research-article

Augmented Virtual Reality Meditation: Shared Dyadic Biofeedback Increases Social Presence Via Respiratory Synchrony

Authors:

Simo Järvelä,

Benjamin Cowley,

Mikko Salminen,

Giulio Jacucci,

Niklas RavajaAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Social Computing, Volume 4, Issue 2

Article No.: 6, Pages 1 - 19

https://doi.org/10.1145/3449358

Published: 21 May 2021 Publication History

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.

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Index Terms

Augmented Virtual Reality Meditation: Shared Dyadic Biofeedback Increases Social Presence Via Respiratory Synchrony
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms
      1. Virtual reality

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cover image ACM Transactions on Social Computing

ACM Transactions on Social Computing Volume 4, Issue 2

June 2021

171 pages

EISSN:2469-7826

DOI:10.1145/3467472

Editor:
Kevin Crowston
Syracuse University, USA

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Copyright © 2021 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 21 May 2021

Accepted: 01 February 2021

Revised: 01 November 2020

Received: 01 February 2019

Published in TSC Volume 4, Issue 2

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https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1286130
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