Meditation experts try Virtual Reality Mindfulness: A pilot study evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of Virtual Reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in people attending a Mindfulness conference.
M. Navarro-Haro, Yolanda López-del-hoyo, Daniel Campos, M. Linehan, H. Hoffman, A. García-Palacios, Marta Modrego-Alarcón, Luis Borao, Javier García-campayo
PLoS One November 22, 2017 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187777 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 44 |
| Population | Mindfulness experts attending a mindfulness conference |
| Intervention | Oculus Rift DK2 Virtual Reality helmet |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Mindfulness experts who tried a VR DBT mindfulness exercise reported improved state mindfulness and significantly less sadness, anger, and anxiety, plus greater relaxation, along with moderate to strong presence and high acceptance of VR. The authors describe these as encouraging preliminary evidence of feasibility and acceptability, warranting future research. |
Abstract
Regular mindfulness practice benefits people both mentally and physically, but many populations who could benefit do not practice mindfulness. Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology that helps capture participants’ attention and gives users the illusion of “being there” in the 3D computer generated environment, facilitating sense of presence. By limiting distractions from the real world, increasing sense of presence and giving people an interesting place to go to practice mindfulness, Virtual Reality may facilitate mindfulness practice. Traditional Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training was specifically designed for clinical treatment of people who have trouble focusing attention, however severe patients often show difficulties or lack of motivation to practice mindfulness during the training. The present pilot study explored whether a sample of mindfulness experts would find useful and recommend a new VR Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training technique and whether they would show any benefit. Forty four participants attending a mindfulness conference put on an Oculus Rift DK2 Virtual Reality helmet and floated down a calm 3D computer generated virtual river while listening to digitized DBT® mindfulness skills training instructions. On subjective questionnaires completed by the participants before and after the VR DBT® mindfulness skills training session, participants reported increases/improvements in state of mindfulness, and reductions in negative emotional states. After VR, participants reported significantly less sadness, anger, and anxiety, and reported being significantly more relaxed. Participants reported a moderate to strong illusion of going inside the 3D computer generated world (i.e., moderate to high “presence” in VR) and showed high acceptance of VR as a technique to practice mindfulness. These results show encouraging preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of using VR to practice mindfulness based on clinical expert feedback. VR is a technology with potential to increase computerized dissemination of DBT® skills training modules. Future research is warranted.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 63
- Effect of virtual reality-based mindfulness training model on anxiety, depression, and cancer-related fatigue in ovarian cancer patients during chemotherapy. Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine 2024
- Examining the Use of Virtual Reality to Support Mindfulness Skills Practice in Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research December 6, 2024
- Effects of virtual reality guided meditation in older adults: the protocol of a pilot randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
- Psychological and physiological health outcomes of virtual reality-based mindfulness interventions: A systematic review and evidence mapping of empirical studies. Digital health 2024
- Virtual Reality as an Interactive Tool for the Implementation of Mindfulness in University Settings: A Systematic Review Multimodal Technologies and Interaction October 11, 2024
and 58 more in the library
Cites 12
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- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Mindfulness and Self-compassion as Unique and Common Predictors of Affect in the General Population. Mindfulness July 8, 2016
- Effects of mindfulness training on different components of impulsivity in borderline personality disorder: results from a pilot randomized study. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation January 11, 2016
and 7 more in the library