The Musical Trail of the Ruisseau Fleuri : Assessment of Emotional Responses

This study will examine how people feel after using the Musical Trail of the Ruisseau fleuri at the Montreal Botanical Garden and how they experience the mobile application. The researchers want to find out whether the experience is followed by immediate changes in emotions and feelings of connection with nature, and whether the application is easy and enjoyable to use.

The Musical Trail combines a walk through the garden with music created from electrical signals previously recorded from plants. These signals were converted into musical material and used to compose the music. Participants access the application on their own smartphones by scanning a QR code. As they explore the trail and identify or select plants, the music changes. Short texts also provide information about selected plants.

The main study will include 84 adults, with a target of 28 participants in each of three age groups: 18-34 years, 35-59 years, and 60 years or older. Participants must understand spoken and written French and be able to walk for approximately 20 minutes without sitting. An additional exploratory group of Montreal Botanical Garden employees is also planned.

Before their visit, participants will provide information about their background, their contact with nature, their concerns about environmental change, and feelings of distress related to changes in familiar environments. At the garden, they will receive instructions and use the application independently during an approximately 20-minute walk. A research team member will observe how they use it and remain available for technical assistance.

Immediately before and after the walk, participants will complete short questionnaires about how pleasant or unpleasant they feel, how calm or activated they feel, specific positive and negative emotions, and their sense of connection with nature. After the experience, they will also answer questions about the application, including its ease of use, musical and artistic content, difficulties encountered, and suggestions for improvement.

The researchers will compare questionnaire responses before and after the experience and explore differences between age groups. They will also examine whether participants' characteristics and existing environmental concerns are associated with their emotional responses. Observations and written feedback will help identify barriers to using the application and guide improvements to a future version.

All participants will receive the same Musical Trail experience. There is no control group. The study will therefore describe changes associated with the experience, without establishing whether the application itself caused those changes.