A Study on the Guided Meditation Using Immersive Media

Aurora - a study on the guided meditation using immersive media

Author: Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology: Strategic Media Development (ME 620A) Master Thesis, 15 credits, Advanced Level Supervisor: Erik Pineiro Examiner: Jay David Bolter Date of examination: 22 May 2019 Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Abstract

Meditation is a practice that promotes improvements in physical and mental health, according to previous studies. The proven benefits, such as relaxation and stress reduction, have attracted people's interest in initiating training. However, practice demands discipline, time, and dedication. Despite the diversity of techniques available for training, beginners may find it difficult to concentrate during the learning phase of meditation. Technological advances have enabled the emergence of devices that offer guided meditation for users. In that sense, designers engaged with creating products that become tools to enrich the personal experience of users. Virtual Reality is one of the tools adopted for this purpose. The use of virtual reality to stimulate meditative practice are topics of research in the field of technological media.

However, research focuses on the practice known as Mindfulness. Also, researchers focus their attention on 3D graphics design. Therefore, this study explores the possibility of designing immersive technologies for the practice of guided meditation. More specifically, to investigate the effects of using 360-degrees

Virtual Reality videos supporting the practice of Relaxation Response meditation exercise, developed by Dr. Herbert Benson, and Contemplative Inquiry presented by Robert Butera. Furthermore, the study aims to explore if technology improves the meditation experience. Adopting the theoretical approaches of

Positive Technology and Research through Design, the Aurora and Pandora prototypes were designed to explore the themes. The results indicate that guided meditation presented through immersive videos can provoke desirable emotional responses in people who practice meditation, such as calm and relaxation.

However, undesirable physical effects were observed in the participants as the discomfort of vision, as well as undesirable effects such as stress and irritation. Also, the experiments show that it is possible to improve the experience of meditative practices.

Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction, Meditation, Virtual Reality, Positive Technology, Immersive

Media, 360° Virtual Reality (VR) video, Relaxation Response, Contemplative Inquiry.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Acknowledgements

The cover image refers to the work of Asaro (1976) called "Planes of the Head," design created with straight lines to be used as an instrument for students to learn to draw the human face. I created this image to portray in a way what I experienced during the realization of this research. Admittedly, this study was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Also, one of the most beautiful.

The research was not just academic work, but also the record of personal overcoming. Before I started the study, I already knew how to meditate. However, I had little knowledge about Virtual Reality, and I did not know anything about the theories or how to deal with the media in the prototypes. However, I felt that I should invest all the efforts to accomplish the challenge. Also, offer something that can contribute to attracting people’s attention to the practice of meditation through technology. A practice that can contribute to calm the mind, relief the pain, and promote wellbeing.

I thank the friends and relatives who supported me during this journey. Special thanks to my sister Ana Frederick and my friends Maureen Reis, Taís Almeida, Cleber Souza, Katharina Veits, and Emanuel Polidano for motivation and positivity in the face of difficulties. I am grateful for all the people who contributed to the research. Also, I want to thank the supervisor Erik Pineiro and the future professor Rasmus Juhlin for sharing valuable knowledge. Finally, thanks to the Swedish Institute (SI) for giving me this opportunity.

Gratitude!

Juliana Dantas Silva

* This publication is part of my research work at Malmö University funded by the Swedish Institute- SI.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Table of contents

Introduction 7 1.1 Purpose of the Study 9 1.2 Research Questions 10 1.3 Limitations 10

Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework 11 2.1 Meditation 12 2.1.1 Meditation Exercises 13 2.2 Positive Technology 14 2.2.1 Positive Psychology 15 2.2.2 Positive Technology: Concepts and Classifications 16 2.2.3 Positive Computing 18 2.3 Third wave Human-Computer Interaction 20 2.3.1 Techno-spirituality 22 2.4 Immersive technologies – concepts and studies 22 2.4.1 Virtual Reality as a medium 22 2.4.2 Meditation studies using immersive systems 26 Chapter 3 - Methodology 30 3.1 Research Methodology 30 3.2 Design Strategy 31 3.3 Data Collection and Analysis Method 34 3.4 Participants 35 3.4 Ethical considerations 36 Chapter 4 – Stage I: Scenario 37 4.1 Interviews with key informants 38 4.2 - Observation in meditation class 39 4.3 Design requirements 40 Chapter 5 – Stage II: Low-fidelity prototype 41 5.1 Phase 1: Meditation Box 41 5.2 Phase 2: Sketching 43 5.3 Phase 3: Storyboard 45 5.4 Findings 46 Chapter 6 – Stage III: High-fidelity prototypes and testing 49 6.1 Higher-fidelity prototype 1- Aurora 49 6.1.1 360-degrees VR videos 50 4

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

6.1.2 Voices of the guided meditation 52 6.1.3 Music and sound effect 54 6.1.4 Edition 55

6.2 Higher-fidelity prototype 2 - Pandora 56

6.3 Testing 57 6.3.1 Testing 1: Input 58 6.3.2 Testing 2: Procedures to explore the Research Questions 61 6.3.3 Findings 63 6.3.3.1 Findings after Procedure 1 63 6.3.3.2 Findings after Procedure 2 66 6.3.3.3 Summary of results 68 Chapter 7 – Discussions 69 7.1 Meditation exercises and VR 71 7.2 Effects of 360-degrees VR videos in guided meditation 72 Chapter 8 - Conclusions 75 8.1 Future Work 76 References 77 Appendix 88

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

List of tables

Table 1: Participants of the research 36 Table 2: Design requirements - stage 2 48 Table 3: Music and sound effects 55 Table 4: Inputs after users experienced the prototype 60 Table 5: Summary of relevant results 68

Table of Figures

Figure 1: The four fundamental themes of the Theoretical Framework 29 Figure 2: Stages of the design strategy 35 Figure 3: Meditation Box prototype 42 Figure 4: Test session with the Meditation Box prototype 43 Figure 5: Aurora’s sketch 44 Figure 6: Storyboard 45 Figure 7: Control panel of the Animaker Voice application used for voice adjustments 54 Figure 8: Scene footage of the first guided meditation exercise of Pandora 56 Figure 9: Second exercise scene footage 57 Figure 10: Testing procedures 62

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Introduction

The quest for wellbeing can motivate people to change their daily habits. These changes include practices that promote the improvement of the quality of their lives. Meditation is inserted in this context of activities that exert a positive influence in events of everyday life, in the sense that it promotes improvements in physical and mental health. Scientific research has shown that training in meditation can help wellbeing benefits in practitioners such as stress reduction (Kosunen et al., 2016; Chiesa & Serretti,

2009; Grossman et al., 2004), anxiety and depression (Hofmann et al., 2010), treatment of chronic pain

(Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985) and relaxation (Lutz et al., 2008). The scientifically proven benefits of meditation practice have attracted people's interest in initiating training, which requires dedication and discipline. In this process, beginners may find it difficult to concentrate and even insecure about the correct application of the meditation technique chosen from the various options available.

Meditation is a practice that is integrated with varied spiritual, religious, and mystical traditions, including but not limited to Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Judaism (MacDonald, Walsh & Shapiro,

2013). Therefore, finding a comprehensive definition of the term covering these aspects is a challenge.

Meditation can be defined as a group of emotional and attentional strategies developed for various purposes, including the cultivation of wellbeing and emotional balance (Lutz et al., 2008; Kosunen et al.,

2016). This approach highlights meditation as a strategy. However, the concept can also be seen as an individual action that integrates the control of attention and awareness to stimulate wellbeing and self-realization (Downey & Cohen, 2018; MacDonald et al., 2013).

In this sense, the diversity of beliefs, cultures, and lifestyles gave rise to different meditative practices. According to Butera (2012) and Downey (2015), there are six types of meditation practices: 1) breath, 2) visualization, 3) mantra, 4) devotion, prayer, intentionality, 5) mindfulness, and 6) contemplative inquiry. However, it is relevant to note that mindfulness is the best-known practice in

Western Society. According to Choo & May (2014), mindfulness is a state of being where the person observes the emotions experienced in the present moment.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

The practice of meditation has gained popularity as an alternative to health and wellness care. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 35 million adults declared to practice meditation in 2017 in the United States (Kachan et al., 2017; Barclay & Belluz, 2019). It represents a

10% increase over the data for 2012. These indices illustrate the growing interest in the subject in

American society and that may be reverberating in other Western nations. Building on this, technology can be seen as a tool for enabling access and facilitating training at this activity.

Technological development has allowed the emergence of devices that offer support for self-improvement in areas that include, but are not limited to, nutrition, time management, stress reduction and meditation (Diefenbach, 2018). Specifically, in the case of Information Communication

Technologies (ICTs), users have at their disposal content for skills training to improve the quality of their daily lives. Botella et al. (2012) point out that the technology itself is neutral, but it is labeled Positive

Technology when it meets defined requirements. Firstly, technology should be designed to enrich the quality of personal experience. Secondly, it should be a tool that generates strengths in individuals.

Finally, Botella et al. (2012) cite the Internet, multimedia computing, and Virtual Reality (VR) as examples of ICTs that might be used as tools towards these ends.

Contemporary Information Communication Technologies include various forms of Positive

Technologies. Downey (2015) noted that individuals have started using technology to support meditation.

The video-sharing site YouTube provides specialized channels in teaching meditation techniques for beginners. It may be noted in videos such as "Basic Meditation Session by Maheshwari - How to

Meditate for Beginners - Hindi" which features more than 7 million views (Maheshwari, 2019). Also, commercially available applications popularly known as "Meditation Apps" are designed to stimulate the state of relaxation or promote training. It is relevant to mention the application "Headspace: Meditation &

Sleep" (Headspace Inc., 2019) to illustrate the use of technology as a tool. Named one of the top 10 in the

Health & Fitness category by the Apple Store in 2018, Headspace (Headspace Inc., 2019) offers among its features the option of meditation exercises.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Human interaction with technological devices can enable the discovery of different purposes from what the object was created to fulfill. This new meaning is observed with Virtual Reality (VR).

Research reveals that VR technology can be used as a means of learning skills (Navarro-Haro et al.,

2017). Moreover, studies have been conducted to investigate the use of Virtual Reality as a learning tool for meditation, more specifically mindfulness meditation (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017; Vianello et al.,

2018).

Despite the scientific advances observed in this regard, few studies have been published regarding the use of VR as a Positive Technology able to improve the quality of personal experience, wellbeing, and psychological health (Botella et al., 2012; Riva et al., 2012; Calvo et al., 2016;

Diefenbach, 2018). It is important to note that most of the investigations researched on the subject focus the studies using the practice of mindfulness meditation. Therefore, little has been explored regarding other techniques using Virtual Reality as a means to stimulate the qualities presented previously. In this sense, this study investigates other forms of meditation with the objective of offering the contribution of knowledge to a subject still little explored in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

1.1 Purpose of the Study

Guided by the theoretical perspective of Positive Technology, researchers explored how elements of meditative experiences mediated through technology increase wellbeing (Downey, 2015; Riva et al.,

2012). As it is a recent approach to HCI research, new studies need to be conducted to investigate the impacts of the combination of technology with other forms of meditation. In this sense, the purpose of this study was to explore the potential of using immersive media in Virtual Reality (VR), specifically

360-degrees VR videos, as a tool of Positive Technology for the guided meditation. Also, to verify effect results after the experiments.

Before presenting the Research Questions, it is relevant to introduce definitions related to the subject of the study. According to Bronack (2011), "immersive media are those that enable a deep sense of social or physical presence, typically via a combination of high-resolution visuals and realistic sounds"

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(p. 113). Hosseini & Swaminathan (2016), define 360-degrees VR videos as "immersive spherical videos, mapped into 3D geometry, where the user can look around during playback using the VR head-mounted display" (p.107). Thus, the video as mentioned above can be considered immersive media.

1.2 Research Questions

This thesis connects four main areas, as presented in the introductory section: meditation,

Positive Technology, 360-degrees videos, and Virtual Reality. The study aims to explore the use of technology-supported meditation as a means of inducing relaxation. The research was performed through the design of the immersive media video prototype Aurora using exercises of two types of meditation: the Relaxation Response (Benson, 1993) and the Contemplative Inquiry (Butera, 2012), used to explore the following research questions:

RQ1: What are the effects of meditation supported by 360-degrees Virtual Reality video in beginners?

RQ2: Does 360-degrees Virtual Reality video improve the meditation experience?

1.3 Limitations

The restriction of financial resources was a limitation, which prevented the purchase of Virtual

Reality headset of superior quality, as well as 360-degrees videos. However, the available resources were sufficient to carry out the research. It is also relevant to cite that during the experiments, the participants wore self-tracker equipment to monitor heart rates in the research procedures. However, the researcher noticed throughout the process that this method could be scientifically questioned, which motivated her not to include the data collected. This action meant to guarantee the authenticity of the results since no articles were found that offered support for self-tracker applicability during guided meditation artifact tests.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework

The theoretical approaches that are related to this thesis cover several fields of scientific knowledge integrated into a holistic approach. On the one hand, there is the knowledge associated with the human aspect and its search for the improvement of the balance of physical and mental health through the development of abilities that stimulate wellbeing. In this perspective, meditation gains importance as wellbeing activity (Botella et al., 2012). On the other hand, there is the knowledge that covers the technological aspect. DeVore's (1980) defines technology as "the creation and utilization of adaptive systems including tools, machines, materials, techniques and technical means and the relation of the behavior of these elements and systems to human beings, society and the civilization process" (p. 4). How can such different aspects be related?

The introduction presented in the previous chapter exposed themes and scientific approaches to reveal this connection in a broad way. However, further discussion is needed to ground the thesis theoretically. Also, to provide the elements required for the research and design analysis of the prototype that is presented in the following chapters. An important aspect that should be mentioned is that most of the research cited has as an investigative basis towards the meditative Mindfulness practice. However, this does not preclude the examination of subjects from the standpoint of meditation. On the contrary, it provides knowledge for the advancement of discussions of other practices.

In this sense, the theoretical framework was organized around four fundamental axes. Firstly, the aspects related to meditation are addressed. Secondly, the concepts and studies that cover the scientific approach known as Positive Technology are presented. They included integrating the concepts of Positive

Psychology and Positive Computing. Thirdly, approaches related to the Third Wave of Human-Computer

Interaction (HCI) were discussed. Finally, the topics that involve the use of immersive media and Virtual

Reality (VR) and which include the scientific discussions around its use as a medium for contact with meditative practices are described.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

2.1 Meditation

Presently, meditation has become not only a topic of intense study but also an activity that has been incorporated into practice and psychotherapeutic systems (MacDonald, Walsh & Shapiro, 2013).

The term meditation has several definitions in the literature. As previously reported, meditation may be related to a strategy for achieving a purpose (Lutz et al., 2008, Kosunen et al., 2016) or an individual control action to stimulate an emotional state (Downey & Cohen, 2018; MacDonald et al., 2013).

Besides, it is important to mention that there is a third relevant aspect. Diefenbach (2018) associates the practice to self-improvement in the field of consumer technology.

In the cases presented, the authors present definitions about meditation in a general way, unrelated to religious, philosophical, and cultural aspects that may be related to meditative practice.

MacDonald et al. (2013) throw a reflection on this aspect, in delimiting that in the “Western Science and psychology have tended to be decontextualized from their original culturally framed meaning and treated as a psychological technology that can be studied and/or utilized separately from these meaning systems"

(p.434). According to the authors, there is a need to establish a criterion for the concept of meditation to enable the standardization of research and to allow comparison of results.

In this sense, the definition that benefits the aspects involved in the prototype design process developed for this thesis is presented by Walsh & Shapiro (2006). The authors presents meditation as "a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary and/or specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and concentration" (pp.

228-229). Therefore, Walsh & Shapiro (2006) point out that the primary objective of this approach is to change mental contents such as thoughts, images, and emotions.

2.1.1 Meditation Exercises

The concept of meditation encompass varied techniques, or practices, with specific goals that include relaxation, stress reduction, and heightened sense of wellbeing (Kosunen et al., 2016), focusing

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

attention (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017), anxiety and pain reduction (Shaw, Gromala & Song, 2012), ameliorate cardiovascular disorders, asthma, stuttering, and hormonal disorders (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).

The diversity of meditative exercises allowed them to be divided into categories. The classifications are not exclusively related to the characteristics of the practices. Instead, they can integrate the type of data collected in a research.

Researchers have increasingly explored how to enable the interaction of users with systems

(Vianello et al., 2018). Specifically, authors of the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field have developed studies with approaches to support people in the practice of meditation through Virtual Reality.

Mindfulness is the meditative practice explored by research related to immersive technologies.

Mindfulness is related to "the self-regulation of attention to one's experiences in the present moment with curiosity, openness, and acceptance" (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017, p.2). Vianello and colleagues (2018) defined Mindfulness as "the psychological process of paying attention to one's internal and external experience with a curious, open, and non-judging orientation" (p.2).

Despite the benefits promoted by the practice of Mindfulness, other methods available in the literature were little explored by the scientific community. In this sense, the present research was developed to explore other approaches through Virtual Reality, namely Relaxation Response (Benson,

1993) and Contemplative Inquiry (Butera, 2012).

The method known as Relaxation Response came after experiments and studies developed by cardiologist Herbert Benson on meditation. Findings have demonstrated that there are common elements in meditative practices in diverse cultures and religions (e.g., Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, among others). According to Benson (1993), these elements are the "prolonged repetition of a word, prayer, phrase, or muscular activity to focus the attention" (p.289). The analysis of the practices led to the development of Relaxation Response as a method that had a standard set of instructions. In short, the method consisted of sitting comfortably in a quiet place, closing the eyes and breathing by quietly repeating a focus word or phrase. The instructions were presented in Appendix F.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Besides, the present research explored meditation exercises classified by Butera (2012) as

"Contemplative Inquiry." According to the author, this was the most sophisticated form of meditation and also the simplest, since it had as its main feature to possess a single instruction. In other words, the meditation is based on focusing attention on a concept or idea, namely "silent contemplation" (Butera,

2012, p. 218). The author further emphasized that the technique consisted of driving the attention of the mind into a single thought. The instructions of "Contemplative Inquiry" were presented in Appendix G.

Finally, it was relevant to present the reasons that guided the choice of the methods for the research. Relaxation Response was chosen after a key informant indication in the first stage of the design process described in Chapter 4. On the other hand, the Contemplative Inquiry was selected after the literature review. Also, the researcher chose to select methods with simple instructions to be explored in

Virtual Reality.

2.2 Positive Technology

The impacts that digital experiences exert on people's emotions, quality of life, and happiness is an emerging public concern, as Calvo and Peters (2014) point out. They also emphasize the fact that computing is developing into a new era in which individuals request the contribution of technology to their wellbeing. In this context, values such as happiness and human potential (Calvo & Peters, 2014), positive emotions (Botella et al., 2012; Kanis & Brinkman, 2008; Riva et al. 2012), among others, are being considered in the design of technologies. As a consequence, the scientific approach called Positive

Technology emerges. Understanding this field involves initially discussing the concepts involved in psychology, specifically the area of knowledge that provided the framework: the positive psychology.

2.2.1 Positive Psychology

The concept of positive psychology was created by the psychologists Martin Seligman and

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). According to Botella et al. (2012), the

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authors define the field as “the scientific study that, on a subjective level, deals with ‘valued subjective experiences: wellbeing, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past), hope and optimism (in the future); and flow and happiness (in the present)" (p.1). The concept guided much research on the development of new technologies that promote well-being and happiness. Besides, they carried on the discussions and elements highlighted in the studies that connected the concept of positive psychology to technology.

Botella et al. (2012) emphasize two elements about the concept presented by Seligman (2002) and Csikszentmihalyi (1998) on positive psychology. First, that this field investigates "human potential, virtues, and their effects, and promotes exploring topics such as optimism, love, perseverance, and originality." Second, the interventions and applications in this field strive towards "identifying people's strengths and building resilience, engagement, and meaning." Therefore, when analyzing the connection between technology and positive psychology, the authors emphasize that the interaction of users with technology has fundamental purpose transforming personal experience to promote the development of strengths and the stimulus to change.

The perspective of positive psychology is centered around enabling people and communities to thrive and build the best in life according to Riva et al. (2012). The authors state that this field of scientific study investigates the human capacity for ideal "functioning" and "flourishing." Note that they reveal two aspects. The first concerns to the operation, which refers to the idea of the capacity of a machine or of a system to operate in its totality. The second refers to the vigorous growth or development of living organisms. Concerning the term "flourishing," it is worth presenting the concept developed by

Calvo & Peters (2014), which defines it as "the way of emphasizing the optimal (rather than just average) end of possible human psychological functioning”. Finally, concerning the concept of positive psychology and its relation with technology, Riva et al. (2012) emphasize that the idea is the basis for the construction of technological systems and applications that encourage positive emotions, creativity, and personal growth. As a consequence, these factors contribute to social and cultural development.

On the other hand, Diefenbach (2018) presents a relevant contrast to the relationship between positive psychology and technology. The primary challenge pointed out by the author about the

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interventions in the field of positive psychology is to find the ideal level of positivity to enable and

“support positive change in a given situation, particularly if transferred by technology” (p. 4). In this context, she points out that the level of positive stimuli should take into account two aspects.

The first is related to the need to find appropriate forms of rewards and reinforcements when technology assumes the role of personal coach: "while a human coach can more sensibly react to individual situations, technology has a more difficult job to detect what motivation one actually needs to flourish "(Diefenbach, 2018, p. 2). Finally, the second aspect concerns the fact that positive psychology interventions can stimulate "frustration" rather than "motivation" and as a consequence, promote anxiety rather than "hope and inspiration" (Diefenbach, 2018, p. 2). The intervention can cause unintended negative side effects, what the author calls “bitter and sweet factors” (p. 2). Therefore, interventions to stimulate change can have adverse effects if the correct measure is not applied.

2.2.2 Positive Technology: Concepts and Classifications

Positive Technology could be defined as "the scientific and applied approach to the use of technology for improving the quality of our personal experience" (Botella et al., 2012). The central focus of this approach is personal experience. In this sense, technology assumes specific objectives to fulfill this purpose. Botella et al. (2012) state that specific Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are being used as aid mechanisms for psychological treatment, including virtual reality (VR). Finally, the authors point out that VR can be structured to provide specific goals. In that sense, meditation can be considered a means to achieve wellbeing, because a mind in balance is capable of promoting empowerment and growth.

Diefenbach (2018) emphasizes aspects like teaching and technical assistance inherent to the concept of Positive Technology. In her study, Diefenbach (2018) argues that the availability of technical support to various areas and daily activities promotes the growth of people's interest in the potential of technology in improving human flourishing and wellbeing. Following this logic, the author suggests that

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

"positive technology takes the responsible role of a 'digital coach' supporting people in achieving personal goals and behavior change” (Diefenbach, 2018, p. 1).

The Positive Technology can be classified as "hedonic", "eudaimonic", and

"social/interpersonal", based on its effects on personal experience (Riva et al., 2012; Botella et al., 2012).

These three perspectives are the guidelines for the modern theories of wellbeing (Calvo & Peters, 2014).

In summary, Riva et al. (2012) define hedonic as "technologies used to induce positive and pleasant experiences"; eudaimonic "technologies used to support individuals in reaching engaging and self-actualizing experiences"; and social/interpersonal "technologies used to support and improve social integration and/or connectedness among individuals, groups, and organizations" (p.71).

The prototype concept developed for this research seeks to enhance the user experience by engaging in immersive media guided meditation with the use of 360 ° VR video, investigating the possibility of achieving an improvement in their individual experience. In this context, considering the training of meditation exercises as well-being training (Botella et al., 2012), the concept of the Aurora prototype developed for the analysis of this thesis is close to the approaches denominated hedonic and eudaimonic levels. Therefore, the justification for this is in specific characteristics related to these concepts. According to Botella et al. (2012), technology is used to induce positive hedonic level experiences. One of the cited examples is to promote relaxation as a result. Also, the authors point out that at the eudaimonic level, strength promotion can be achieved with training.

2.2.3 Positive Computing

The terms Positive Technology and Positive Computing seem to refer to the same idea. However, the second term is based on the design for its definition. Calvo & Peters (2014) points out that Positive

Computing is a field within human-computer interaction and define it as:

It is referred as the design and development of technology to support psychological wellbeing and human

potential. We believe we are seeing the beginning of an important shift in the focus of modern technologies

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in which multidisciplinary efforts to support human flourishing are helping to shape thinking around how

we design for digital experience. (Calvo & Peters, 2014, p.2)

The history of Positive Computing has its origins between the 1950s and 1990s, a time when partnerships between disciplines including linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy and cognitive sciences(Calvo et al., 2016) were narrowed. Collaboration between these fields of knowledge has allowed advances in the development of artificial intelligence, for example. Calvo et al. (2016) also highlight the emergence of the discipline known as Human Factors, or ergonomics, which aims to investigate the interaction between humans and technology through the collaboration between psychology and design. This collaboration aims to develop secure, efficient and user-friendly technologies.

Stanton (2005) notes that designers must use methods to obtain information and evaluate the design process. In this sense, he emphasizes the main objective of the ergonomic methods presented by

Wilson and Corlett (1995), who affirm that these methods aid the development of "ergonomically sound concepts, prototypes, and final designs." Therefore, the Human Factors approach presented by Staton

(2005) includes techniques used during the design process of a product or system and exclude methods to investigate failures after artifact completion. Among the methods pointed out by the author is the

"scenario-based design" (Stanton, 2005), which consists of the use of storyboards presentations or imaginary scenarios to evaluate design concepts.

The prototype developed for this study involved the elements previously presented. Chapter 3 described the research methodology and the design phases of the prototype, including actions that aimed to strengthen the interaction between individuals and technology.

The design of positive technologies does not only take into account aspects such as usability and accessibility, for example. The process also includes planning measures to promote the user to have a positive experience. However, it is relevant to observe the point of view of Calvo et al. (2016), who emphasizes that "minimizing negative wellbeing does not equal maximizing positive wellbeing" (p. 2).

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These aspects will be observed during the conduction of the tests with the target audience and discussed later.

However, a relevant aspect must be considered about the theoretical basis presented so far. It is related to the idea that there is no evidence that technological advances and the variety of devices available have made contemporary society psychologically healthier and happier than 20 years ago

(Calvo & Peters, 2014). It is an important detail, as studies focus on actions where a welfare state can be stimulated, and technology can act as a trigger. However, stating that technological progress has increased people's well-being is what Calvo & Peters (2014) call "a poor proxy for wellbeing" (p. 3).

Despite this, efforts must be maintained to integrate and consider elements that may motivate the well-being in the design cycle of technological artifacts.

Finally, concerning technologies in the perspective of positive computing, the advances demand of the designers strategic integration of well-being factors in the idealization and production of products and software of daily use (Calvo et al., 2016). In this sense, the planning of the prototype design phases aimed to provide the necessary support to act as a designer, to optimize human-technology interactions and the integration of wellbeing factors.

2.3 Third wave Human-Computer Interaction

Machines and systems follow the history of humankind. For decades the relationship between human and technological artifacts has ceased to be simply cause and effect, where devices were created solely to make the individual's work more effective. At a given time point, usage of technology to increase human labor productivity has promoted its insertion not only in workplaces but also in everyday activities and social interactions (Cairns & Power, 2018). In other words, machines and systems no longer serve a purely mechanical purpose. Instead, they assume tasks in the routine of individuals. Thereby, the interactions between humans and technology gain new values and meanings. This process is discussed by the theorists of the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field through the so-called Three Waves.

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Dix (2009) defines HCI as "the study of the way in which computer technology influences human work and activities" (p. 1327). It is important to highlight that HCI is a terminology that is related to the design process to promote effectiveness in technology. The author also relates it to the academic discipline that studies "the way technology impacts human activity" (p. 1327).

According to Gunkel (2018), scholars in HCI research recognize three intellectual waves. The first wave in HCI is related to human control over computational mechanisms. The main objective of this approach was to investigate how to make the work of individuals with machines effective, focusing on engineering systems (Cairns & Power, 2018; Gunkel, 2018).

In the second wave, the researchers do not emphasize the control of the mechanisms but observe the flow of information that passes through the devices (Gunkel, 2018). Thereby, the main thing noticed is communication. This process can be exemplified by The Mathematical Theory of Communication

(Shannon and Weaver, 1963). This theory observes how information "gets into the device, how it is processed, and how the output is generated and conveyed to the human user by way of various interface applications and features" (Gunkel, 2018, p. 13).

Finally, the HCI approach followed the progress of computers and began to observe the relationship between individuals and digital technologies that characterized the third wave (Bødker,

2006). In this new perspective, "the effectiveness and communication" are no longer the central themes of the discussions, giving rise to the interaction between humans and computational artifacts. Gunkel (2018) emphasizes that the third wave concentrates the focus on the terms, conditions, and situation of the interaction. In this sense, the third wave HCI offers bases for research on Positive Technology and

Positive Computing. From the moment the focus is on the interaction between individuals and technology, the third wave approach provides qualitative and quantitative measurement methods that can go beyond cognition and give information on experience, culture, emotions, and values (Bødker, 2006; Downey, 2015).

The interaction phenomena and its evaluation in the third wave HCI perspective can be exemplified through everyday situations in the lives of many technology users. Gunkel (2018) cites as an

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example the behavior of individuals who say "thank you" to digital assistants and speech dialogue systems (SDS) such as Echo and Alexa (Amazon), Google Home, and Siri (Apple). According to the author, each wave provides a way of understanding this phenomenon. In the design of first wave HCI, this action does not impact the control of the device and can be considered irrelevant. On the other hand, in understanding second wave HCI, thanking a computer is not an act that provides an input that can be processed by the object. On the contrary, it is a noise in the exchange and processing of information.

However, the interaction acquires relevance in the context of third wave HCI. According to the author, saying "thank you" reveals that people interact with the assistant or SDS not because they understood that they are intelligent or aware but because they recognize that they fulfill a social role or function in their lives. Gunkel (2018) also emphasized that "there is a significant co-creation of social presence in the simple act of saying thank you to Alexa or Siri, and third wave HCI allows you to see how this functions, why it is important, and what impact it has on human sociality" (p. 21). Therefore, this approach offers foundations for studies on the aspects involved in technology-supported meditation, which justifies presenting this information to enrich the discussions of this research.

2.3.1 Techno-spirituality

In the context of the third-wave HCI, it is relevant to mention that Buie and Blythe (2013) call investigations on the combination of technology and religious and spiritual practices such as techno-spiritual (Buie & Blythe, 2013). Meditation is one of the methods inserted in their study. The authors developed a survey based on the number of mobile applications available in the iTunes App Store on the subject and related to the number of searches on techno-spirituality released by ACM Digital

Library. On the one hand, the survey conducted in 2012 recorded approximately 6,000 mobile applications. On the other side, they noticed that in a set of 98 items related to the theme, only 19 research deals specifically with techno-spirituality. And in the case of the subject of their research, just two

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examples involving meditation were identified (Downey, 2015). Therefore, the work developed by Buie and Blythe (2013) once again emphasizes the flaw in the field and the need for studies on the subject.

2.4 Immersive technologies – concepts and studies

The effects of guided meditation through immersive systems such as the Virtual Reality (VR) represent the central theme of recently published research (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017, Choo & May,

2014; Gackenbach & Brown, 2011; Shaw et al. , 2012, Kosunen et al., 2016 and Downey, 2015).

Although published studies concentrate research on Mindfulness practice, they represent relevant and current sources for discussions of methodologies and results obtained on the subject. The main aspects and concepts highlighted by recent research are presented in this topic as a way to promote understanding of the decisions that guided the design of the prototype, conducting the experiments and collecting data referring to the present study.

2.4.1 Virtual Reality as a medium

The concept of Virtual Reality (VR) presents different perspectives in the literature. Considered

"the philosopher of cyberspace," Michael Heim defines VR as "a technology that convinces the participant that he or she is actually in another place by substituting the primary sensory input with data received by a computer" (Heim, 1998, p. 221). On the other hand, presence is the prerequisite for virtuality according to Ropolyi (2001, p. 178), who states that "some kind of presence is a necessary condition for any kind of reality and virtuality." The author emphasizes that for immersion in virtuality, the "worldliness" aspect is necessary. To understand the meaning of worldliness, it is relevant to cite

Grimshaw's (2014, p.18) explanation of the term: "worldliness would require, for instance, that in order for any representation to be internalized as an embodiment of a person, other users' representations must also be present and engaged in explicitly shared activities.”

In a different approach, Craig et al. (2009, p. 1) define virtual reality as "a medium composed of interactive computer simulations that sense the participant's position and actions, providing synthetic

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feedback to one or more senses, giving the feeling of being immersed or being present in the simulation."

An exciting aspect of the authors' work is that they consider VR as a medium for communication. By assuming this characteristic, VR represents a medium in which people can share ideas and experiences.

Although this observation seems trivial, it highlights the fact that information can be presented in different ways according to the purpose of the experience to be shared.

The use of virtual reality as a means of communicating ideas stimulated the emergence of different genres derived from other media. This approach is presented by Craig et al. (2009), who point out as examples of current VR genres "games, scientific visualization, manufacturing procedure analysis and training, prototyping product, interactive story experience, and historical site recreations" (p.35). It is important to emphasize that this perspective extends the visual aesthetics of the "virtual worlds" of virtual reality, not restricted to the use of realism in computer graphics, but going further with the use of audiovisual stimuli present in videos. This perspective reveals essential elements for the application of

VR as a medium, related to the discussions in the literature on presence, immersion and the use of sensorial stimuli.

Virtual reality allows the interaction between user and computer to promote the process of immersion. Navarro-Haro et al. (2017) and Slater et al. (1994) point out that VR immersion occurs when the computer promotes the user to the sense of presence and the illusion of participating in the world created by the device. Gackenbach and Brown (2011) present presence as a dimension that measures awareness and experience in the present moment. Therefore, immersion and presence are characteristics that are directly linked. Besides, it is relevant to present Janet Horowitz Murray's (1999) description of immersion to emphasize the relationship between the terms:

The experience of being transported to an elaborately simulated place is pleasurable in itself, regardless of

the fantasy content. We refer to this experience as immersion. Immersion is a metaphorical term derived

from the physical experience of being submerged in water. We seek the same feeling from a

psychologically immersive experience that we do from a plunge in the ocean or swimming pool: the

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sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality, as different as water is from air, that takes over

all of our attention, our whole perceptual apparatus... in a participatory medium, immersion implies

learning to swim, to do the things that the new environment makes possible... the enjoyment of immersion

as participatory activity. (Murray, 1999, p. 98)

Weinel and colleagues (2018) claim that the immersive capabilities of a VR system can be enhanced with the proper use of graphics and sounds to generate a virtual environment that stimulates the senses to the point of producing a sense of presence in the user. The authors note that since the 1980s, the discussions on realism focus on "photo-realistic accuracy of graphical representations in computer graphics" (Weinel et al., 2018, p. 185). However, in their study, they present works that expand the possibilities of exploration of the visual element of Virtual Reality, not restricted to the advances of computer graphics, but including the use of audio-visual techniques. These methods allow the construction of visual or auditory stimuli that causes the feeling of being somewhere else or even to be 'in someone else's shoes.'

An example of this is the application called “The Autism Too Much Information (TMI) Virtual

Reality Experience” developed by The National Autistic Society - NAS (2016). The app uses 360-degrees video in VR to present a historical simulation from a first-person perspective to show how an environment of a shopping center can provoke stress in a child on the autistic spectrum (Weinel et al.,

2018). Another relevant example to illustrate the use of audio-visual media and VR technology to foster a subjective experience may be noted in the film “Clouds Over Sidra” (Arora and Pousman, 2015) which presents the story of Sidra, a girl at her home in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.

Finally, the works developed by BeAnotherLab (2016) can be cited to illustrate this perspective, as the project called “The Machine to Be Another” consists of a virtual reality system that shares experiences from the perspective of another. These works are united through the use of audio-visual media and technologies such as VR as a means to convey conscious states in the first-person, using forms of telepresence to place the user inside the sensorium of another. Therefore, these projects illustrate what

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Weinel et al. (2018) call them an "emerging field of work in audio-visual media and VR" which uses videos to stimulate "consciousness states or generate empathic tools" (p.184).

Concerning the media, it is relevant to discuss the role of 360-degrees VR video to improve the personal experience in guided meditations, compared with conventional videos. As previously presented in the Introduction, Contemporary Information Communication Technologies such as the video-sharing site YouTube provides videos to support or teach meditation methods. The video channel City of Hope on YouTube, for example, provides videos with guided meditation exercises such as “15 Minute Guided

Imagery Meditation Exercise” (City of Hope, 2014). Although not immersive media, conventional videos can promote meditative experience. However, scholars point out that the sense of presence stimulated in

VR is the essential feature that distinguishes it as a means to optimize the personal experience and lead to changes (Riva et al., 2015; Kosunen et al., 2016; Gagglioli, 2012; Villani et al., 2007). Thus, it is possible to suggest that by displaying 360-degree video in VR, the media assimilates the sense of presence feature, which represents a crucial advantage over conventional videos.

Findings from previous researches present arguments that support the claim. Concerning the sense of presence, it is relevant to present the arguments of Riva et al. (2015):

In general, what distinguishes VR from other media or communication systems is the sense of

presence [...]: VR can be considered the leading edge of a general evolution of present

communication interfaces such as television, computer and telephone whose ultimate goal is the

full immersion of the human sensorimotor channels into a vivid and interactive communication

experience. Specifically, we argue that the higher sense of presence induced by VR may be used

to elicit optimal experiences that will support the process of change. (Riva et al., 2015, p. 285)

The work of Gagglioli (2012) supported this view. The author compared the experience of a user in everyday situations with the experience described by the same person when interacting in a virtual environment. The results of the study showed that 22% of participants reported that VR experience represented activity associated with the highest level of optimal experience (Gagglioli, 2012; Riva et al.,

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2015). "Reading, TV viewing and the use of other media-both in the context of learning or leisure activities-obtained lower percentages of optimal experiences" (Riva et al., 2015, p.286).

In the context of relaxation exercises, Freeman et al. (2004) investigated the effect of a virtual environment on the sense of presence. Findings showed that the guided audio-narrative relaxation in a virtual environment enhanced a higher sense of presence than the audio-only (Freeman et al., 2004;

Kosunen et al., 2016). Finally, it is relevant to mention the study developed by Villani and colleagues

(2007) who evaluated the effectiveness of VR as a support tool in the relaxation process. The research compared its efficacy with DVD and audiotape to promote relaxation and reduce anxiety. The study also analyzed whether the sense of presence was correlated with the efficacy of the treatment. According to the authors, results suggested that the sense of presence was an essential variable between the media experience and the efficacy of the procedures (Villani et al., 2007).

Therefore, the studies provided information to suggest that using 360-degrees video in VR is a more effective way of improving the meditative experience than watching a conventional video (e.g. non-immersive media) without the VR headset.

2.4.2 Meditation studies using immersive systems

The present study involved discussions and methods related to the use of technology as a tool to improve the meditative practice, with emphasis on Virtual Reality as a medium used to present guided meditation exercises in 360-degrees videos. Previously published research on the use of VR in guided meditation did not address immersive videos, but the use of 3D graphics visuals to create the narrative to favor the practice through immersion. Despite this, the articles addressed approaches related to this study.

Thus, they must be presented to ground the research theoretically. Examples of relevant themes are VR meditation training for beginners, the use of simple meditation exercises, and the effectiveness of short-term interventions. Therefore, they were presented as significant findings after exploring the literature.

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The training of mindfulness practice is the main objective of the VR system called “Dialectical

Behavioral Therapy - DBT®” (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017), which was designed to limit distractions and be used by in people who have attention problems. During mindfulness conference, forty-four participants contributed to the study. The session lasted 10 minutes. The participants placed the Oculus

Rift DK2 Virtual Reality helmet where they could hear instructions for meditation training while experiencing the experience of floating in a calm river created with digital 3D images (Navarro-Haro et al., 2017). Before and after the training session, each responded to subjective questionnaires. In the results, people reported an increased state of mindfulness, relaxation, and decreased negative states like anxiety and sadness.

Kosunen et al. (2016) use the combination of VR and neurofeedback to promote beginner training in the meditation system called RelaWorld. The system was designed from two simple guided meditation exercises based on body scan and focused attention practices. In the first exercise, the user visualized the shape of a human body, which was illuminated to indicate the part of the body that they should focus their attention. In the next exercise, the individual focused attention on spheres that lit up as the level of concentration increased. In the background, a calm scenario was presented with the instructions of guided meditation.

The research presents an essential aspect, which concerns short-duration meditation interventions. Kosunen and colleagues (2016) note that although meditation is considered to be something that needs to be exercised frequently and for long periods, previous studies have shown positive results on the efficacy of short-term interventions. Zeidan et al. (2010) state that three sessions of brief mindfulness meditation promoted improvements in "cardiovascular variables." Steffen & Larson

(2015) noted the reduction of cardiovascular reactivity in one session of mindfulness meditation.

Also regarding the short duration of the experiment, Vidyarthi, Riecke, and Gromala (2012) proposed the production of an interactive system to promote meditation called Sonic Cradle. Although it is a system that supports the experience of meditation without the use of Virtual Reality, it has as characteristic the immersion through the connection of the breath with the music. Thus, it's about

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immersion in media. In Sonic Cradle, the participant was suspended in a dark room with two respiratory biofeedback sensors. These sensors captured the subject's breathing to shape the soundscape progressively, creating unique sounds. According to the authors, 11 out of 15 participants described the experience in a single session as "relaxing." Besides, 8 participants estimated that in 78% of the time they were focused on sound and their breathing (Vidyarthi et al., 2012, p. 415).

Finally, it’s relevant to address training systems. Choo & May (2014) presents a study that analyzes the process of teaching and learning mindfulness through software through gamified design. It means that through a rewards system, users unlock new visuals as the biofeedback system identifies their advances in guided meditation classes. The authors claim that by gamification strategies it is feasible "to encourage persistent training behaviors in participants over longer periods of time" and therefore,

"developing skills to mindfully meditate" (Choo & May 2014, p.1).

Shaw et al. (2012) developed an immersive virtual environment (VE) called Meditation Chamber, a training system that used the combination of VR and biofeedback (galvanic skin response) for users to maintain awareness of the senses to manipulate what was presented visually in real-time. The researchers used meditation exercises, and the system worked as a coach.

It is important to note that the visual element of the Meditation Chamber narrative presented in the head-mounted display (HMD) was simple. In the first exercise, the landscape of sun was going to become point as the user relaxed. The same thing happened in the next task, but with the moonrise. In the last activity, the volume decreased, and the image gradually darkened as users reached the meditative state with guided meditation and breathing exercise, (Shaw et al., 2012). In the group of 411 participants, the majority reported increased levels of relaxation similar to the meditative state, with attention to the group that had never meditated. The results were obtained with the registration of the information collected by the sensors and with questionnaires. Significant developments in the research of VR and meditation were presented in the Theoretical Framework. However, it is essential to highlight one aspect noted in the literary review. The systems developed and applied in the experiments involved the use of biofeedback technologies. These devices have allowed autonomic functions of the body, such as heart

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rate and respiration, to cause visual changes in the VR headset. Shaw and colleagues (2012) noted in their study that the combination of VR and biofeedback technologies were adopted "to determine if the immersion and biometrically-driven real-time feedback could help users achieve a meditative state" (p.

2).

Note that the use of biofeedback is an essential difference between the systems applied in previous research and the artifacts developed for this study. Experiments with the prototypes did not involve the use of biofeedback because the visuals were 360-degrees videos featured in VR headset, rather than systems designed with 3D graphics that respond to the autonomic functions of the participants. Thus, the prototypes could be used for guided meditation experiments without relying on expensive equipment. Despite this difference, the subjects presented in this section provided relevant information to guide the conduct of the experiments. Figure 1 presented the four main subjects covered in this chapter.

Figure 1: The four fundamental themes of the Theoretical Framework.

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Chapter 3 - Methodology

Broadly, this study aims to explore technology-supported meditation from the Aurora prototype design of immersive media, with the use of audio-visual 360-degrees videos reproduced through VR headset. Participants were university students in the 19-47 age group, females and males, with little or no experience in meditation. These basic orientations guided the planning of the methodology as presented in this topic.

3.1 Research Methodology

The use of technologies designed to induce wellbeing can be a complex process due to the diversity of methods involving user experience (UX) and the theoretical bases in the field of the third wave HCI (Bargas-Avila & Hornbæk, 2011; Downey, 2015; Law et al., 2014). Also, the evaluation of user experience demands a holistic perspective, involving the interpretative, situational and phenomenological aspects, which means observing "subjective measures of emotions, values, motivations" among others (Downey, 2015, p. 64). The present research was built on methodological approaches supported by published and previously presented studies, with attention to the structures shown in the academic papers of Downey (2015) and Brolin (2017) that represented essential guidelines for the organization of methodology.

Firstly, this research adopts the interpretivism stance. Goldkuhl (2012, p.138) points out that the main idea of interpretivism is "to work with these subjective meanings already there in the social world; that is to acknowledge their existence, to reconstruct them, to understand them, to avoid distorting them, to use them as building blocks in theorizing." The scholar also emphasizes the argument presented by

Orlikowski & Baroudi (1991) that the interpretivism stance is related to research philosophy known as constructivism since the researches with this bias assume that the social world is produced and consolidated through human action and interaction.

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Secondly, this study aims to verify how users will interact with the technological artifacts built to provide guided meditation. As the user experience will be observed, the research approach is qualitative to obtain a better understanding of the user experience (Barnum, 2011; Resnick et al., 2013).

Finally, the design and development of the prototype used the Research through Design (RtD) approach. Zimmerman, Forlizzi, and Evenson (2007) present the RtD as a model that favors the creation of design artifacts capable of providing knowledge that can be transferred to the HCI knowledge field.

Besides, the scholars emphasize that the approach is relevant to interaction design research, insofar as "it stresses design artifacts as outcomes that can transform the world from its current state to the preferred state" (idem, p. 1).

In other words, the design process involves different phases of development of a series of artifacts that allow to delimit a problem and articulate different solutions and reflect on the results. The artifacts can take on the formats of products, models, and prototypes. The process design phases from the

RtD perspective are: "grounding-investigation to gain multiple perspectives on a problem; ideation-generation of many possible different solutions; iteration-cyclical process of refining concept with increasing fidelity; and reflection" (Zimmerman et al., 2007, p. 2). Martin & Hannington (2012) argue that in RtD the design process becomes a legitimate research activity, in that it evaluates "the tools and processes of design thinking and making within the design project, bridging theory and building knowledge to enhance design practices "(p. 146). Therefore, the elements involved in RtD provide a space of tests and research, to contribute to the generation of knowledge in the field of Human-computer

Interaction.

3.2 Design Strategy

The design strategy was structured with the main guideline of the Research through Design in

Human-Computer Interaction. Besides, the study analyzed the structures adopted by researchers in the academic papers previously presented and discussed. In this way, the design process was divided into

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three stages, which are Scenario, Initial Prototyping and Higher-Fidelity Prototypes and Tests (see Figure

1 on page 29).

The planning of the first stage was designed to collect a significant volume of information about the process of meditation teaching for beginners, the development of concepts for technological artifacts, and the design and application of immersive technologies. Therefore, the first stage is the background of this study. The literature review is the knowledge base of the initial stage because it provided scientific and conceptual data on the fields connected with the central theme of the thesis. However, the information was not restricted to the aspects discussed in the surveys. The first stage included the practical, human, and social aspects of guided meditation as a way to enrich the study discussions and guide the design of the prototypes and apply the tests effectively.

In this sense, the initial stage included field research with semi-structured interviews with key informants and observation in the meditation class field for beginners. Most of the meetings were done personally to observe how personal opinions were presented and the body language of the interviewees.

Only one interview was conducted remotely over the telephone, as the specialist interviewed did not reside in Sweden, where the study was conducted. Finally, the participation and observation in meditation class for beginners were used as a complementary method. The information collected from the experts and the design requirements defined from this are presented in Chapter 4 Stage I – Scenario.

The findings of the first stage served as the basis for the process called Initial Prototyping. The second phase processes included the low-fidelity prototype called Meditation Box followed by sketching and storyboarding. Martin & Hannington (2012) defines prototyping as "the tangible creation of artifacts at various levels of resolution, for development and testing of ideas within design teams and with clients and users" (p. 138). This phase is essential for the creation of an artifact since creating the concept of a product is a critical phase of the design process. Also, the scholars emphasize that it is at this time that research and the ideation are translated into a format for concepts to be tested by designers, clients, and users.

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The third stage consisted of the development and testing of the higher fidelity prototypes Aurora and Pandora. The design of the prototypes was justified by the need to explore the effects of user interaction with 360-degrees Virtual Reality (VR) videos during a guided meditation and the Research

Questions. In this sense, the strategy adopted was to initially produce the Aurora prototype, which followed all the design requirements obtained with specialists in the semi-structured interviews described in Chapter 4 “Stage I - Scenario,” and with students in the low-fidelity prototype Meditation Box described in Chapter 5 “Stage II - Low-fidelity prototype.”

After that, build another technological artifact in which the visually presented scenes were changed. The second prototype called Pandora was developed to create an experience to provide grounds for analysis and comparison of the 360-degrees videos effects on guided meditation when the artifact does not meet the requirements defined during the design process.

In this sense, it is relevant to highlight that the tests involved two experiments. The first experiment consisted of the interaction of the participants with the Aurora and Pandora prototypes. The second experiment was performed with a control group that only listened to the audio of the guided meditation present in the prototype. After that, the same group watched Aurora's immersive video on the VR headset. Chapter 6 presented the details of the experiments.

The adoption of audio tests in a control group represents a methodology used in a previously published study on the use of VR in guided meditations. For example, the research developed by Gromala et al. (2015) features an immersive virtual environment called “Virtual Meditative Walk”. The system simulated walking meditation through a forest, applied as therapy for chronic pain management. During the tests, the authors adopted a non-VR control condition. The participants in the control group were required to listen to the audio track training (Gromala et al., 2015, p. 523). It is essential to note that the

VR group listened to the same training audio. Results showed that the VR system was more effective to reduce pain than just listening to guided meditation audio.

Finally, it is essential to present an overview of the methods. In that sense, Figure 2 shows the stages of the design strategy.

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Figure 2: Stages of the design strategy.

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis Method

The interpretivism stance was the guideline to the data collection. Thus, the interviews were used as the main method for gathering data. However, the question models were distinct in the initial and final stages of the research. Interviews were performed in a semi-structured way, with the delimitation of guiding topics during the data collection phases with specialists and participants of the low-fidelity prototype stage. This approach followed the guidelines of Martin & Hanington (2012). The information was recorded through personal notes during the sessions. The justification for choosing this structure was to create an opportunity for the interviewees to be comfortable expressing their opinions and allowing the discussion of other topics that arose during the conversation if they were relevant.

On the other hand, the structure of the interviews after the tests with the prototypes followed standardized open-ended questions. Turner (2010) states that "interviews provide in-depth information pertaining to participants' experiences and viewpoints of a particular topic" (p. 754). In this sense, the author suggests that standardized open-ended questions allow participants to express their opinions and experiences in more detail. In addition, closed-ended questions were also included, to gather information on specific topics. Participants' responses were recorded, and the content was transcribed.

The data analysis was performed through the coding process to reduce biases within the research

(Turner, 2010; Gall, Gall & Borg, 2003). The process consists of compiling the data into groups of

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information that Creswell (2003; 2007) classifies as themes or codes. Phrases and ideas that are mentioned by research participants frequently and have relevance form themes or codes. This information was organized, and the researcher continued with data interpretation and analysis of the results in the

Findings chapter.

3.4 Participants

Twenty-three individuals contributed to the survey and formed two distinct groups. The first group was formed by six key informants, which includes experts in various fields of knowledge, whose contributions were presented in the chapter Scenario. It is important to note that the researcher requested the written consent of the specialists to authorize the publication of their real names.

The second group of participants represents the target audience who interacted with the low-fidelity prototype Meditation Box and with the higher-fidelity prototypes Aurora and Pandora. The sample of university students in Malmö, Sweden, was used to gather participants with little or no experience in meditation and were essential to investigate questions related to this research. The students are all university students from Malmö University, aged 19-47 years.

Precautions have been taken to protect the rights of participants and to maintain the confidentiality of their identities. In this sense, each participant was codenamed to guarantee hers or his confidentiality and all the materials associated with each of them were associated with the respective codename, to maintain the integrity of the collected data and to organize the research. The material collected included photos, interview records, and notes.

The following table shows the codenames, phases in which the participants acted in the study and the activity that they carried out in the study. Note that the names of the key informants are real.

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Design Stage Activity Names or code names

Ewa Lunnemark

1 Key informants Lotta Andersson

Luciane Schutte

Vigyana Shakti

Paveennuch Khongkharat

Sirinya Maryoon

2 Low-fidelity prototype L(n): L1, L2 and L3

3 Higher-fidelity prototypes P(n): P1 to P14

Table 1: Participants of the research

3.4 Ethical considerations

This study involved the collaboration of experts in various fields of knowledge and the participation of university students. Measures were taken to ensure the progress of the research ethically, ensuring the safety and privacy of the people involved. The research phases were carried out in Malmö,

Sweden, and in this sense, the rules published by the Swedish Research Council's principles of ethical research for the humanities and social science (Codex, 2019) guided the whole process. The purpose of the study was previously reported to all individuals. Also, participants provided verbal or written consent, depending on the case, before data collection through annotations, audio recordings, video, and photographic records. Participant names have been omitted to ensure anonymity. Finally, it is crucial to present aspects related to the technological artifacts used. As the study involved investigations using technology to stimulate positive changes in emotional states, measures have been taken to ensure the safety of users.

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Chapter 4 – Stage I: Scenario

Understanding the aspects involved in the teaching and practice of meditation for people with little or no experience was a strategy adopted to gather the information that outlined requirements to be observed during the design phases of the Meditation Box, Aurora, and Pandora. This research involves different fields of knowledge, and this aspect interfered in the choice of specialists involved in this phase.

In general, the interviews with the key informants sought to collect different points of view to enrich the information. Besides, there was participation as an observer in a meditation class for beginners.

Therefore, this stage comprises both the meditative practice in the traditional format, that is, with the aid of an instructor, as well as the use of technological artifacts. This strategy allowed the collection of fundamental data, as presented in this chapter.

4.1 Interviews with key informants

Interviews on meditation instruction for beginners were conducted with four females instructors with years of experience on the subject and with two nurses applying meditation to stimulate relaxation and amelioration of chronic pain in patients with diseases such as cancer. The interviews were semi-structured. Only one interview was conducted remotely with a Brazilian instructor by telephone.

The purpose of the research was explained to the participants at the beginning of the meetings. They verbally granted the use of the information collected during the interviews. The questions used in the discussions are listed in Appendix A. The group was formed both by professionals who studied and specialized in guiding meditation, as well as by professionals where meditation is part of culture and tradition. Besides, the group had distinct backgrounds: Mindfulness, Yoga and meditation, Zen Buddhist meditation and Kundalini Yoga.

These characteristics were fundamental for the choice of exercises to be used with the prototype because at the initial phase of the research it was still unclear what would be the best options.

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The first meeting was held with Ewa Lunnemark and Lotta Andersson in February 2019 at

Malmö University and took place in two phases. A meeting was held in the morning in the office to collect data. The observation of the meditation course occurred on the same day at night, the details of which are presented later in this chapter. They are nurses and teach Mindfulness classes for beginners to provide a tool to help students cope with academic challenges. It is relevant to mention that they develop the work at the University in two phases. The first one includes hands-on classes in Mindfulness, and the second, if students are interested, can apply to attend the Mindfulness course with the help of a hands-on application called Head Space (Head Space Inc., 2019), which provides guided meditation.

During the meeting in the office, Ewa and Lotta reported that beginners in meditation seek the method as a way to relieve stress related to academic work. In short, they emphasized the importance of how the commands of guided meditation should be presented: in a simple way and with the use of positive words. It is justified by the fact that beginners often worry if they are practicing correctly.

Therefore, making students comfortable and carefree is a prerequisite for creating a supportive environment for teaching. Besides, they suggested that it is relevant to consider not using devices to monitor the body since the user can generate stress.

The interview with Vigyana Shakti was held in Malmö in March 2019. She has a background in yoga and meditation. The criteria used to select her to participate as key informant group was to raise information about a practice that would be applicable with technology. She suggested to searched the articles published on the Haa International Retreat Center website. The suggestion was essential for the choice of the meditation method used in one of the exercises of the Aurora and Pandora prototypes called “Relaxation Response” (Benson, 1993).

Also, the yoga instructor suggested steps for the application of guided meditation. Initially, commands should be spoken continuously and beginners should develop simple exercises, beginning with breathing. Vigyana Shakti asked to avoid the use of the word "relax." Another relevant aspect that must be mentioned is that in meditation without the use of technology there is no use of sounds during meditation. Concerning body posture, she suggested that the research participant perform guided

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meditation sitting instead of lying down. Finally, Vigyana Shakti emphasized that the total time can not exceed 10 minutes.

Gathering information about breathing during meditation from the perspective of those practicing it as part of the culture was the key point that led to the selection of the key-informants Paveennuch

Khongkharat and Sirinya Maryoon. They are nurses in Thailand and apply the Buddhism-based breathing method as an alternative for patients who need high doses of pain-relieving medicines. The meeting was held in Malmö in April 2019. At the time, they presented the stages during practice with patients.

Meditation begins with the ambient sound, where a piece of Mozart is usually played. Patients are instructed to close their eyes to imagine that they are close to the sea. From that moment, they are invited to take a deep breath and count from 1 to 8 and then "breathe out slowly." The exercise is repeated for 10 minutes, and after the time has passed, nurses access a standard form that has a pain score of 1 to 10 (10 is very painful) and it is the patient who chooses the score. Also, they observe facial expressions and other physiological signs such as blood pressure, respiratory rate, temperature, and pulse. After collection of all data, the medical staff regulates the dosage of the drug.

Finally, a telephone interview was conducted with Luciane Schutte. She is a Brazilian yoga instructor and is developing a study in partnership with Harvard University to investigate the effects of meditation on medical students. In short, she suggested not using the meditative technique known as

Kundalini Yoga with the VR technology, since meditation is done with the eyes closed. Also, she stressed that using the VR headset does not fit the purpose of the method, which is to calm the mind without audio-visual stimuli. Finally, she pointed out that the practice does not involve guided meditation.

4.2 - Observation in meditation class

The aspects involved during the practice of meditation were observed during a Mindfulness lesson given by Ewa and Lotta at Malmö University in February 2019. The course was attended by 12 college students beginning in meditation. The instructors reported my presence in the class. On that

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occasion, I informed the object of the research, the purpose of my proximity to observe how a meditation class should be conducted. Everyone consented to my participation verbally. The class was taught in

Swedish, but Lotta translated into English to the researcher, so as not to interfere with the class concentration process.

The class allowed to collect relevant data for the research. Initially, it was possible to observe the body language of the participants as the exercises were developed. Besides, the researcher observed the pacing of the vocal instructions. In general, it was possible to notice that the activities worked positive aspects (joy, serenity, tranquility), as well as elements that could be causing psychological discomfort, such as stress with academic tasks. Finally, it is essential to note that the commands were suggestive rather than forced.

4.3 Design requirements

The interviews with key informants provided the design requirements (DR):

1. DR1 - Simple Commands; Positive Words. 2. DR2 - Apply “Relaxation Response” (Benson, 1993). 3. DR3 - Simple exercises, starting with the breathing 4. DR4 - Sit down 5. DR5 - Maximum duration: 10 minutes 6. DR6 - Breathing exercise: breathe out slowly 7. DR7 - Development of specific pacing to the vocal instructions

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Chapter 5 – Stage II: Low-fidelity prototype

The process of idea testing for the immersive video of the Aurora prototype began with the production of low-fidelity prototypes. According to Martin & Hanington (2012), low-fidelity prototypes are essential tools for evaluating concepts and promoting changes in iteration processes with users. The low-fidelity prototype stage involves three phases. In the first phase, students interacted with the prototype called Meditation Box which was designed to collect data to be used in the immersive video, thus representing new design requirements of the higher-fidelity prototype. The second phase consists of sketches of the elements that should be included in the immersive video. Finally, the third phase of this process consists of the elaboration of the storyboard, which allows the production of imaginary scenario to envisage the use of the concept of design in the future (Staton, 2013).

5.1 Phase 1: Meditation Box

The low-fidelity prototype called Meditation Box was produced from simple elements like a cardboard box, two black paperboards, a pin and six printed images of landscapes of the beach, mountain, mill, park, forest, and sunset. It is essential to point out that the images were composed by scenarios where nature predominated or in which a building was integrated into the view, as was the case of the windmill or deck of a beach. The Figure 3 presented the prototype. The box was designed to simulate a user's vision while watching a 360-degrees video on a VR headset.

A group formed by three female students of Malmö University (L1, L2 and L3) interacted with the artifact through the use of the Wizard of Oz (WOz) prototyping approach. In WOz, an individual assumes the role of "wizard operator" to simulate and evaluate interfaces and interactions in an idealized system before its operation (Dow et al., 2005). To make the technique feasible, the researcher assumed the role of wizard operator. Besides, a Halo Portable Bluetooth Speaker connected to the Samsung Expert computer was used during interactions with the box to simulate sound effects.

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Figure 3: Meditation Box prototype.

The session was held in March 2019 in a student residence located in Malmö, Sweden. Each participant interacted with the prototype for about 15 minutes. Before starting the experiment, the purpose of the research was explained. The participants consented that the data collected during the investigation were used in this research. During the exploration of the prototype design, the students were invited to choose two images. Initially, one of the printed copies was pinned to the bottom of the carton. While the participant was observing the selected image, the researcher began the audition of elements presented in guided meditations on YouTube. The pacing of the instructions, ambient music and sounds of nature were individually tested in the first stage. The list was presented in Appendix C.

After the definition of each one of the sound elements by the participant, the researcher played all simultaneously. Figure 4 showed the record of a student interacting with the prototype, while the researcher played the sounds and noted the participant's feedback. Therefore, the data collected in this iteration were made through personal notes in the project book. In this second stage, each participant was invited to evaluate whether it was possible to focus on guided meditation and suggest changes until the result was satisfactory. The process was repeated with a different image as well as trying different

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combinations of audiovisual elements, if the participant wanted. It is relevant to note that the participant

L1 authorized the use of the image presented in the figure to record the process.

Figure 4: Test session with the Meditation Box prototype.

After finding out the ideal match of the items that should be presented in the 360-degrees VR video, the researcher asked the participants what could be changed to improve the experience and what could be done to avoid getting bored during guided meditation.

5.2 Phase 2: Sketching

The second phase of low-fidelity prototyping had as its primary objective to organize the items necessary for the edition of the immersive video guided meditation from the feedback of the participants in the previous phase. The researcher concluded that the best way to view the high-fidelity prototype was to produce sketches inspired by the layout of the movie and video editing software Adobe Premiere Pro

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CC version 12.1.2. This software was used for editing the Aurora prototype. After a few attempts, the best sketch option is shown below in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Aurora’s sketch.

The drawing represents the flow of the film. The top of the first column, which is called "Source description," groups all the audiovisual production items of a video with 360° images. The components of this column are grouped in the following order: "Videos (360) Stream", "Time", and "Audios 1", "Audios

2", and "Audios 3". The top of the second column, called "Flow," indicates the sequence of integrated actions that develop over time. For example, if you want to analyze the integrated actions that occur in

"Video Transition to Exercise 1", consider the full reading of the respective column to note the simultaneous events. Firstly, the image that characterizes the transition to the first exercise appears.

Secondly, the transition music auditions (Transition Song) and the voice announcing the beginning of the first Voice Announcement are activated. Finally, it is possible to notice in "Audios 3" that no sound will be emitted because there is the indication "No sound." Therefore, following this logic makes it possible to analyze the sequence of actions.

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It is important to note that if one considers the total time of each exercise, according to the indication in the line "Time (minutes)", the forecast in the sketch is that each one has a maximum duration of five minutes, according to the orientation collected in the interviews phase with the key informants. Therefore, the drawing presents a simple format of the video idealized for the prototype.

Besides, it was relevant to understand the sequence of events during the interaction of the participant with the Aurora prototype. In this sense, the storyboard was produced.

5.3 Phase 3: Storyboard

The production of the storyboard defines the final phase of the process design structure in the low-fidelity prototype. Stanton (2005, p. 483) claims that "scenario-based design involves the use of imaginary scenarios or storyboard presentations to communicate or evaluate design concepts." Following the method presented by the author, at this stage scenarios were produced to predict the performance of use of the design concept. Therefore, after considering the information collected during the previous phases, the researcher created the storyboard shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Storyboard.

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The storyboard presents the interaction with the prototype in an ideal scenario during the experiment. Also, it provides procedures that should be considered during the tests. The image presents the researcher and a participant in a calm and comfortable environment. Considering that there would be participants who had not previously experienced an immersive environment and could not handle the VR headset, the initial phase provides for teaching the participant to start the video. After completing this process, the third step in the storyboard shows the participant ready to start the experiment, sitting comfortably with the headphone, and VR headset. The next drawing shows the participant's view as soon as the video starts. The fifth step presents the end of the experiment, followed by the question, "Can you describe how do you feel?". Finally, the last drawing shows the ideal answer to the question.

5.4 Findings

The phases of the low-fidelity prototype design process, which involved the interaction with the prototype Meditation Box, sketching, and storyboarding promoted important discoveries and were integrated into design requirements. The findings of each phase are described in order.

Concerning the experiments with the prototype Meditation Box, the participants chose between the available images the natural landscapes, being the image of the sea the preferred one between L1 and

L2 (Malmö sunset - Oresund bridge), followed by the image with trees (Kungsparken), chosen by L3.

The images can be observed in Appendix B. Another aspect evaluated was the audio. Appendix C shows the list used in the tests. Among the preferences pointed out by the participants were the sounds of the ocean (Calming Seas - L2 and L3), the music (L1) and the sound of birds. Also, the pacing of the guided meditation was evaluated. L1 preferred the slow pacing. However, the other two chose fast pacing, meaning there was no consensus.

During the experiments with the Meditation Box prototype, participants provided feedback related to the questions "what could be changed to improve the experience?" and "what could be done to

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avoid getting bored during guided meditation?" Answers and suggestions enriched the design requirements.

The student L2 suggested the use of headphones to avoid distractions. It is important to note that the speaker was used during the experiment with the prototype to facilitate communication between the researcher and the participants. On the other hand, L1 suggested the inclusion of changes in music and ambient sound, to prevent participants from getting bored during experiments with a high-fidelity prototype. Also, she stressed that it would be interesting that each exercise had a sharp image without movements, to avoid people being "dizzy." L3, in turn, stated that she preferred to do meditation without visual stimuli. The design requirements were presented below in Table 2. After completion of the second stage (low fidelity), the design requirements for the prototype received essential inputs. This aspect is relevant to highlight because it emphasizes that the high fidelity prototype Aurora is both the artifact resulting from previous research, as well as the means of application of the study. This argument can be sustained by the fact that Aurora was created from elements of literature review, field research results with key informants, observation of the class for beginners, and experiments with the low-fidelity prototype. Besides, Aurora assumed the role of a medium for the application of the research, as can be observed in the description of the next chapter.

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Elements Suggestions Design requirements

Images Video with oceans and/or trees. DR 8: Distinct videos for each exercise. DR 9: Visuals with ocean and trees. Pacing of the guided Avoid participant to get bored or DR10: Find the balance in the pacing. meditation get sleepy. Previous test of the guided meditation was Use different exercises. required.

Ambient music Relaxing music. DR 11:Songs that favor concentration. Sounds of nature Waves of the sea. DR 12: Balance those elements so that it Birds singing. does not become noise. DR 13: Avoid participants to get distracted. Headphones Use it to avoid distractions. DR 13:Integrate the headphone as part of the experiment.

Analysis of the Integrated actions that develop DR 14:Test the harmony of the multiple sketches elements involved before collecting the data over time. for the research.

Analysis of the Present two exercises of guided DR 15: Mark the beginning and the end of sketches meditation. each exercise. DR 16: Insert voice, video and song to highlight the transitions. DR 17: Maximum length of each exercise: five minutes.

Analysis of the Check if the students have DR 18: Provide participants with instructions storyboard experienced VR before. Ask if they on how to adjust the headset, volume, and to know how to adjust and use the VR play the video. headset. DR 19: Organize the procedures to be followed during the experiments, including instructions to interrupt it if someone feels uncomfortable with the images.

Analysis of the Perform the experiments in an DR 20: Perform the study in a calm and storyboard environment that favors comfortable environment. concentration on experience.

Analysis of the Insert 360-degrees videos that DR 21: Include best quality video within the storyboard favor immersion. available budget.

Table 2: Design requirements - stage 2.

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Chapter 6 – Stage III: High-fidelity prototypes and

testing

The earlier stages of concept definition and high-fidelity prototype design made it evident to the researcher that artifact production and the application of the study would involve several steps.

Firstly, the design requirements collected with the participants made clear the need to acquire items for the composition of the video with immersive media, where all the elements involved should be integrated in a harmonic way to make the research feasible.

Secondly, the editing of audiovisual material to be presented via the VR headset, with particular attention to 360-degrees videos, involved the use of specific editing techniques such as the transition of images, insertion of text, the encoding of the material into the format of video MP4, among others.

Therefore, the edition was studied and tested exhaustively until the required quality for the first test was reached when the inputs were collected from the target audience for the improvement of Aurora. Finally, the research application required the design of the data collection procedure with the participants, to explore the effects resulting from the interaction of the users with the prototype, guaranteeing the comfort and safety of the participants, paying particular attention to those who do not have contact with the VR headset before. Therefore, the prototype design and test application processes are presented in this chapter. For better understanding, the themes are presented in subitems.

6.1 Higher-fidelity prototype 1- Aurora

The development of the Aurora prototype involved the choice of audiovisual elements following the design requirements previously presented in Chapter 5. The processes that involved the selection of

360-degrees videos, music, and audio effects are described below. Also, producing the narrative of guided meditations and editing the final artifact version is detailed in this chapter.

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6.1.1 360-degrees VR videos

According to Hosseini & Swaminathan (2016, p. 107), "360 VR videos are immersive spherical videos, mapped into 3D geometry, where the user can look around during playback using the VR head-mounted display (HMD)." The authors claim that these features promote the sense of depth in whatever direction the user chooses to observe. The VR video is generated with the use of omnidirectional cameras that capture all directions of a scene at the same time (Guo et al., 2019; Long et al., 2018).

The development of Aurora involved the selection of four 360-degrees videos in following the elaborate structure in sketches and the design requirements observed in the previous chapter. In this sense, a survey of video banks was carried out to verify the offer of immersive videos following the characteristics defined in the second stage of the prototype, and that was feasible within the budget available for the research. The researcher decided to acquire the license to use images from the video bank Storyblocks (2019). The Royalty-Free License Agreement is in Appendix D.

The first video of the prototype was chosen to promote the sensory stimulation of transport to another place, for the "Aurora prototype world." Taking into consideration that part of the participants would have contact with virtual reality for the first time, the researcher decided to insert a 360-degrees video with images of the Milky Way stars provided by Nasa (Icetray, n.d. a) as an editing strategy. The purpose of this action was to impact the user with a video with beautiful images in the first moment. After that, when the time came to start the guided meditation, the prototype led users not to focus solely on visual stimulus but also to turn their attention to audio. It is relevant to emphasize which texts were associated with the first video. Initially, there was the introduction of the author information, "J.

DANTAS PRESENTS." Moreover, the name of the prototype "AURORA" was published.

The 360-degrees video shown in the sequence marked the transition to the first guided meditation exercise called "Relaxation Response" (Benson, 1993). For this, the 360-degrees video "VR 360 clouds timelapse from sunrise to sunset in virtual reality 360-degrees video" (Icetray, n.d b) was chosen. It

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showed the sun rising and setting in a clouded horizon, giving the impression that the user was floating in the sky. At this stage, the video showed the sun rising to the left and moving quickly to the center of the sky. In this range, the text "EXERCISE 1" appeared on the screen. It is important to note that the same video was also used to announce the next exercise. However, the second transition showed the scene of the setting sun, and the text "EXERCISE 2" appears on the screen.

The scenario chosen for the first part of the guided meditation was the beach, and for this, the

360-degrees video titled "Natural Landscape of White Sand Ocean Beach Sea Scape 360 VR" (Jones, n. A) was selected for the prototype. The choice of the third video took into account the design requirements raised in the previous chapter. At this stage of reproduction, a text appeared on the screen after, whose content was "Choose One, Peace or Love." This strategy was adopted as a trigger, to drive the attention of the user to choose one of the words to initiate the technique "Relaxation Response" (Benson, 1993), in case she or he was distracted.

Important aspects should be mentioned concerning this reproduction. As previously stated, the research limitations made it impossible to acquire 360-degrees videos with a longer duration. In this sense, the first aspect regarding this video relates to its duration, which is only one minute and twenty seconds. The solution found by the researcher to enable the completion of the prototype was to repeat the looped video during exercise. It is essential to highlight that the purpose of the video editing was to transport the user to a calm immersive environment that could favor concentration in a guided meditation.

Therefore, the video did not have actions that could distract the participant.

Besides, the video presented three imperfections that could not be corrected due to the complexity of the editing technique, the time to complete the prototype and the experiments, and the size of the 4K-definition 360-degrees video files that took hours to complete and to encode into the MP4 format. The flaws were the visible slit of the omnidirectional camera recording that appears on the left side of the beach, the cameraman's shadow, and the black circle that appeared below the user's view, a basic editing technique to hide the camera's tripod in this type of recording.

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Finally, the second exercise used a 360-degrees video showing the view from the perspective of a hilltop, tree-lined, and overlooking the ocean (Jones, n. A). The video was also short and had to be looped to cover all the time of guided meditation. Also, there was a black figure on the floor to hide the tripod from the camera. These imperfections were not edited, for the same reasons presented previously with the first exercise. The technical specifications of the 360-degrees videos used in the Aurora and the link to view the prototype on YouTube were presented in Appendix E (Table 1).

6.1.2 Voices of the guided meditation

Defining the voices of guided meditations and the rhythm of narration were processes that required prior testing until choosing the best options. On the one hand, the design of the prototype should follow the criteria raised in the previous phases. On the other hand, the narration of meditation should be enjoyable and lead the user to focus on the commands. Under these conditions, different strategies were adopted to investigate the best viable alternative.

The initial criteria used to select a narrator were good diction and fluency in English, to present the steps of the exercises. In this sense, a female student was selected to record the first exercise, the

“Relaxation Response” (Benson, 1993; Benson & Klipper, 1976). The plan was to make a low-fidelity recording using Voice Memos mobile app (Voice Memos, 2019) for recording and evaluation. If the researcher approved the narration, the final version would be made in a recording studio of Malmö

University, to guarantee excellent sound quality. It is relevant to note that this process was not performed previously in the low-fidelity prototype stage because, at that time, the meditation methods were not yet defined.

Following this planning, the recording with the student was held on April 19, 2019, in Malmö,

Sweden. After analyzing the content of the material, the researcher observed that despite the right student utterance, the content was not satisfactory concerning the rhythm of the narration. After all, she was not a meditation expert. So the problem could be repeated if other people were invited to record. In this sense,

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the second planned alternative was to seek an experienced instructor to solve the problem identified with the first test. However, it was not possible to find a professional available to contribute to the study promptly.

The third alternative planned was to use computer-generated voices. A survey was conducted to find the voice generator tool with voice timbre options and breathing controls and the rhythm of the vocal sound. The best option found was Animaker Voice, an online application that allows the user to convert text to "human-like voice-overs" (Animaker Inc., 2019). Female and Male voices with US English accent were selected to compose the audio of guided meditation. Among the voice options offered by the application, the "Joanna" and "Matthew" voices were selected for exercises number one and number two respectively. Thereby, the selection took into consideration the design-related requirements that could prevent the user from getting bored or getting sleepy, as well as the need to balance the rhythm of the vocal sound.

Before describing the voice-editing process, it is essential to note that the "Relaxation Response" meditation exercises (Benson, 1993; Benson & Klipper, 1976) and "Contemplative Inquiry" (Butera,

2012) were adapted for shooting. Thus, the researcher made edits to adjust the steps of guided meditations with the narrative reproduced in immersive video.

In Relaxation Response, the steps in two Benson publications were used and are present in

Appendix F. A similar strategy was adopted for the second exercise of the Aurora prototype, which presented the Contemplative Inquiry as a result of the union of the steps proposed in the exercises

"Relaxation on Emptiness "and" Relaxation via Merging with the Universe "(Butera, 2012). The instructions were published in Appendix G. It is essential to note that the first exercise of the prototype

(Relaxation Response) had as its main activity the control of breathing. In this sense, the introduction of the second part of the guided meditation (Contemplative Inquiry) encouraged the user to continue with the breathing rhythm, presenting new steps gradually.

In summary, after the adaptation of the texts of the meditation techniques presented by the scholars, the contents were transferred to the online application Animaker Voice (Animaker Inc., 2019) for the

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conversion into computer-generated voices. Appendix H presents the full text converted by the application and used in the prototype. Each sentence of the guided meditation applied to the prototype was edited to construct narratives with a rhythm similar to those used by specialized instructors. In this way, the controls available in the Animaker Voice application (Animaker Inc., 2019) have been adjusted.

Figure 7 shows an excerpt from the first exercise, and the adjustment controls enabled to illustrate the editing of the voices. After testing, a standard was chosen to be used in the vocal sounds of the prototype in both exercises. In the "Speed" control, the "Slow" option was set, followed by the "Pitch" setting for the "Medium" option and finally, "Volume," the "Soft" alternative was applied. Finally, sounds were added that simulated the breathing pauses while a person talks. Once the process was completed, the application generated MP3 files after downloading.

Figure 7: Control panel of the Animaker Voice application used for voice adjustments before

converting text to computer-generated voices (Animaker Inc., 2019).

6.1.3 Music and sound effect

The sounds of Aurora were composed of songs and sound effects. The content was searched and collected on the YouTube Audio Library, which offers royalty-free audio tracks (YouTube, 2005). The

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selection of the audios was carried out in audition sessions of the contents available on the website, lasting two hours, from April 9 to 12, 2019. Initially, eight soundtracks were selected by the researcher, which were applied to the first two versions of the prototype, designed to test and enhance 360-degrees video editing techniques. After the tests, songs and sound effects presented in Table 3 were chosen. It is important to note that the sound effect "Jungle Atmosphere Afternoon" (YouTube Audio Library, n.d.) was included in the final version of the prototype after testing for the feedback collection with students.

This process has been described in the "Testing" section. Also, no sound effect was included in the scene of the first exercise, because the 360-degrees video already had the sound of the waves of the sea.

Stage in the immersive Music or Sound Effect (title and composer) References video

Introduction “Nidra in the Sky with Ayler” - Jesse Gallagher Gallagher (n.d.)

Transition to exercise 1 “A Quiet Thought” - Wayne Jones Jones (n.d.)

Exercise 1 “Sea Space” - Emily A. Sprague Sprague (n.d.)

Transition to exercise 2 “A Quiet Thought” - Wayne Jones Jones (n.d.)

Exercise 2 Music: “Angelic Forest” - Doug Maxwell/Media Maxwell & Media Right Right Production Production (n.d.)

Sound effect: “Jungle Atmosphere Afternoon” - YouTube Audio Library YouTube Audio Library (n.d.) Table 3: Music and sound effects.

6.1.4 Edition

The elements that make up the immersive video of the Aurora prototype, presented earlier in this chapter, were edited using the Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2018 (Adobe Systems, 2018b) for Windows 8

(Microsoft, 2012) video editing software. At the end of the edition, Adobe Media Encoder 2018 (Adobe

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Systems, 2018a) was used for media processing in MP4 format. As a result, a 360-degrees VR video with a size of 5.5 GB was generated. Appendix I presented the video specifications of the prototype.

6.2 Higher-fidelity prototype 2 - Pandora

The idea of exploring the influence of immersive videos on a guided meditation through the use of technology has led to the production of the second higher-fidelity prototype called Pandora. The creation of the second artifact aims to explore the alteration of only one of the audiovisual components of

Aurora, that is, the 360-degrees VR videos used during the presentation of the meditation exercises steps. Therefore, the other scenes and sounds were retained, as well as the properties of the original video.

Besides, the videos have also been published in a loop, to cover the time of guided meditations. The contrast between the two prototypes was highlighted in the characteristics of the scenes inserted in the second artifact, which did not follow the design requirements related to the visual elements.

In Pandora, scenes depicted in the "Relaxation Response" meditation (Benson, 1993; Benson & Klipper, 1976) showed a busy street in Vatican City, Rome (Jones, n.d c). Figure 8 shows the scene. The video introduced action with the presence of other people walking and at times, could provoke in the viewer the sensation of being observed by pedestrians.

Figure 8: Scene footage of the first guided meditation exercise of Pandora.

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In the second exercise, scenes from the "Contemplative Inquiry" exercise (Butera, 2012) on the

Pandora prototype show a man driving a golf cart on the street (Stockbusters, n.d.). It is relevant to note that in 360-degrees video, the user has the feeling of being next to the driver in a moving car. Therefore, the characteristics common to the Pandora’s videos are the presence of other people in the scenes, the absence of quiet environments and movement (see Figure 9). The technical specifications of the footages used in Pandora and the link to watch the prototype on YouTube are in Appendix E (Table 2).

Figure 9: Second exercise scene footage.

6.3 Testing

Four versions of Aurora were produced in the design process. As mentioned previously, the first two versions served as tests of editing techniques, verification of the audiovisual components, and conversion of the file to MP4 format in high definition. The testing phase was divided into two stages.

The first test aimed to collect information from the participants for improvements in the prototype in its third version. After the issues, the final version was used to explore the research questions. It is important to note that the Pandora prototype was produced after the completion of the final version of Aurora.

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6.3.1 Testing 1: Input

The process design led to the first test with the interaction of four students (P1 - P4) with the input collection artifact. The sessions were held on 27 April 2019, in a student residence in Malmö,

Sweden. The average duration of each session with participants was 20 minutes, with the presentation of the 360-degree VR video followed by experience recording. The researcher recruited students to participate in the experiments individually. The sample of participants followed the criteria of the end-users. In this way, three females and one male in the ages from 19 to 47, novices in meditation, provided input.

The researcher requested verbal consent from the students to record the feedbacks and use the information collected for the research. All participants authorized the use of the data. The participants' interactions with the third version of Aurora were not restricted to participants' input collection on aspects that should be improved in the artifact. They also contributed to the observation and definition of the procedures that were applied in the tests for the data collection on the research questions.

Participant 1 approved the sounds used in the prototype. However, she was not able to watch the immersive video until the end because she felt discomfort with the VR headset. She reported having closed her eyes and followed the guided meditation with the audio:

It was not comfortable because I don’t know why, I felt a bit dizzy with the images. So most of the time I closed my eyes. And then hear all the things they were saying.

This feedback was vital as it revealed the need to explain to the participants that the experiment could cause discomfort and that they could stop the experiment at any time if they wanted to. Moreover, the input highlighted the importance of observing whether participants closed their eyes and for what reasons.

Participant 2 stated during the session that he had not used the VR headset before. The researcher explained how to put the equipment on the head safely and how to trigger the immersive video. After

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experimenting with the prototype, he reported feeling no discomfort. However, he said he had difficulty in relaxing and focusing on guided meditation at the beginning of the video as he was impressed with the visuals:

That is why I couldn’t relax. I was so amazed all the time. I tried to relax. I got amazed how virtual reality looks so beautiful. (...) The sounds were really good. The commands could be a little bit better if the guys speak slower or wait a little bit between the instructions.

Besides, he said he had difficulty concentrating on guided meditation because the commands were fast. The median time between one step and another of guided meditation was five seconds in the presented version. After this input, the researcher edited the material, and the average time between the commands passed to seven seconds. Finally, he suggested editing the videos to erase the black circle used to hide the camera. As mentioned earlier, this edition was not performed due to technical complexities.

During this initial phase, it was possible to notice that the set of sounds, images, and guided meditation stimulated sensations in the individuals. Participant 3 stated that she preferred the second exercise because it stimulated the sense of freedom:

In the second image I thought about my freedom and I felt l was a bird on a rock. I think the second one was more relaxing for me. Freedom gave me the feeling of independence. The second one was better for me, I think.

She further noted that she noted that the voice volume of the second guided meditation was low and that therefore may have influenced her concentration:

In the second one, the sound was lower than in the first one. The voice of the man was lower than the sound, I think. The first one, the woman’s voice was like a sound that I heard before. Like a familiar voice, you know. I realized that the voice was going down and the concentration has become harder, you know. Maybe it should be stable like in the first exercise.

The variation in the volume of the second exercise of the prototype, "Contemplative Inquiry"

(Butera, 2012), was also noticed by Participant 4. In that sense, the volume of guided sounds and meditations of the prototype were adjusted to suit users' suggestions. As a result, the audio from the final

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

version was edited to show more balance. Finally, the last participant suggested the insertion of ambient sounds in the second exercise:

In the second one I expected the sounds of the birds, the trees, the wind. I couldn’t hear it and it would be better if I could.

Following the participant's nomination, the sound effect "Jungle Atmosphere Afternoon"

(YouTube Audio Library, n.d.) was integrated into the audio to the exercise. It is important to note that although the storyboard predicts the inclusion of nature sounds in the second video, the sound effect was not included in this version, because until then the researcher had not yet found a sound of good quality.

In summary, the conclusion of this stage of prototype design underscores the importance of the interaction of individuals with the artifact, to evaluate the user experience, and to collect data for the adjustments that improve the performance of the prototype. Table 4 shows the inputs collected during the first test with the prototype.

Topics Input

- Organize steps of the research procedure. Experiment Procedures - Inform users about the possibility of having discomfort. Stop experiment in this case. - Observe if students report about closing their eyes after experiments.

Experiment Procedures - Edit the length of breaks between the steps of meditation. and Guided Meditation - Include instructions for using the VR headset. - Edit footages.

- Increase voice volume of guided meditation. Exercise 2 - Improve audio quality.

- Inserting sound effects from a forest. Exercise 2

Table 4: Inputs after users experienced the prototype.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

6.3.2 Testing 2: Procedures to explore the Research Questions

The second phase of testing involved two procedures to explore the Research Questions. The first procedure was to present the Aurora and Pandora prototypes to participants in the VR headset and to collect information on the experiences through semi-structured interviews after interaction with each artifact. Five users participated in this first phase of experiments in individual sessions.

The second procedure consisted of removing the Aurora images. In this sense, another group of five participants listened to the audio-only of the guided meditation present in the prototype in a headphone. Then the same people watched Aurora's immersive video on the VR headset. It is relevant to highlight that the participants that listened to the audio-only guided meditation and then interacted with

Aurora formed the control group, as previously stated in the Methodology Chapter of the present research. At the end of the sessions, the participants responded to the interview, with questions similar to those applied in the previous procedure.

The questions and processes adopted during the experiments were presented in Appendix K. Note that all experiments were performed individually, alternating the order of contact with the artifacts. Also, each procedure had the collaboration of a distinct group of individuals. Figure 10 presented the processes schematically. Note that the interview in "Procedure 2: Audio and Aurora" was only done at the end of the session to shorten the experiment time due to the availability of participants at this stage.

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Figure 10: Testing procedures.

The experiments were performed between April 28 and May 8, 2019, in Malmö, Sweden. The sessions took place in a student residence and at the University of Malmö, respecting the availability of the participants' timetable. The environments were quiet and comfortable. It is relevant to note that people were left alone during the experiments, and the researcher only returned 10 minutes, the length of the prototype media.

Concerning the selection of individuals, the researcher followed the criteria presented previously on the target audience and selected ten university students between 19 and 47 years of age with little or no experience in meditation. Each session had an average duration of 35 minutes. The total time of interaction with the artifacts was 20 minutes, depending on the procedure adopted. Besides, the processes described in Appendix K have been applied in the remaining time, which included explanations about the purpose of the research, demonstrations on how to start an immersive video in the VR headset,

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

semi-structured interviews, accident prevention, among others. Finally, it is relevant to note that the order of the experiments was alternated in each procedure to see if there was any relation.

During the experiments, equipment was used. Videos of the Aurora and Pandora prototypes were broadcast on the Oculus Go Standalone VR headset, and the audio was played on the On-Ear Q5 headphone. Information provided by the participants during the interviews was recorded using audio-recordings with the Voice Memos application (Voice Memos, 2019) and transcribed. Finally, the content was analyzed, and the results were presented in the next topic.

6.3.3 Findings

The methods used during the tests with the technological artifacts enabled the collection of information that allowed to explore possible answers to the Research Questions 1. Considering the sample of 10 participants, who were divided into two groups to try the prototypes in two different ways, it is relevant to present the results of the experiments separately. Subsequently, a summary was presented at the end of this topic, pointing out the common points in the findings.

6.3.3.1 Findings after Procedure 1

The first procedure involved the interaction of five participants with the Aurora and Pandora prototypes. As previously discussed, the prototype was designed following a variety of requirements from instructors, health experts, and university students. On the other hand, the second disregarded requirements related to only one element, the 360-degrees VR video. This change provided the necessary contrast to consider Pandora, from a particular perspective, the antithesis of Aurora concerning the effects on participants.

Consider the nomenclature "group 1" to refer to the set of individuals who participated in the first procedure. In general, the order of the experiments did not present a considerable difference in the results.

It is noteworthy that male students were invited to participate in the experiments. However, only female

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students attended the experiments at this stage. The analysis of the material collected in the semi-structured interviews with this group indicates that all participants classified the Aurora experience as positive when asked to describe the interaction with the prototype. Participants used words such as

"peaceful," "relaxing," and "good" to describe contact with the prototype. The participant P6 described it as follows:

It was really, really peaceful. The music was good. I think the picture and the environment were calm and quiet. So it was a good experience. You really explained me well how to use it. So yes, I keep it a good experience with this device.

On the other hand, most users in Group 1 provided negative ratings after watching the 360-degree

VR footages of the Pandora prototype. Only student "P9" stated that she enjoyed the experience during both exercises. It is relevant to note that she watched the Pandora video before the Aurora prototype. She also noted that she enjoyed exercising with the car moving, but could not concentrate on a guided meditation. However, this was not the consensus of the other individuals. The female student called the

"P5", for example, described the experience as "disturbing." She had contact with Aurora before Pandora: At the beginning it was really disturbing because I already did the first one. And what the girl said in the first one was completely different from the image and the landscape. So I was like “What is happening?”. The landscape wasn't peaceful at all for me with all those people walking from the background. So it was not really relaxing. The second one (second exercise) was worse because… I don't know how to explain it.

Other words used by the members of group 1 to describe the experience with Pandora were "horrible" (P6), "confusing" (P7) and "stressful" (P8). One result that stood out was the female student's

"P8" response. Although she commented that she felt stressed in the first meditation exercise with people walking on the street, the student stated that she had been able to relax during the scenes with the car moving:

The second one (exercise) was more like... easy to relax. Because there was just this one guy. And it was easy for me because I could picture him as someone I know and someone I trust. And that helped. And it was like we were just going for 64

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relaxing. Drive to the nature. Because I could see the green and I was able to just relax.

The investigation also included the analysis of likely undesirable effects during user interaction with the technological artifacts, more specifically if the images transmitted by the VR headset caused nausea or if the use of the equipment produced discomfort. Regarding the Aurora experience, only one participant (P6) reported uncomfortable with the definition of the images, since they seemed to be erased.

On the other hand, during the experiment with the Pandora prototype, four participants reported feeling discomfort (P5, P6, P7, and P8) with the scenes presented. Note that the participants "P5" and "P7" stated that they had closed their eyes when they were uncomfortable. Besides, participant "P6," said she could not focus on meditation during the meditation exercise with the car in motion. Finally, participant "P8" claimed that she had not been able to relax because she had the feeling that people were watching her.

Regarding the question "Were you able to concentrate on a guided meditation with technology?",

All participants reported concentrating during the interaction with Aurora. On the other hand, all responded that they were not able to concentrate during the experience with Pandora. The evaluation of the guided meditation exercises "Relaxation Response" (Benson, 1993; Benson

& Klipper, 1976) and "Contemplative Inquiry" (Butera, 2012) was performed at this stage of the study.

Three participants chose the Butera technique as the best one ("P5", "P6", and "P8") and the others preferred the technique developed by Benson and Klipper ("P7" and "P9"). It is important to note that the justification for choosing the exercises was not based solely on the oral instructions, but also included the relationship of the exercises with the audiovisual elements of the video. This relationship can be noted in the response of participant "P6":

Maybe the second one because for the first one I was more stressed. So after the first exercise I was more relaxed. And I prefered the atmosphere of the second one with the birds and the music and the image. Yes, I prefer the second one.

Finally, it is essential to highlight the dynamics of the images were altered among the prototypes, which motivated the questioning of whether the scenes exhibited influenced the concentration of the participants. All the participants answered yes. The student named "P6" stated:

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

During the first part (experiment with Aurora) I really thought that the music and the voice are really important. But now that I have experienced the second part it is obvious that both images and voices and music are important. Not only the voice. Also the images.

6.3.3.2 Findings after Procedure 2

The second procedure to investigate the Research Questions consisted of the interaction of five participants with the Aurora prototype in two different ways. In the first part of the experiment, the user had only contact with the audio of the artifact, reproduced employing a headphone. Then the same user interacted with the prototype with the VR headset. This order was reversed with two participants ("P13" and "P14") of the second group, consisting of two male and three female students. During the interview phase, the researcher asked the subjects to make comparisons between the imageless experience and the interaction with Aurora in the VR headset and choose the best practice. In the sample, four participants stated that they preferred to experience Aurora instead of listening to guided meditation without visuals ("P10" to "P13"). The female student named "P14" presented an inconclusive answer, since she stated in her answer "kind of a combination of both, right?". Relevant aspects of the answers to these questions are highlighted below.

Participants who said they preferred the interaction with the video presented different justifications for the choice. The male student named "P10" stated that he felt more relaxed while watching the video. During the session, he first listened to the audio and then watched the 360-degrees

VR video:

Without the visuals I felt like tensions going through my body. I would say my muscles kind of I felt tense, but then relaxed… and then tense, and relaxed. Sort of anxiety. But once I put on the VR headset that was a lot more relaxing. It kind of gave me the visuals to kind of disappear into the virtual world that was presented in the prototype.

The male participant called "P11" said he felt the experience was "complete" when he could observe both the visuals and the soundtrack. The female student "P12" reported that it was easier to focus

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

on exercises with the presence of the images. The response of participant "P13" demonstrates that the immersion effect caused by contact with virtual reality favored her choice:

I think I prefer the one with visuals because it makes you get there and to relax yourself. But also it was one point that I was in beach, I was so relaxed that I wanted to close my eyes. And without the visuals I did the same. It could be the same, kind of. But I really liked the visuals.

Another point observed by the participants was that they all responded positively to the question,

"Did the images influence your concentration?" during the interview. In general, they argued that the visuals removed tensions (P10), favored concentration (P12) and relaxation (P11 and P13), and reported that they liked the feeling of being "there" (P13 and P14). Besides, four students in group 2 chose the guided meditation exercise "Relaxation Response" (Benson, 1993; Benson & Klipper, 1976) as the best technique and only the participant "P14" said to prefer the Butera (2012) method. It is important to note that the choice of this group, which had the visuals suppressed, was different from that chosen by the first group.

The analysis of likely undesirable effects during student interaction with the prototype was also performed after procedure 2. The researcher questioned whether the images transmitted by the headset

VR caused nausea or whether the use of the equipment generated discomfort. In the second group, participants P10 and P13 reported experiencing no discomfort. On the other hand, the participant P11 claimed to feel troubled by the weight of the Oculus Go headset. The female student P12 reported that the sharpness of the images affected her eyes and that the VR headset was not well adjusted. Also, student

P14 stated that the loop of the video bothered her, especially in the second footage. As a result, her concentration was affected, and she lost focus on exercise commands.

Finally, regarding the "Were you able to concentrate on a guided meditation with technology?", four participants claimed to be able to concentrate, and only the participant "P14" answered "no" to this question.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

6.3.3.3 Summary of results

The summary with the main points related to the RQs are presented in Table 5:

Topics Group 1 Group 2 Overall results (Aurora and Pandora) (Audio only and Aurora)

- Peaceful - Relaxing - Peaceful Words used to describe - Relaxing - Calming - Relaxing feelings after Aurora -Calming - Annoying - Calming - Connected to the feeling - Annoying - Connected to the feeling

Words used to describe - Disturbing - Disturbing feelings after Pandora - Confuse No feedback - Confuse - Stress - Stress - Enjoy - Enjoy

Guided meditation preferences: audio only or No feedback Experience with the visuals (Aurora) Experience with the visuals with the visuals? (Aurora)

Exercise 1: 2 participants Exercise 1: 4 participants Exercise 1: 6 participants Best exercise Exercise 2: 3 participants Exercise 2: 1 participant Exercise 2: 4 participants

Yes: 1 participant Yes: 3 participants Yes: 4 participants Discomfort during the experience with Aurora No: 4 participants No: 2 participants No: 6 participants

Discomfort during the Yes: 4 participants Yes: 4 participants experience with Pandora No feedback No: 1 participant No: 1 participant

Ability to concentrate on a Yes: 5 participants Yes: 4 participants Yes: 9 participants guided meditation with technology No: none No: 1 participant No: 1 participant

Close eyes during the 2 participants stated that they 2 participants stated that they closed experience closed their eyes their eyes 4 participants

Felt sleepy 2 participants 1 participant 3 participants

Footages influenced the Yes: 5 participants Yes: 5 participants concentration in a positive 10 participants manner No: none No: none

Table 5: Summary of relevant results.

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Chapter 7 – Discussions

This study aimed to investigate the potential of using immersive media in Virtual Reality as a tool for guided meditation. Thereby, it aimed to explore the effects that the technological artifacts designed with the use of 360-degrees videos might provoke in people with little or no practice in meditation, using meditative techniques little explored in the scientific environment. The theoretical approaches of Positive Technology and Research through Design enabled the creation of Aurora and Pandora prototypes to respond to Research Questions "RQ1: What are the effects of meditation supported by 360-degrees Virtual Reality video in beginners?" and "RQ2: Does 360-degrees Virtual

Reality video improve the meditation experience?".

The stages of the design and research process have shown that the development of technologies to promote the well-being of people or the improvement of personal experience is a complex procedure for several reasons, among which three aspects stand out.

First, it involves the participation of people with different backgrounds and fields of knowledge.

The higher-fidelity prototype design had the participation of medical experts and meditation instructors as a starting point to establish the essential characteristics of the artifacts. This argument is highlighted by

Diefenbach (2018), who presents the question about the challenge of translating knowledge into the technological design to stimulate behavioral change. Namely that "designing for a positive human experience and well-being is a complex task, and possibly even more in the sensitive domain of behavior change that asks for careful consideration of psychological factors" (Diefenbach, 2018, p. 2).

Secondly, although the design process followed the approaches stated by Positive Technology, specifically about promoting improvements in the personal experience, testing with artifacts demonstrated both positive and adverse effects. This perspective was approached in the Literature

Review, and it is possible to discuss it by observing the effects that each prototype generated in the users.

On the one hand, Aurora was designed from the perspective of being a guided meditation coach to explore technology for wellness, according to Positive Technology's theoretical precepts established by

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Riva et al. (2012), Botella et al. (2012), Calvo et al. (2016), Pohlmeyer (2013) and Diefenbach (2018).

Although the methodology of process design has followed stages to create an artifact that could promote well-being, interaction with technology has had adverse effects on some users. As reported in the findings, participants reported that the images might cause discomfort (P6, P12, and P14). The responses provided by participant P14 indicate that the experience was irritating and frustrating, for example. This aspect of the negative effect of the technology should be noted, although the final result of the research indicates that the group of participants classified the experience with Aurora associated with positive feelings as "relaxing", "peaceful", "calming", among others. This effect noted in practice is what

Diefenbach (2018) called "bitter and sweet factors" (p. 2), in the sense that a "positive" intervention can cause unintended negative side effects.

On the other hand, Pandora was designed to cause adverse effects on users, since the prototype did not follow the design requirements. The prototype fulfilled its function, considering the responses used by individuals such as "disturbing," "confusing," and "stressful." From a perspective, Pandora’s design suggests that it is possible to design "negative" technologies if the designer does not take into account elements that can improve the user experience.

Finally, the third aspect that should be mentioned about the complexity of the research process of technologies created to promote well-being concerns possible discrepancies between the subjective experiences reported by the participants and the real effects. Zhu et al. (2017) point out in their study with an artifact created for mindful breathing for stress reduction that discrepancies were noted between the responses of some participants and the physiological measures. The authors point out as probable motives the individual's desire to please the researcher or errors in reading the equipment used to evaluate the physiological effects (Zhu et al., 2017, p. 9-10).

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7.1 Meditation exercises and VR

Scientific studies that investigate the use of virtual reality to facilitate the practice of meditation concentrate the investigations in Mindfulness and 3D computer generated environments (Navarro-Haro et al. , Kosunen et al., 2016). This study offered the possibility of exploring two aspects that were distinguished from the other researches that unite the meditative practice to the VR environment. The first aspect concerns the application of two meditation methods. The second was related to the use of

360-degrees videos in virtual reality, representing an aesthetic alternative of the dominant practice in the academic environment, which is the use of 3D computer graphics.

Regarding the meditative techniques applied in the prototypes, the "Relaxation Response" techniques (Benson, 1993; Benson & Klipper 1976) and "Contemplative Inquiry" (Butera, 2012) were selected for the study because they presented simple steps that could be added to a virtual environment.

The results of this study suggested that the techniques were well received by the individuals, who demonstrated that they preferred the first method. In this sense, these meditation methods could represent alternatives to future studies that might associate meditation with immersive environments.

Also, it was relevant to point that the groups had different choices regarding best practice. The first group, who experimented with the Aurora and Pandora prototypes, preferred the Butera technique (2012), while the second group chose the other practice. The analysis of the reasons presented for the choice revealed that the criterion of selection of the best method was associated with the scenes. Eight participants associated the best practice with the visuals; one participant justified the choice for the clarity of the commands, and one participant justified their answer for the clarity of the audio. Therefore, this observation indicated the influence of the images to favor the meditative practice.

This result was related to the second aspect explored in the study, which concerned the use of

360-degrees videos as an alternative of content featured in virtual reality in meditation-related research.

Besides, the results suggested that the Aurora artifact, created with immersive media, was able to

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function as a digital coach. The justification for the argument was the fact that 9 participants reported being able to focus on guided meditation using technology.

Another relevant point concerned the behavior of group 2 (control group), who had contact with the audio-only guided meditation and the Aurora prototype. All individuals in this sample stated that they preferred the guided meditation experience with the artifact, rather than just listening to the audio of vocal instructions.

The aspects covered in this topic and the results presented in Findings with the sample of the research suggested that 360-degrees VR videos can improve the meditation experience. Therefore, this answered the question "RQ2 - Does 360-degrees Virtual Reality video improve the meditation experience?".

7.2 Effects of 360-degrees VR videos in guided meditation

The research identified effects during user interaction with the Aurora and Pandora prototypes. The effects noted had emotional, physical, and physiological characteristics. Emotional effects, feelings, and moods such as peace, calm, relax, annoying, and connection were reported for the Aurora prototype. On the other hand, Pandora provoked stress, disturbance, confusion, and joy. Concerning physical effects, the result suggests that contact with immersive media can generate discomfort in vision.

Another aspect that drew attention was the the eye-closing action during experiments with the

VR headset. It was possible to notice that the participants reported the act of closing the eyes for two different reasons. Users closed their eyes as a consequence of the advances in the steps of guided meditation. After all, in exercise 1, for example, there is the vocal instruction "you can close your eyes now." The case can be noticed with participants P7 and P5 (group 1) and with participant P13 (group 2).

The second reason that led participants to state that they closed their eyes was because of their experience of promoting discomfort or stress.

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During contact with the Pandora prototype, participants P5 and P7 reported the action as a form of escape. The same occurred in the second group with the student P14, who was shown to have been annoyed for much of the time of interaction with the Aurora prototype, especially with the videos being in a loop.

The second effect reported by the participants was the sensation of somnolence, verified in the first group with the participants P5 and P7, as well as with P11, a member of the second group. Student

P7 suggested the relation between sleepiness and the first exercise:

It was very good, I feel very relaxed. And I feel I can do this just when I go to bed before sleep. Because when I did the first exercise I was very calm and in the second one I was already so calm. I really liked the views in the second one because it reminds me of my city, my town.

Participant P5 also emphasized this relationship in her comments:

It was really peaceful, thanks to both the music, the landscape, the voice… I was really interested in the fact that first you look around you and then you hear the voice, and then you begin to relax. At the end you just want to close your eyes and just think about. For example, in the first exercise, you think about the words “love or peace”. You don't even want to look around you. You just want to focus on yourself. I could have slept, really. It was interesting.

Benson claims that the instructions presented in "Relaxation Response" may trigger physiological changes such as "a decrease below resting levels in oxygen consumption, heart rate, breathing rate, and muscle tension - plus a decrease in blood pressure in some people - and a shift from standard waking brain wave patterns to a pattern in which slower brain waves predominate" (p. 241).

Although high precision equipment has not been used to measure physiological data, it is worth mentioning that the effect of somnolence may be associated with changes in the participants’ physiological patterns.

Also, Zhu et al. (2017) reported in their study that "participants who felt sleepy were clearly able to calm down in mindful meditation and like many other meditators this brought them closer to the

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sleeping state" (p. 9). Therefore, there were indications that participants might have attained a meditative state.

Therefore, the aspects argued in this section suggested the effects of the use 360-degrees VR video in meditative practices, providing answers to the question "RQ1 - What are the effects of meditation supported by 360-degrees Virtual Reality video in beginners?".

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Chapter 8 - Conclusions

The purpose of this research was to explore how to begin meditative practices and the effects of guided meditation supported by 360-degrees video in Virtual Reality. Moreover, the study intended to investigate if immersive videos could improve the meditation experience. The research was performed through the design of the immersive video prototypes Aurora and Pandora, featured in VR headset, which presented exercises of two meditation methods, namely the Relaxation Response (Benson, 1993) and the Contemplative Inquiry (Butera, 2012). The prototypes were developed applying the Research through Design approach, which provided the guidelines to create the concept, develop the artifacts, test them, and evaluate the findings.

The study has demonstrated that a guided meditation supported by 360-degrees VR video featured in Aurora prototype could enhance positive effects in users such as relaxation, calm, and peace. However, these results were achieved following the design requirements. Otherwise, it might provoke unwanted side effects such as stress, annoyance, and confusion. Those effects were observed after experiments with the Pandora prototype, which did not follow the design requirements related to immersive videos. Note that the quality of equipment and audio content influenced the participants' personal experience.

Concerning the meditations practices, the experiments suggested that the methods applied were feasible through immersive media. The study also implied that guided meditation through 360-degrees videos could improve the concentration and the meditative experience of users. The findings suggested that the Aurora prototype functioned as a guided meditation coach if the user interaction was observed under the Third Wave in HCI and Positive Technology approaches. In other words, individuals have accepted the function of the artifact as a tool for meditation. The claim was supported by observing the participants' commitment to follow the vocal instructions. Finally, it is relevant to note that the control group preferred the meditative experience with the prototype featured in the VR headset rather than the audio-only experiment.

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The research promoted two essential contributions to the field of Media Technology. First, the design strategy favored the development of a methodology that could be applied to the design of meditation products. Besides, the study promoted discussions on theories and approaches related to meditation, Positive Technology, immersive systems, and Third Wave in HCI. Thus, the theoretical set contributed to academic research.

8.1 Future Work

This thesis has contributed to understanding the effects of guided meditation using 360-degrees

VR videos. However, there is more research that can be done. Firstly, future studies could consider testing the potential effects of the audio narrative in a similar system. Secondly, the research could be conducted with a biofeedback apparatus to investigate the physiological responses during the guided meditation using immersive videos featured in VR. Finally, the study could be developed with the improvements in the quality of the footages and the VR headset over a larger sample of participants.

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Appendix Appendix A

Semi-structured interview with key informants. Questions covered during the meetings.

1- What is your experience with beginners in meditation? 2- What are the main challenges encountered during classes/sessions? 3- How can the meditative state be observed? What are the signs that you identify? 4. What words should be avoided during guided meditation? 5- What is your opinion about the use of self-tracker during the experiments? 6- What characteristics should be observed in choosing guided meditation for technology design? 7- Should the philosophical-religious factor be present in the prototype? 8- What is the average exercise time for beginners?

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Appendix B

Table of images – Low-fidelity prototype: Meditation Box

Picture Description Source

Malmö beach https://www.flickr.com/photos/yoshing_/8100374552

Malmö sunset - https://www.wmu.se/msc-malmö/studying-malmö Oresund Bridge

Pildammsparken http://www.alexgaliano.com/2012/05/20/pildammsparken- Park in Malmo park-in-malmo

Kungsparken https://www.sverigesvackrastepark.se/kungsparken/

The Malmö http://malmo.com/placesofinterest/parks Household Regiment

Malmö Hiking https://sweden.se/nature/swedish-summer-the-top-10-tips/

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Appendix C

Audio elements used during the interaction of the participants with the Meditation Box prototype.

Table of sounds – Low-fidelity prototype – Meditation Box Description Source

Calming Seas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f77SKdyn-1Y

Nature Sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0tU18Ybcvk Relaxing music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjhOS73lmUg

River sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t7g690boao

Table of Guided meditation Pacing Source

Slow pacing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EaMJOo1jks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGT1VXwfx4, Fast pacing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEd2K1FxNQY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0FKzeuVVs

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Appendix D

Copy of the Royalty-Free License Agreement to the 360-degrees videos used in the Aurora prototype.

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Appendix E

TABLE 1 - Video properties of the Aurora prototype. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/I7kz2cFdiQA

Stage in the Name Details References 360° video

“Milky Way stars in space virtual Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Introduction reality 360 degree video. Elements of Duration: 00:47 Icetray (n.d. a). this image furnished by NASA” Frame Rate: 30 fps Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 112.5 MB

Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Transition to “VR 360 clouds timelapse from Duration: 00:50 Icetray (n.d. b). exercises sunrise to sunset in virtual reality 360 Frame Rate: 30 fps (same video) degrees” Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 115.9 MB

Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Exercise 1 “Natural Landscape of White Sand Duration: 01:20 Jones (n.d. a). Ocean Beach Sea Scape 360VR” Frame Rate: 29.97 fps Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 576.7 MB

Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Jones (n.d. b). Exercise 2 “360VR 360° Video Illawarra Duration: 00:46 Escarpment Australian virtual reality” Frame Rate: 25 fps Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 262.5 MB

TABLE 2 - Video properties of the Pandora prototype. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zL4B3HC6y3g

Stage in the Name Details References 360° video

Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Jones (n.d. c) Exercise 1 “Rome, Italy Vatican City - 360VR Duration: 00:33 video” Frame Rate: 29.97 fps Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 202.5 MB

Resolution: 4096 x 2048 (4K) Stockbusters Exercise 2 “Panoramic view man driving in golf Duration: 03:08 (n.d.) cart on road” Frame Rate: 29.97 fps Format: MP4 (H264) Size: 580.5 MB

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Appendix F

Steps of the Relaxation Response published by Herbert Benson used in Aurora prototype.

1- “Standard set of instructions used at the Mind/Body Medical Institute” (Benson, 1993, p. 240):

“Step 1 – Pick a focus word or short phrase that´s firmly rooted in your personal belief system. For example, a nonreligious individual might choose a neutral word like “one”, “peace” or “love”. A Christian person desiring to use a prayer could pick the opening words of Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’; a Jewish person could choose ‘Shalom’.

Step 2 – Sit quietly in a comfortable position.

Step 3 – Close your eyes.

Step 4 – Relax your muscles

Step 5 – Breathe slowly and naturally, repeating your focus word or phrase silently as you exhale.

Step 6 – Throughout, assume a passive attitude. Don’t worry about how well you’re doing. When other thoughts come to mind, simply say to yourself, “Oh, well”, and gently return to the repetition.

Step 7 – Continue for 10 or 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for a minute or so, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes open. Then do not stand for one or two minutes.

Step 8 – Practice the technique once or twice a day.”

(Benson, 1993, p. 240)

2- “Relaxation Response” guided exercise presented by Benson & Klipper (1976).

“1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.

2. Close your eyes.

3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed.

4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, “one”, silently to yourself. For example, breathe in … out, “one”,- in .. out, “one”, etc. Breathe easily and naturally.

5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes.

6. Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating “one.”

With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere with the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.”

(Benson & Klipper, 1976, pages 162-163)

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Appendix G

Meditation exercises classified as “Contemplative Inquiry” by Butera (2012), and applied in Aurora prototype.

Exercise “Relaxation on Emptiness”:

“Sit or lie in a relaxed manner and unplug from technology for five to ten minutes. Imagine all the thoughts, pressures, stresses and distraction leaving your mind in a slow and gradual manner. You feel a sense of peace in a state of emptiness. You may imagine an element of emptiness in your mind or a release of your heart. As soon as a thought enters, you go back to the physical feeling of relaxation surrounded by emptiness, of being enveloped in emptiness, filled with nothingness. Breathe in space, exhale space. Allow thoughts to pass and notice the tranquility that exists between thoughts. Notice everything drifting away into pure being.” (Butera, 2012, p. 218)

Exercise “Relaxation via Merging with the Universe”:

“As you inhale and exhale in a comfortable relaxation posture, reflect on the fact that your breath is the universe’s breath. As you inhale receive the larger universe; as you exhale, release into that universe. Begin to release the tension that represents a separation from that larger universe. Continue with this process that prepares you for meditation.” (Butera, 2012, p. 224)

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Appendix H

The appendix H presents the text narrated in the Aurora prototype. The guided meditations have the exercises published by Benson (1993), Benson & Klipper (1976), and Butera (2012) with adaptations.

Audio Introduction

Welcome to Aurora.

The prototype of guided meditation contains two exercises. You will be transported to two distinct places.

During the exercises, do not worry if you are doing it right or wrong. The most important thing is to allow yourself to live this experience.

Clear your mind. And take a deep breath.

Transition to the first exercise

Exercise 1

Guided Meditation Exercise 1

“Let's start the guided meditation. The first meditation exercise is called the Relaxation Response, by Doctor Herbert Benson.

Let's start by adjusting your posture. Sit quietly in a comfortable position. Place your hands on your knees.

Breathe normally and take a look around you. You are in a quiet environment surrounded by nature. Notice the light, the sounds, the colors.

Relax your muscles, beginning at your feet. Slowly, relax your legs, progressing up to your face, inviting your body to relax.

Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing.

Pick a focus word or phrase that's firmly rooted in your personal belief. Or you can choose a neutral word like ‘one’, ‘peace’ or ‘love’.

Breathe slowly and naturally, repeating your focus word or phrase silently as you exhale.

Silently to yourself.

When other thoughts come to mind, gently return to the repetition.

Breathe in. Breathe out saying ‘peace’, ‘love’, or ‘one’ silently to yourself.

Permit yourself be here and now. Do not worry about how well you're doing. Let the relaxation occurs at its own pace.

When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them, and return to repeating the word.

Feel your breath.

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Breathe in. Breathe out saying the word silently to yourself.

If you want, you can close your eyes now.

Feel your diaphragm expanding as you breathe deeply. The diaphragm at the base of your lungs pushes your belly out.

As you breathe out, allow your belly to contract gently.

Feel it emptying as you exhale.

Continue the exercise.” (Benson, 1993, p. 240; Benson & Klipper, 1976, pages 162-163)

Transition to the second exercise

Exercise 2

Guided Meditation Exercise 2

“The next exercise is the Contemplative Inquiry, developed by Dr. Robert Butera.

Maintaining the same respiratory rate of the previous exercise, reflect on the fact that your breath is the universe's breath. As you inhale, receive the universe; as you exhale, release into that universe. Begin to release the tension that represents a separation from that broader universe.

Imagine all the thoughts, pressures, stresses, and distractions leaving your mind slowly and gradually.

You feel a sense of peace in a state of emptiness.

You may imagine an element of emptiness in your mind or a release in your heart.

As soon as thoughts enter, you go back to the physical feeling of relaxation surrounded by emptiness.

Breathe in space, exhale space.

Allow thoughts to pass and notice the tranquility that exists between thoughts.

Notice everything drifting away into pure being.

Feel the sense of peace in a state of emptiness.

Inhale receiving the larger universe.

Exhale into that broader universe.

Everything is drifting away into pure being.

Feel the tranquility.” (Butera, 2012, pages 218 and 224)

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Appendix I

Video properties of the Aurora prototype.

Audiovisual components Details

Video Frame width: 4096 Frame height: 2048 Frame rate: 30 frames/second

Audio Bit rate: 317 kilobits per second (Kbps) Channels: 2 - stereo Audio sample rate: 48.000 kilohertz (kHZ)

Size 5,5 GB

VR Properties Projection: Equirectangular Layout: Monoscopic Horizontal Captured View: 360° Vertical Captured View: 180°

Length 09:58

Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Appendix J - Pandora

Video properties of the Pandora prototype.

Audiovisual components Details

Video Frame width: 4096 Frame height: 2048 Frame rate: 30 frames/second

Audio Bit rate: 317 kilobits per second (Kbps) Channels: 2 - stereo Audio sample rate: 48.000 kilohertz (kHZ)

Size 5,5 GB

VR Properties Projection: Equirectangular Layout: Monoscopic Horizontal Captured View: 360° Vertical Captured View: 180°

Length 09:58

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Juliana Dantas Silva Media Technology, Malmö University, 2019.

Appendix K - Questions and procedures

Initial procedures before the experiments

1- Asking about authorization

Researcher question: “Do you authorize me to use the data anonymously without divulging any personal information about you?”

2- Procedures after the consent

Instruction A: Explain the topics of the research. Instruction B: Ask the participant to sit comfortably in the chair with both feet on the floor. Instruction C: "Before I start the procedures, I will come up with some questions. From now on, I will call you by a number, to ensure the anonymous collection of the data”.

Researcher questions

A - “How old are you?”

B- "Do you have the habit of meditating?"

C- "How are you feeling right now, before you use the prototype?"

3- Questions and procedures to manage the VR headset

D- “Have you experienced virtual reality before?”

E- "Have you used Oculus Go before?"

Instruction D: “If you do not feel comfortable with the images, you can stop at any time. Just close your eyes, hold the Oculus Go with both hands and carefully remove it from the head.”

Explaining how to use the VR headset

Instruction E: “I will put the video on the starting point. You will adjust the Oculus Go and the headphone on your head, and as soon as it is ok, you should extend your right hand where I will put the remote control. You should hold it, point forward, and push the button for four seconds. An indicator light should appear. You direct that light to the "Play" symbol and click. The video should start. As soon as it starts, I will gently take the Oculus’ control off your hand and leave the room. I ask you not to get up or move while using the VR headset. If you need assistance, call my name”.

Instruction F: Make a demonstration.

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Instruction G: Start the experiment and leave the participant alone. Set 10 minutes on the timer and return to the room after that.

Procedures after the first experiment with Aurora and Pandora

Instruction H: “Do you authorize the audio-recording?”

4- Semi-structured interview after the first experiment with Aurora or Pandora

1- Describe your experience with the Aurora or Pandora prototype.

2- How did you feel after the guided meditation exercises with the Aurora or Pandora prototype?

3- Did you feel any discomfort or nausea during the experience? If yes, when?

4- Were you able to concentrate on a guided meditation with technology?

5- Two exercises were presented. Which was the best in your opinion? Why?

6- Do you believe that you can meditate after this experience?

5- Semi-structured interview after the second experiment with Aurora or Pandora

7- Did the images influence in your concentration? How?

8- Were you able to follow the guided meditation? Why?

9- Compare the experiments and provide information about them.

Procedures after the experiment with Aurora and the audio

Instruction I: “Do you authorize the audio-recording?”

Questions

1- Describe your experiences with Aurora and without the visuals.

2- Can you compare both experiences?

3- Did the images influence your concentration? How?

4- Which one do you prefer: with or without the visuals? Why?

5- How did you feel after the guided meditation exercises with the Aurora prototype?

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6- Did you feel any discomfort or nausea during the experience? If yes, when?

7- Were you able to concentrate on a guided meditation with technology?

8- Two exercises were presented. Which was the best in your opinion? Why?

9- Do you believe that you can meditate after this experience?

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