digital xchange
Fostering Digital Health through VR Meditation
A public discussion around the perception of risks & opportunities
In collaboration with
Workshop Context & Approach
In the framework of digitalswitzerland's digital xchange program, this workshop invited the general public to discuss perceived risks & opportunities of VR meditation. In a group of 8 participants representing different societal, educational, age, gender, and professional backgrounds, a session of 2h 30 min was dedicated to exchange experiences, expectations, hopes, and fears around meditation aided with virtual environments.
The workshop started with input from the TEDxReykjavik talk from Tristan Gribbin, CEO of FLOWVR, a company dedicated to the development of a VR meditation app. The group then reviewed & discussed a selection of VR products in the market supporting users to relax & focus. During the break, a participant was invited to try a full meditation experience from TRIPP using Oculus Quest 2 headset, while casting the experience to the rest of the participants. Following this, the group brainstormed & discussed their perceived risks & opportunities of 3D-designed meditation.
The workshop concluded with a brief restrospective and a closure highlighting the relevance of stress release for maintaining proper health, which can be enabled by VR applications. Future projects, products & services that address the topics discussed in this group would be desirable, and a collaboration between business & interest groups remains to be essential for evidence-driven & outcome-oriented digital health initiatives.
The organizer thanks the project partners for sponsoring this initiative & enabling spaces for discussion, reflection, and societal action around digital health in Switzerland.
Impressions of the workshop
Insights obtained
Summary of the Group Discussion
Opportunities & Benefits of VR Meditation
Meditate on your own possibilities, e.g., time, space, people-interaction
Increased access to nature and places not always possible to visit, e.g, the space / learn about planets, galaxies, stars
Useful for pain/palliative care, especially for people who cannot move/attend in-person meditation sessions
Opportunity to connect the art-world with meditation, giving more visibility to digital artists & musicians
Potential for (virtual) community building, especially for lonesome/introverted people
Increased appreciation of natural environments, especially if missing certain environments/not able to travel to certain places, e.g., alps landscape, Caribbean, etc.
Opportunity for governments to help increase awareness for environmental protection & for touristic agencies to promote visits to places of special interest/ (natural) beauty
Available 24/7 & access all over the world (anywhere, anytime)
Imagination boost
VR meditation can be useful to treat fobies/PTSD
Other Benefits
Helpful to disconnect from reality, relax & recharge=improve quality of life & relationships
Easier to become mindful, especially for non-experienced meditators
Opportunity to scale meditation sessions
Reduced barrier for deep meditation via immersion
Opportunity for body scan meditation (localized meditation)
It could be used as part of color/shape therapies
Useful to enhance the health of disabled people
Risks & Challenges of VR Meditation
People may develop depency/addition to meditate in VR environments and not develop offline skills to meditate (independently)
Exposed to being manipulated, need 3rd party to meditate and supervise content & quality
The cost may be too high for certain groups, who may be/feel excluded
There may be a disconnection with the "real world"/self-isolation
Enablement of escapism (running away from problems), experience/pain is information, thus VR meditation may be fostering willful ignorance
Other Risks/Challenges
There may be a decline in "real" exposure to the environment and people may develop different attitude towards objects, e.g., 3D graphics of dog= not feared, real dog= increased/reduced fear?
Motion sickness & eye-tiredness can limit adoption
Reduction of tactile experiences / contact with other humans
Losing sight of purpose of meditation (when focus is on games/digital images)
Some applications focus too much on gamification to attract customers & not on meditation, which is desired by many users
Opportunities & Benefits of VR Meditation
Risks, Challenges & Uncertainties of VR Meditation
