I consider myself an avid meditator, having been on retreat with great teachers like Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Couple this with having an internal medicine doctor and psychiatrist for parents, and you can see why the concept of using physiological signals to increase states of mindfulness in VR would appeal to me. To pull it off, I had to build custom hardware like a breathing sensor and fuse the information with sensors that we used in previous projects like an eeg, heart rate and GSR on custom wired chips. It interfaced with ableton and an unreal VR experience in Oculus to create Strata.
From the Mill Description:
STRATA is a responsive VR experience driven by biometrics. #MillSTRATA tunes into your heart rate, breathing, stress levels and brain waves to remix a generative game engine world around you. The stunning immersive experience connects us to our own emotional state, teaching us to calm and focus our minds. Learn more: themill.com/portfolio/3409/strata-
From the Mill website:
Based on biofeedback techniques, STRATA responds to your physiological and neurological data to generate procedural audio and visuals that help create awareness of the user’s autonomic nervous system. The goal is to use our own biometrics as a controller, calming oneself to levitate upwards through five fantastical worlds.
STRATA seeks to create a visual narrative of our biometrics in a meaningful and actionable way rather than simply aggregating infographic data. It is our VR innerverse. It was built in the Unreal game engine and is compatible with the Oculus Rift and Vive.
STRATA is built on the back of biofeedback experiments that began in the early 70’s. “Information-coded biofeedback” enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature.
These instruments rapidly and accurately ‘feed back’ information to the user. The presentation of this information (often in conjunction with changes in thinking, emotions, and behavior) supports desired physiological changes. Over time, these changes can endure without continued use of an instrument.
I was quite proud when Strata was selected to be featured at London’s prestigious V&A museum. There was a queue for more than an hour to try it.