Stairway to Heaven: A Gamified VR Journey for Breath Awareness

What is it about?

Deep breathing using the diaphragm, such as during yoga or meditation, can also be used therapeutically to reduce stress and anxiety. This breathing style is simple to learn, but focusing attention on the task is still challenging. Using VR can help.

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Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Virtual reality is most often associated with gaming and entertainment. Because the media can situate users in fully immersive simulations from first-person perspectives, users can feel like they are in the middle of all the action. In VR, this feeling of being there is called presence, and while in VR, this feeling can allow you to play like you are someone and somewhere else, it can also heighten self-awareness. Depending on the needs and interests of users and the aims of the application, virtual worlds can be designed to give direct guidance and feedback to users, amplifying or dampening audio/visual stimulation to support given objectives. The same qualities of VR that can take you out and away from the everyday can also remove distractions and help you focus more deeply on yourself. The same qualities of VR, proven effective for gaming and entertainment, can also be designed to engage people in learning and wellness activities. Stairway to Heaven explored this potential by connecting a breathing sensor to VR and designing an experience to support users in learning diaphragmatic breathing and then relaxing into mindful awareness of their breathing at a slow, therapeutic pace to travel through a virtual wilderness environment.

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