Summary
A new game on display at the Tribeca Film Festival called Deep VR offers a virtual reality relaxation experience. From an international duo of developers, this game uses psychological techniques to relax the user.
A new game could be used for therapeutic purposes. The Deep VR application, on display at the Tribeca Film Festival, is an immersive game aimed at relaxing the player, reports the Engadget website. In this demo, the user is immersed in a world resembling a mixture of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Tron. Everything in the game is meant to relax the user, from the soundtrack to the overall design. Deep VR could well launch a new kind of virtual reality applications.
Next PreviousDeep VR screenshot
What also makes this app stand out is an additional accessory adjusted to the diaphragm. The rhythm of the breathing is taken into account in the game which adjusts to it, causing a state of intense relaxation. Mixing color therapy, binaural sounds and immersion in virtual reality, the first feedback was extremely positive. The result is particularly successful for good reason, this game was created to meet a real need. The designer of Deep VR, Irishman Owen Harris, came up with the idea for this game when he was working on the Oculus Rift DK1. He then sought to escape the stress and depression in which he was immersed. This first version was quite rudimentary. Harris was subsequently put in contact with Nikki Smit, a Dutch developer who created meditation games. From this international partnership was born a more complete version of the game.
Next PreviousThe Deep VR Respiration Sensor
The Deep VR breathing sensor
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Deep VR, Virtual reality as a therapeutic tool
Beyond simple relaxation, Deep VR aims to become a real therapeutic tool. The version currently on display at the Tribeca Film Festival is just the beginning. The developer duo worked with Isabela Granic, professor of behavioral studies at Radboud University in the Netherlands. This academy has already used this game in a study aimed at reducing stress in children. It should participate in the development of the rest of the game, particularly in terms of design and sensors to improve the use of "deep breathing".
This technique allows you to better manage stress and is at the heart of this game. Harris and Smit perfectly integrated the use of biological mechanics in virtual reality. One of the next levels will include an animal that the player will have to follow. By making it climb or descend slopes, the game can influence the pace of the user in order to make him practice deep breathing. Another aspect of the game that the designers would like to rework would be a more interactive soundtrack. They would like to adapt the sounds so that the music of the environments correspond with certain frequencies of brain waves. Another project consists of making Deep VR a therapeutic tool to fight against phobias. The game is slated to release later this year on Steam and other virtual reality platforms.
