Awedyssey: Design Tensions in Eliciting Self-transcendent Emotions in Virtual Reality to Support Mental Well-being and Connection
Noah Miller, Ekaterina R. Stepanova, John Desnoyers-Stewart, Ashu Adhikari, Alexandra Kitson, Patrick Pennefather, Denise T. Quesnel, Katharina Brauns, Anika Friedl-Werner, A. Stahn, Bernhard E. Riecke
Conference on Designing Interactive Systems July 10, 2023 DOI: 10.1145/3563657.3595998 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Designing VR experiences for self-transcendent emotions involves tensions between realism, autonomy, vastness, and comfort that vary across individuals. |
Abstract
Access to nature and feeling connection is critical for mental health and well-being. These benefits may be mediated by self-transcendent emotions evoked by nature. We need to explore the capacity of technology to offer such experiences when we lack access to the restorative power of nature. Despite growing research validating this capacity, there is a lack of articulated design knowledge of how such experiences can be created. Here, we explore a technologically-mediated support for mental well-being through an agile design approach informed by self-transcendent emotion theory and transformative experience design. We developed Awedyssey as a sensory deprivation countermeasure experience in virtual reality (VR) and as a part of a public exhibition. We gathered qualitative feedback through interviews, diaries, and surveys. From this data we identified design tensions for designing complex emotional experiences when considering the diversity of individuals and dual effects of designing for realism, autonomy, vastness, and comfort.