Mindfulness and meditation apps have huge potential in the world of augmented reality. The full immersion created by headsets like the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro offers great potential for initiating such practices, which are notoriously difficult to initiate and sustain.
Therefore, the collaboration between leading meditation app Headspace and Quest-maker Meta is no small feat. This morning, the companies announced a partnership with media design firm Nexus Studios that is customizing the experience for augmented reality headsets.
The aptly named Headspace XR features practices led by the app’s mindfulness/meditation instructors, Dora Kamau and Kessonga Giscombe. If you’ve ever used Headspace, Calm, or the like (or just experienced guided meditation of any kind), you’re probably familiar with approaches like breathing exercises, body scans, mood tracking, and the like. All are designed to help refocus the user’s focus.
Image Credits: Headspace
There’s also a community element here, presumably for those who need a bit of external encouragement to maintain a consistent practice. These have background colorful metaverse-style environments where users can interact and play games. At the very least, the experience seems engaging in a way not usually associated with meditation apps. This could, perhaps, help bring users back – how that will translate into effective, regular practice is another question. Clearly the companies wanted to offer something beyond meditation.
“Research shows that when people play, our brains are activated in a way that can affect overall life satisfaction and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, our daily lives are often stripped of this opportunity,” says Headspace vice president Sara Cohen in a release.
So gaming as a gateway to awareness is the obvious hook here. At the very least, improving mood through social activities seems like an achievable short-term goal.
While pairing a subscription with a free app is fairly standard in the industry, Headspace opts for a $30 upfront fee instead. The app is now available for Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro.
