtual reality (VR) hardware and software.
• Sensitivity to flashing light or motion.
• Patients who received anxiolytic drugs or sedatives within the preceding 24 hours.
• Recent stroke.
• Post-transplant patient, or pre-transplant patient with severe illness.
• At the time of in-room virtual reality (VR) administration, patient on ventilator, is receiving BiPAP or CPAP, or other breathing assistance equipment.
• Injury to the eyes, face, neck, or arms that prevents comfortable use of VR hardware or software, or safe use of the hardware (e.g., open sores, wounds, or skin rash on face).
• Non-English speaking.

Eligibility last updated 7/1/22. Questions regarding updates should be directed to the study team contact.