08 Feb Medium.com: IDEO Stories
In an attempt to see if virtual reality can make the human mind more creative, IDEO designer Neil Stevenson — with assistance from “VR spirit guide” and interaction designer Michaël Harboun — tried Guided Meditation VR, and turned his experiences into a fascinating article for Medium.com.
From the article:
There was a compelling sense of atmosphere and depth… but the most surprising part was how it all made me feel: it was blissful.
I was inside for 20 minutes, but it felt longer. When I removed the headset, I felt euphoric. Part of me had expected the experience to be an anti-climax, but instead, it had been a revelation…
I’d thought of virtual reality as an experience that gives the subject some intense stimulation. What I hadn’t realized was that it also works in the opposite way: by enclosing me completely in its world, it had removed all external distraction. Now, afterwards, that feeling of focus was persisting. Like a lot of people, I’d tried meditation, but struggled to downshift the gears of my over-stimulated mind. Could a quick VR trip to a soothing forest be a shortcut to a productive mindset?
My happy, creative mood lasted the rest of the day.
You can read Neil’s entire story here, and we’re so psyched that Guided Meditation VR made such a difference for him!