Mental health is a point of great concern to mankind and social anxiety disorder, the most common mental disorder, affects a pers on's life. Models of anxiety can be assessed in the laboratory by administering a carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge to subjects. Past studies have shown that using 7.5% CO2 inhalation for 20 minutes can produce temporary feelings of anxiety and tension in healthy volunteers. However, not all healthy people have responses to a CO2 challenge. This study sought to assess the effect of 7.5% CO2 and a virtual audience on anxiety by augmenting the CO2 challenge model with a concurrent environmental exposure environment through virtual reality (VR) in which people experienced anxiety. Additionally, based on the COVID-19 pandemic environment, its role in social anxiety was explored. The experimental treatments were divided into three groups: first, inhaling 7.5% CO2 and delivering a speech in VR with virtual audiences, second, inhaling air and delivering a speech in VR with virtual audiences, and third, inhaling air and delivering a speech in VR without an audience. Analysis of experimental data from 89 (Male = 36, Female = 53) participants aged 18 to 36 years (M = 22.4, SD = 3.999) revealed that 7.5% CO2 induced acute anxiety, but the effect of virtual audience on anxiety levels was not significant, while COVID-19 did not have a significant effect on baseline levels of social anxiety. Overall, the carbon dioxide anxiety model created in this study was successful and could be used as a new model for anxiety disorder drug research. It also gives new ideas for the treatment of social anxiety