Meditation Chamber
CONCEPT
The Meditation Chamber is an immersive VR environment that provides users with real-time feedback. The system, designed by Dr. Larry Hodges, Dr. Chris Shaw and Prof. Diane Gromala, is an immersive virtual reality system that combines a head-mounted display and biofeedback device. It enables users to get real-time feedback as they learn to meditate. Users are guided through a series of relaxation and meditation techniques. In real-time, the audio and visuals are synced to the users' continually changing physiological states (respiration, pulse rate and galvanic skin response (a measure of arousal)). As users' approach what scientists have determined to indicate meditative states, the hypnotic visuals dissolve to moving mist and darkness as the user relaxes.
411 users were tested (refer to Appendix 2 in the thesis for samples of the testing instrument, and to this website for all 411 questionnaires). The instrument was a combination of physiological readings before, during, and after the meditation with a questionnaire. Findings strongly suggest that the Meditation Chamber is successful for more than 85% of users, especially for users who are new to meditation practices. Of the 20 participants who said that they could not experience relaxation, 16 had high, subjective ratings of being relaxed. Thus, their initial impressions had no relation to their actual outcomes. This kind of empirical testing is useful for determining the success or failure of particular issues. In this case, it provided us information that users new to meditation were the prime beneficiaries of a one-time experience. Users also had an opportunity to write any of their observations. Some of these will be helpful in the design of the next iteration. For example, occluding the head chakra was obviously an issue for a small but active group. In addition, users indicated that our head-mounted display needs to be substituted for one that accommodates a greater number of people (and hairstyles), but that it is much better than looking at the screen of a monitor since it occludes potential distractions. The tests also confirmed our observations that users simply closed their eyes if they needed to before the visuals dissipated. Finally, the testing confirmed that visuals were seen as distractors, while particular calming sounds were not. In conclusion, the tests provided us with particular empirical and subjective information.
However useful the empirical tests were, they were limited, especially for issues that had to do with the art and design of the Meditation Chamber. For example, as the artist and designer, I relied on my experience and anecdotal testing of various kinds of visuals, including their aesthetic tone and effect. This was also true for the sonic aspects of the project. More importantly, however, empirical tests do not enable us to ask questions of meaning, in-depth subjective experiences, issues of embodiment and cultural aspects, among many other subjective issues. As with any collaboration between artists and scientists, a balance had to be struck between differing epistemologies and ontologies. This project leaned heavily toward the empirical, but remains an atypical but respected work of computer science.
As explored in further depth in the thesis, the Meditation Chamber was inspired by the work of Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch. Mindfulness of course is the result of long term and ongoing practices, which include meditation as their core. Thus, the Meditation Chamber is but a first step in a much longer process. Future work will lean in the more artistic and phenomenological directions, and will include an exploration of differing forms of meditation among several cultures in India, Turkey, and China. A Presidential Research Grant has been awarded to further this direction.
The Meditation Chamber was exhibited at SIGGRAPH's Emerging Technologies in 2001, appeared on CNN News and continues to be aired in CNN's Health Network, which is distributed to hundreds of hospitals in the U.S. Several articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals, and participation was included in a physiological workshop at CHI in 2004. The Meditation Chamber is in use at the Virtually Better clinic in Atlanta, along with its 22 partnering clinics in the U.S.
ⓒ Diane Gromala, 2007