Fostering Interactive Mindfulness Experiences in VR

In Positive Computing, Virtual and Mixed Reality have become established technological tools to foster positive subjective experiences and individual traits. A particular focus is on the development of applications for mindfulness practices. However, such applications only offer people an alternative way of presenting the guided imagery flow on which the mindfulness experience is grounded. Indeed, people can experience a concrete rendering of the environment. This study investigates whether allowing people to actively explore and manipulate the guided imagery flow through their actions affects their mindfulness experience. To this aim, we present an interactive VR application for mindfulness practice, facilitating the user’s interactive behavior. Twenty-four persons participated in a pilot experiment practicing mindfulness in a between-subjects design with interactive VR vs. audio-only conditions. In both, participants self-reported their perceived effectiveness of mindfulness and their moods. Results show that the immersive interactive VR practice improved a more comprehensive range of moods than the audio-only condition, while both conditions proved to be on par when assessing self-reported mindfulness.