Augmented Virtual Reality Meditation
Simo Järvelä, B. Cowley, M. Salminen, Giulio Jacucci, Juho Hamari, N. Ravaja
ACM Transactions on Social Computing May 21, 2021 DOI: 10.1145/3449358 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 8 |
| Population | 39 dyads (N=8) participating in compassion meditation sessions |
| Intervention | dyadic synchrony biofeedback |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Each shared biofeedback type (breathing, brainwave, or both) increased users' self-reported empathy and social presence compared with no-biofeedback or solo meditation conditions. The authors argue this demonstrates how dyadic synchrony biofeedback can extend biofeedback possibilities in affective computing and VR health and wellness applications. |
Abstract
In a novel experimental setting, we augmented a variation of traditional compassion meditation with our custom-built VR environment for multiple concurrent users. The presence of another user’s avatar in shared virtual space supports social interactions and provides an active target for evoked compassion. The system incorporates respiration and brainwave-based biofeedback to enable closed-loop interaction of users based on their shared physiological state. Specifically, we enhanced interoception and the deep empathetic processes involved in compassion meditation with real-time visualizations of: breathing rate, level of approach motivation assessed from EEG frontal asymmetry, and dyadic synchrony of those signals between two users. We manipulated these interventions across eight separate conditions (dyadic or solo meditation; brainwave, breathing, both or no biofeedback) in an experiment with 39 dyads (N=8), observing the effect of conditions on self-reported experience and physiological synchrony. We found that each different shared biofeedback type increased users’ self-reported empathy and social presence, compared to no-biofeedback or solo conditions. Our study illustrates how dyadic synchrony biofeedback can expand the possibilities of biofeedback in affective computing and VR solutions for health and wellness.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy Frontiers in Psychology March 4, 2022
- A neuroscience perspective on the plasticity of the social and relational brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences May 1, 2025
- Synchronous Smiles and Hearts: Dyadic Meditations Enhance Closeness and Prosocial Behavior in Virtual and In-Person Settings. Mindfulness 2025
- Laboratory set-up for OBEs and projections Frontiers in Psychology October 1, 2026
- Human-Computer Co-Regulation: A Review of Biofeedback for Meditative Practice Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies September 30, 2026
and 5 more in the library
Cites 5
- Loving-kindness and compassion meditation: potential for psychological interventions. Clinical Psychology Review July 26, 2011
- A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations Psychological Medicine November 27, 2009
- Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion October 1, 2008
- Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences April 1, 2008
- Effect of Buddhist meditation on serum cortisol and total protein levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, lung volume and reaction time. Physiology & Behavior September 1, 1991