VR models of death and psychedelics: an aesthetic paradigm for design beyond day-to-day phenomenology
Frontiers in Virtual Reality January 29, 2024 DOI: 10.3389/frvir.2023.1286950 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Present day Phenomenology philosophy Day to day Time of day Epistemology Animal science |
| Citations | 11 |
| Key points | Proposes that the numadelic aesthetic, characterized by low structural specificity and low symbolic rigidity, creates an expansive possibility space for endogenous insights, explaining its ability to elicit psychometric results comparable to psychedelic experiences. |
Abstract
Near-death experiences (NDEs) and psychedelic drug experiences (YDEs) enable access to dimensions of non-ordinary sensation, perception, and insight beyond typical day-to-day phenomenology. Both are associated with a dissolution of conventional spatio-temporal conceptual distinctions, and a corresponding sense of connectedness and unity. Moreover, NDEs and YDEs have shown a remarkable ability to reduce the anxiety that people associate with death. In two recent papers, we showed that multi-person virtual reality experiences (VREs) designed within the ‘numadelic’ aesthetic (where bodies are represented as light energy rather than material objects) can elicit psychometric results comparable to YDEs. It nevertheless remains an open question why numadelic aesthetics achieve the observed results, especially given that the vast majority of VREs represent bodies as typically perceived in the ‘real-world’. This article describes the origins of the numadelic aesthetic from subjective accounts of NDE phenomenology, and attempts to unravel mechanistic aspects of the numadelic aesthetic by embedding it within a more general theoretical framework. Specifically, we elaborate a 2-axis schematic grounded in predictive coding models of cognition and matter-energy ideas from physics. One axis tracks ‘structural specificity’, and the other tracks ‘symbolic rigidity’. The majority of VREs, which emphasize photorealistic fidelity to content derived from ‘day-to-day’ phenomenology, are characterized by high structural specificity and high symbolic rigidity. Such approaches collapse imaginative potential into a limited low-entropy space of ‘exogenous’ possibility, unlike the high-entropy brain states associated with YDEs. In contrast, aesthetic domains characterized by low structural specificity and low symbolic rigidity are less concerned with fidelity to phenomenological priors, offering an expansive, ‘uncollapsed’ high-entropy possibility space into which participants can project meaning and corresponding endogenous insights can arise (e.g., as occurs in NDEs and YDEs). Situated within this theoretical framing, the numadelic aesthetic emerges as a practical example of an un-collapsed approach to representation, helping to explain the experimental observations within previous papers. Moreover, the theoretical framing suggests various experimental tests, and lays the groundwork for applying numadelic aesthetics to model NDEs, to help address the anxiety often associated with death.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Lucid dreaming of a prior virtual-reality experience with ego-transcendent qualities: a proof-of-concept study. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2025
- Confronting mortality: A meta-analysis and systematic review of psychedelic experiences and death anxiety Journal of Psychopharmacology March 9, 2026
- Measuring Altered States of Consciousness in Virtual Reality: A Systematic Analysis of Assessment Methods HCI International 2025 – Late Breaking Papers 2026
- Inducing selflessness through a numadelic virtual reality experience: a preliminary study Virtual Reality December 21, 2025
- From the attenuation of self-boundaries to inner peace: how nonordinary states of consciousness modulates self-experience and subjective well-being. Neuroscience of Consciousness August 27, 2026
and 2 more in the library
Cites 33
- Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- Increased spontaneous MEG signal diversity for psychoactive doses of ketamine, LSD and psilocybin Scientific Reports April 19, 2017
and 28 more in the library