Turn On, Tune In, And Breathe Out In Psychedelic Inspired VR Journey SoundSelf

The hypnotic technodelic is now available on PC VR headsets.

Since we can’t leave our homes and we’re stuck where we’re at, why not take a trip to the middle of your mind?

Launching this week after almost a decade in the making, SoundSelf is an interactive, psychedelic journey to the center of you.

Behind the scenes is Robin Arnott and his team at Andromeda Entertainment, a games publisher serving the burgeoning community around mindful immersive entertainment.

Self-described in his TEDxLinz talk, Arnott is “a virtual reality developer [working] in the space that is the collision between virtual reality and game design on the one hand, and meditation on the other.” His passion lies at the intersection of wellness and consciousness technology and together they meet in the birth of SoundSelf.

So, how do you play this technodelic? Instead of competing for high scores, gamers use their voice to explore a hypnotic universe that toys with the senses while music emanates and harmonizes. Mesmerizing visual patterns pulse and move to the user’s tone building up an expansive, personalized abstraction and bringing them into a meditative trance.

“Videogames are an incredibly powerful tool for shaping a person’s consciousness,” says Arnott. “We have an opportunity to flip the distraction of games into a healing interaction. As Western art and culture grows to embrace the tides of mindfulness, our tools ​have to evolve.”

The psychedelic-inspired experience was originally an installation at Burning Man in 2013 and has transformed into a more accessible immersion with play-through lasting between 15 – 60 minutes for most users; stay in for at least 10 to experience a captivating pseudo-trip.

Research on SoundSelf and its effects on brain activity is currently being conducted by Dr. Jeff Tarrant​, leader of the NeuroMeditation Institute. The analysis, “Can Virtual Reality be Psychedelic? A Comparison of SoundSelf VR with Guided Meditation VR on Quantitative EEG, Altered States, and Mood,” looks at the altered attitudes and states of being formed after spending time in the experience. This includes how SoundSelf is capable of facilitating brain wave patterns in gamers akin to the use of psychedelics.

“The timing is right. SoundSelf signals the beginning of a whole new era in independent game development,” says Mike Wilson, co-founder of Devolver Digital. “People are ready to become more intentional about the content they consume, and more and more people are focused on wellness and inner peace. SoundSelf is a safe, tech-driven alternative for meditation and inner space exploration; an exhilarating journey into altered states of consciousness, guided by your own voice.”

SoundSelf is available now for $29.99 via SteamVR.

Image Credit: Andromeda Entertainment

The post Turn On, Tune In, And Breathe Out In Psychedelic Inspired VR Journey SoundSelf appeared first on VRScout.

By: Darragh Dandurand
Title: Turn On, Tune In, And Breathe Out In Psychedelic Inspired VR Journey SoundSelf
Sourced From: vrscout.com/news/psychaedlic-vr-sound-self-now-available/
Published Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 20:26:54 +0000