Aurora - a study on the guided meditation using immersive media

Meditation is a practice that promotes improvements in physical and mental health, according to previous studies. The proven benefits, such as relaxation and stress reduction, have attracted people's interest in initiating training. However, practice demands discipline, time, and dedication. Despite the diversity of techniques available for training, beginners may find it difficult to concentrate during the learning phase of meditation. Technological advances have enabled the emergence of devices that offer guided meditation for users. In that sense, designers engaged with creating products that become tools to enrich the personal experience of users. Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the tools adopted for this purpose. The use of VR to stimulate meditative practice has been a topic of research in the field of technological media. However, research focuses on the practice known as Mindfulness. Also, researchers focus their attention on 3D graphics design. Therefore, this study explored the possibility of designing immersive technologies for the practice of guided meditation. More specifically, to investigate the effects of using 360-degrees Virtual Reality videos supporting the practice of Relaxation Response meditation exercise, developed by Dr. Herbert Benson, and Contemplative Inquiry presented by Robert Butera. Furthermore, the study aimed to explore if technology improves the meditation experience. Adopting the theoretical approaches of Positive Technology and Research through Design, the Aurora and Pandora prototypes were designed to explore the themes. The results indicate that guided meditation presented through immersive videos can provoke desirable emotional responses in people who practice meditation, such as calm and relaxation. However, undesirable physical effects were observed in the participants. The discomfort of vision, stress, and irritation were examples. Also, the experiments showed that it was possible to improve the experience of meditative practices