The name kind of says it all, enjoy a selection of guided meditation experiences in virtual reality (VR) to try and help soothe your mind, body and soul. Guided Meditation VR features over 30 hours of guided meditations on Anxiety, Depression, Maternity, Resilience, Sleep, or Zen, all accompanied by 40+ beautiful environments to escape from the world for a little while.
Helping with that overall sense of calm are more than 300 relaxing audio tracks designed to enhance the meditation experience. Or you can always which the tunes off if you prefer a quieter moment for meditation.
There are further customisation options beyond just music and switching the visuals around. If you like to keep to a set time then you can activate a timer for a more regulated experience. Or why not active the “Float On” mode: “Relax in style as you gently float automatically through beautiful vistas. Motion mode is like a lazy river for your mind,” explains the studio.
That’s already a lot of content but Cubicle Ninjas has more in mind. The team has confirmed it’ll be launching free content monthly, across both meditations and environments.
Guided Meditation VR is available now for Oculus Quest/Quest 2 priced at £10.99 GBP. For further updates on the relaxing app, keep reading VRFocus.
Earlier this year Oculus CTO John Carmack revealed a new video playback technique designed to bring high-resolution video to mobile headsets like Oculus Go. Oculus released a sample of the system and developer Cubicle Ninjas saw a perfect opportunity to adapt the code to their Guided Meditation VR app, resulting in a vastly improved visual experience.
While Guided Meditation VR is rendered in real-time on tethered headsets which are backed by a PC with plenty of processing power, the mobile Oculus Go version of the app, relies on 360 video captures of the virtual environments instead. The monoscopic 360 footage is a far cry from the crisp real-time 3D renderings found on the PC version, making it more difficult to get lost in the app’s otherwise often beautiful environments.
But then along came a new method for playing back 360 video content on Oculus Go. Developed by Oculus CTO John Carmack, with the goal of delivering top quality playback, the technique involves rendering individual strips of high resolution footage depending upon where the user is looking. Doing so allows the more of the device’s video decoding power to be put to work where it matters most (where the user is looking) rather than spreading evenly everywhere.
The technique happened to be very well suited to the static viewpoints of Guided Meditation VR, and the developers went to work adapting Carmack’s sample code to the app.
The result is a major leap in visual fidelity for serene scenes in Guided Meditation VR, which are being slowly updated for the new format. Not only does the new approach bring 3D to the table (which is already a big step forward for immersion over monoscopic video) but the scenes now look nearly as if they’re being rendered in real-time, except with graphics which Oculus Go could never hope to deliver with its limited processing power.
Having built a full Unity integration for the playback system, Cubicle Ninjas claims they’re the first to deploy Carmack’s VR playback tech outside of the re-release of Oculus’ Henry on mobile headsets which was first used to demonstrate the new technique. They’ve also built some extra functionality on top, like the ability to add 3D objects rendered in real-time into the scene, which they use to layer in near-field effects like falling leaves and floating dust.
The move to this new playback tech is a clear net positive for Guided Meditation VR, but it isn’t without some drawbacks. You can sometimes see the higher quality video strips pop into place as you turn your head, but it’s not too bothersome and doesn’t overtly harm the experience. Another downside, which is a necessary conceit based on how the playback system is designed, is that the quality at the top and bottom poles of the scene is clearly lower resolution than the rest. That’s fine when most of what you’re interested in looking at is near the horizon, but in scenes where you’re close to tall trees (which naturally draw your eyes up to the canopy) or interesting things like rocks and grass at your feet, it becomes apparent. Smartly chosen scene compositions will make best use of the new playback method.
Right now the app offers just eight scenes in the special 5K format (out of a library of 100 or so), though the studio says each week they’ll be adding more and update existing scenes with the extra quality. The 5K content is only available on the Oculus Go version of the app; the Gear VR version will see the same quality as before the 5K update.
In addition to letting you immerse yourself in scenic vistas, the app includes hours of guided meditation voiceovers to instruct your relaxation; the studio has confirm to Road to VR that a new series of meditations on Mindfulness will soon debut in the app.
Cancer and heart disease are well recognised causes of ill health, however a recent report by the Institute of Global Health reveals that in terms of the impact on quality of life (measured by Daily Adjusted Life Years, DALYs), mental health conditions affect more people than cancer and heart disease combined.
Furthermore, according to the World Health Organisation, approximately one in four of us will suffer from some kind of mental disorder. Those who don’t might still experience substantial anxiety and stress levels. Mental health disorders and psychological conditions influence our day-to-day activities, and in the U.S., it costs taxpayers about $467 billion in medical expenses ($2.5 trillion globally).
Alternative drug-free techniques like exposure therapy (ET) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) have been shown to be very effective in overcoming conditions like phobias, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) and PTSD amongst others. However, for many healthcare providers, drug based treatments are the mainstay in spite of the potential side effects and marginal benefits.
Virtual Reality and Mental Health
An exciting opportunity to minimise reliance on pharmacological garments for mental health lies in Virtual Reality (VR). Advances in VR technology allow you to enter a world that is authentic enough to trigger your mind and body to behave as if it’s the real world.
Exposure Therapy (ET) using VR is an increasingly popular alternative method amongst some practitioners to administer safe and regulated therapy for patients suffering from mental health. Previously, technological and cost barriers have limited the use of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) to the private sector. The introduction of mobile VR headsets, including the Gear VR, presents an opportunity to use telemedicine for mental health treatment.
The use of VRET could lead to mobile tele-therapy that can work in collaboration with in-clinic VR therapy. Further still, patient-directed VR therapeutic approaches are currently operating that don’t require the therapist to be physically present.
As a relatively new form of treatment, more data from well-designed large trials and clinical evidence is needed to support VR as an effective tool for therapy. Organisations who want to target this market must conduct randomised controlled clinical trials to prove the efficacy of VRET. Once the technology’s effectiveness has been established, there will inevitably be an influx of VR apps attempting to digitally treat mental health issues.
Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
CBT is a psychotherapeutic treatment provided by a therapist specialised in mental health disorders. It involves patients participating in a number of sessions that concentrate on an isolated issue, helping the patient recognise and modify troublesome thoughts, feelings, and patterns that produce negative behaviours and beliefs.
CBT can compliment ET well, which over time, gives patients the confidence to confront their disturbing fears and thoughts, head-on. This reduces the peak anxiety an individual goes through when faced with anxiety triggers.
VR is capable of isolating anxiety-related stimuli with a controlled and safe approach. Even though ET goes hand-in-hand with VR, there are several other psychiatric conditions, including autism (see below) and childhood developmental disorders, where VR might have a more active role in the coming years.
Using Virtual Reality to Treat PTSD
There are approximately 8 million adults in America who suffer from PTSD.
VR has been used to deliver prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD patients since the early 90s, mostly for war veterans and soldiers. This is particularly the case in America, where approximately 8 million adults suffer from PTSD. Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo is a pioneer in this field. His software, named Bravemind, was created in partnership with globally renowned programmers Virtually Better.
The system is comprised of a customisable and controllable VR environment, a vibro-tactile platform that provides sensations relevant to explosions and firefights, and a scent machine that emits smells like garbage, diesel fuel and gunpowder. All of these simulated sensory components are released at precise times to enhance the digital scenario. There have been multiple clinical studies examining the effectiveness and safety of Bravemind. Current ongoing clinical trials are looking into the use of Bravemind VR therapy for sexual trauma in the military.
Recent research discovered that using VR therapy treatment alone was as effective as a mix of medication and VR therapy. In a direct comparison, prescriptions received greater negative results for patients than the VR therapy.
Privates and smaller organisations producing VR therapy software on tight budgets will still have to prove clinical effectiveness if they intend to make an impact on this market.
Severe Paranoia Treatment Using Virtual Reality
In Britain today 1-2% of the population suffers from paranoia, showing significant mistrust in others to the extent of feeling threatened. Sufferers of paranoia when in social situations may use defensive mechanisms such as reduce eye contact or shortening social interactions. At its most severe, avoiding social interactions all together. These only reinforce the paranoia.
Oxford researchers are trialling treatments of hallucinations using VR. Professor Daniel Freeman and colleagues from Oxford University used VR to test if patients can ‘re-learn’ that social situations were safe, and to reduce the use of defence mechanisms when feeling threatened. Projecting images of train rides, a lift or an airplane where one must encounter several people, and gradually making them busier. Using VR to do this allows the patient to come face to face with their fears, and attempt to overcome them. The patients then transfer the techniques used in VR and presented a significant reduction is paranoid feelings, with 20% no longer presenting severe paranoia symptoms.
Treating Anxiety Disorders & Phobias With Virtual Reality
Approximately 40% of disability worldwide is due to anxiety and depression, and in the US costs the country an estimated $42 billion annually. With so many people affected and the significant cost this represents, technology provides an opportunity for treatment decentralisation. Alternatives such as self-guided therapy or telemedicine present low cost and potentially equally effective results.
Phobias influence the behaviour of approximately 19 million Americans. A recent study from 14 clinical trials suggested that Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment (VRET) was effective in treating phobias. Outlined below are some instances of organizations using VR to treat anxiety disorders.
The Virtual Reality Medical Center has a procedure to treat those afraid of being on an airplane. The system consists of hardware and software, as well mock airplane seats, and even a subwoofer system to imitate the sounds, sights, and experience of flying.
Virtually Better developed a program that treats public speaking, heights and thunderstorm phobias. The business is working with top-name schools and research facilities to take on research and development projects about childhood social phobias and anxiety.
CleVR is a Netherlands-based business constructing VR systems to treat the fear of heights, flights and social phobias, all based on scientific research. The organization is conducting experiments to examine the effectiveness of VR as a therapeutic approach to treating social phobias and psychosis. Using dynamic virtual emotion technology, the general environment of such simulated social scenarios can be regulated.
Psious is a business in Spain that provides a toolkit therapists can use to control and administer VRET, in order to treat patients with phobias. The software consists of VR hardware, a programmable software platform, and devices for biofeedback.
VirtualRet is a tool therapists and psychologists can use to treat and evaluate phobias, including flying, public speaking, the sight of blood, heights, and public places. The developers offer a variety of hardware, virtual environments and parallel services.
A business from Sweden named Mimerse is creating psychological tools for VR treatment, and hopes to partner with Stockholm University and the Swedish Government for mass-market use. Their initial program, “Itsy,” is a game concentrating on treating arachnophobia through a digital therapist. In conjunction with the game’s release on the Gear VR app store, a regulated study is currently being administered that compares VRET with Itsy versus actual exposure therapy. Since most people with phobias don’t obtain professional treatment, mass-market games, such as Itsy, may provide tremendous value for people all over the world.
High Functioning Autism and Virtual Reality
Autism can be classified in many ways. At one end of the spectrum there is high functioning autism that has Asperger’s type symptoms. The symptoms include delayed motor skills, limited understanding of abstract language and obsessive interest in specific items or information. VR has the ability to provide a platform where children can safely practice and enhance these social skills.
Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training (VR-SCT) is able to support children and adults at different ages, adjusting the scenarios depending on the stage of development. For children with autism this could include confronting a bully for the first time, or meeting a new peer. Contexts may remain the same, but the content and complexity may differ depending on age.
Recent studies have suggested using VR-SCT can benefit a child’s emotion recognition, social attribution and executive function of analogical reasoning. Patients were able to practice a dynamic range of social encounters with outcomes dependent on their responses. Therefore VR-SCT has the ability to allow for meaningful close-to-life scenarios with immediate feedback, enhancing the child’s development
Virtual Reality for Meditation and Stress Relief
Whether or not an individual suffers from a mental health condition, many of us go through varying levels of anxiety and stress at some point. Meditation is a long-established approach to improve one’s mood and bring about a more relaxed state of mind. Though relaxation and meditation might not be the sole treatment for any specific condition, their health benefits can be positive.
Besides their work on phobias, VirtualRet and Psious also have solutions for relaxation and generalised anxiety. Another tech start up created DEEP, a special meditative VR game where the player walks through a beautiful underwater environment. The character’s movement is operated through the player’s breath. Proper breathing techniques are at the heart of relaxation and meditation, so the customized DEEP controller allows the user’s breathing to correspond with what is shown in the digital environment, and determines how the player navigates through it.
Unello Design have developed several relaxation and meditation apps for Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard. Examples of these are Eden River, a nature adventure, and Zen Zone, a supervised meditation journey. Players can also check out “sound sculptures” with their 3D music apps.
One of the most famous relaxation apps is Cubicle Ninja’s Guided Meditation VR, which provides a quartet of soothing, deeply engaging environments to experience.
Depression and Virtual Reality
Self-compassion therapy for depression at UCL
For those with depression it is often a case of lacking compassion for themselves, and being highly self-critical. Using VR to place patients in situations whereby they can indirectly provide themselves with self-compassion is one method used with promising results. The method asks the patient to provide a child who is sad with support. As the patient does this, the child ceases to cry, and begins responding positively to the compassion. The patient then takes the role of the child, and receives their own compassionate words back to them, reversing the role and effectively practicing self-compassion.
Feedback from the use of VR for treating depression has been very promising, with patients responding with how they transferred their virtual experiences into real-life scenarios. VR presents a low cost alternative therapy, thus increasing the accessibility to depression treatment and support.
Self-compassion therapy for depression at UCL
Shining Light On Mental Darkness
The demand for improved mental health via VR use as been well documented based on years of scientific research. That said, this market remains in its early stages, since the technology, at least so far, as not been perfected. Measuring emotional responses through facial EMG is a well-established research method. With advances in sensor technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence, Emteq are launching a low cost platform for researchers in 2017, with consumer versions shortly thereafter. If you’re interested in learning more, do get in touch.
Cubicle Ninjas developed Guided Meditation VR with one objective in mind: let players relax and meditate no matter where they are.
Guided Meditation VR, a relaxation tool available now for Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, and coming soon to Oculus Rift, removes the user from reality and plants them in one of several different locales, such as a beach called Costa Del Sol, a mountain range known as Snow Peak, a dense forest called Autumnshade, or even a Japanese Zen garden named Hanna Valley. Each one has some hidden surprises as the user looks around, and all of them are accompanied by soothing music, a soft voice acting as the guide, and an overwhelming sense of serenity.
As a huge proponent of ASMR, relaxation, and guided meditation videos on YouTube, I knew this experience would be right up my alley, so I was eager to try this VR relaxation technique. Both the Gear VR and HTC Vive versions of Guided Meditation VR mellowed me out in beautiful ways.
In my time with the Gear VR version I sat in Hanna Valley just outside of the main gate, in the middle of a group of trees that were flanked by a friendly panda bear sitting on a rock. Ambient synth music slowly swelled in the background as a soothing female voice told me how relaxed I should feel and how the world can be a crazy place but we should always take time to relax. I felt refreshed and relaxed, the perfect way to end a typically busy day. However, the Vive version is where the magic lies that got me truly excited for the future of Guided Meditation VR.
The Gear VR version is great, don’t get me wrong, but due to its lack of processing power I can easily tell I’m in a virtual world. Far-away vistas are pixelated, the panda bear friend to my left was completely stationary despite sitting on a small rock, and the grass at my feet moved with the wind but in the same repeated pattern over and over again. All of these nit-picky but immersion-breaking issues can be fixed with more horsepower under the hood, and that’s exactly what the Vive version displays.
The differences between the two are out of this world. I see ocean waves beating on the beach of Costa Del Sol. I watch the trees of Autumnshade bend to a gentle breeze. The visuals alone make it a much more immersive experience, let alone the inclusion of positional tracking so that I can freely lean and move inside the world itself.
Seeing what Guided Meditation VR can do one more powerful VR hardware makes me think the sky’s the limit for VR meditation and relaxation techniques. Where YouTube videos can only paint a picture through sound and flat visuals, these VR meditation sessions could actually transport the user from the stressful life he or she lives into a world of complete serenity for ten minutes at a time. When the audio component is ready the experience will be even more immersive, especially if it uses enhanced audio effects like 3D microphones or surround sound nature effects.
Personal use isn’t even what has me so intrigued about this either; imagine once the medical field gets their hands on this technology in a more robust way. The holistic benefits are obvious, as guided meditation is rooted in new age medical techniques as it is, but surely stress therapists could strap a patient in and measure their heart rates before and afterwards — something the Gear VR version already does. Guided Meditation VR could be more than just a way for a stressed out tech-savvy person to come back down to Earth after a long day; this could be a brand new way to help people who suffer from chronic stress-related disorders.
Cubicle Ninjas might have just set out to relax the world with Guided Meditation VR, but their passion project could become a revolution if handled correctly. I wish I could strap on the Vive right now, all of this prognosticating has my heart racing.
Virtual realities (VR) growth continues unabated, with continual investment being poured into the industry around the world. Some companies have tagged it into their operations while others have changed completely, focusing their entire business on VR. While some might not have existed without VR coming back to the forefront of technology. Virtual Umbrella, a UK-based marketing agency that solely focuses on promoting VR studios and businesses, has itself seen continual growth and expansion, and in light of that, today the agency has announced a re-branding.
Virtual Umbrella was founded in 2015 by Samantha Kingston – Client Director – and Bertie Millis – Managing Director. Since then Amandine Flachs has been brought on as Marketing Consultant.
The re-branding reflects Virtual Umbrella’s focus on the future, moving away from the initial two-person start-up team and into a larger more professionally competitive agency, handling the needs of its VR clients.
Re-designed in partnership with digital design agency Cubicle Ninjas (Guided Meditation, Spectacle), the re-brand consists of of an updated logo, copy, and promotional images across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the Virtual Umbrella website. There’s also an updated tag-line ‘Building brands in emerging technology’, helping promote the company’s attitude towards VR and new technology.
If you’ve not heard of Virtual Umbrella before then you’ll have certainly heard of some of its clients and events – especially if you’re a regular VRFocus reader. These have included Nokia OZO, Kaleidoscope London, VR in a Bar, Gadget Show Live, Psytec Games (Crystal Rift), VRUK Festival, Merge VR, Greenlight VR, Techcrunch Disrupt and many more.
“In the past 18 months, we have been part of some amazing projects, worked with wonderful clients and I could not be more proud of how far we’ve come in a short time,” said Millis. “As our small start-up agency matures, it’s time to build a brand that fits better with future goals.”
VRFocus will continue covering all the latest VR news from around the world, as it happens.
Exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Treating Anxiety Disorders & Phobias With Virtual Reality
Depression and Virtual Reality
