Immersive Entertainment Therapy

...in a VR Headset

This is a long overdue update! Our team jumped fully into 2020 with all-hands-on-deck for the preparation of an extensive SoundSelf marketing campaign and the build-out of our location based experience (LBE) pipeline to distribute our transformative titles far and wide. This came along with a trip to CES for the Dreamland XR summit in Vegas, a showcase at PAX South in San Antonio, and a stop into the NY Game Awards where we officially launched the SoundSelf Teaser. Whew that was a mouthful, additional info on our internal projects are found in the "Latest with Andromeda" section below.

As Sundance Film Festival buzz has came to a close, I wanted to shed light on my favorite art installation crew based out of the UK, Marshmallow Laser Feast (with a fantastic CNN article I discovered that paints such a clear picture of their mission) They have had some incredible outings at Sundance in the past and have inspired me to attend in 2021 (when I can plan around the chaos of our January events!) Here is an article from 2019 that really show the level of AR/VR installations that have started to arrive at this film festival including perhaps the most noteworthy of the event, Marshmallow Laser Feast's Sweet Dreams experience. Of course I have to touch on 2020 Sundance, the most compelling install being a Magic Leap + biometric sensor fusion that allows you to breathe things into existence!

Questions I have been pondering

Where do we go after SoundSelf is released?

My first experience with SoundSelf was my very first experience with VR. I was at a rather intimate conference in Austin named Conscious Media Festival, strolling around the showroom floor when I almost tripped over a blanket and pillows laid in front of me. Sitting on top of them was two brightly colored individuals with a computer and first gen Oculus Rift headset. They asked if I wanted to give their experience a try, I jumped at the opportunity to slip on a virtual meditation experience. They had me get comfortable and prompted me to take some deep breaths and center myself before putting the headset on. Feeling as if I was in a dream, I took a moment to myself and then opened my eyes smiled and gave them the thumbs up.

I was instructed to “tone,” sing, chant, hum, or hold any prolonged note after every deep inhale within the experience. Naturally I wanted to Ohm, as doing group ohms in yoga class and during the limited ceremonies I had been to at this point was something I was familiar with.

I started softly at first, “Ohmmm”, my entire world began to warp and form fractal patterns around my voice. I immediately forgot where I was, who I was, let alone the fact that their was other people in the room. With my new found freedom I toned louder “Ohmmmmmmmmm”, the colors, shapes and my own voice inside the headset start to respond, react, pulling me away from myself while also bringing me back to myself. Like a labyrinth of mirrors, the only way out is through. And the way through is by your own will, your own voice. In a meditative trance I went deeper and deeper into this powerful and exhilarating, yet deeply calming experience. Unsure if it had been 3 minutes or 3 hours the headset was gently pulled off my face with a smiling Robin Arnott ready to welcome me back into the world. I felt like a newborn baby, regaining focus of the room while still trying to figure out how much of that was the experience itself and how much of it was produced by my own mind. Robin asked “So, how do you feel?” I rubbed my eyes and responded “Spectacular, and also, who the F*** are you?!”

That sent off a chain reaction in my world, to truly be able to view wellness, technology and entertainment in the same category while also understanding that virtual reality (and all its potential apocalyptic futures) can actually be used for good. Not just good, but a transformative experience that can shift the collective consciousness of the planet.

Millennials and Gen Zs are not an entirely separate species. What started as 6 pack abs crazed bodybuilders and gym rats has transformed into an image obsessed social media revolution. We are now seeing the evolution of health in the field of longevity, some of the world's top thinkers are not being looked at strangely when they say they believe they will live to 250, or older... With that comes our bio-hacker fanatics; biosensor, trackers and constant metrics on our internal health. DNA testing, fit bits, and Apple watches measuring every heart beat, caloric burn, sleep cycle and predisposed illness we may encounter.

The next phase after tracking biometrics is real-time biofeedback, not only measuring but improving your statistics as you progress through the experience. Through indicators inside any given technology you will be guided to take deeper breaths, focus your attention on a specific frequency, or increase your heart rate. These biofeedback devices are focused on the mind just as much as they are the body, if not more so. Then, bio-hacking evolves into neuro-hacking.

The idea of neuro-hacking and effecting your emotions and health through technology transitions to consciousness hacking, the ability to reach altered states of consciousness through technology, not just digital medicine but digital transcendence, digital ecstasy... This brings up some big questions, will I become dependent on this technology to do things like meditate, reach altered states, or find happiness? Will these frequency, lights, and EMF waves hurt me in the long run? Will I become absorbed into this “artificial” happiness and become obsessed?

While these questions are relevant it is important to frame this conversation around what we are doing, creating a video game. While absent of things like characters, story arcs and leader-boards, SoundSelf has you, the main character, learning meditative skills that you can bring into the physical world and continue to grow the Avatar that is you. Not the digital version that millions of people obsessively level up and spend disposable income on, but your actual human self. For what is life but one beautiful, massively multi-player, open world RPG? (With perfect 4K graphics and zero latency!)

As the famous quote by William Gibson goes, "The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed."

Projects I have my eyes on

Impact Reality Summit - If not for being in the CES vortex the same weekend, I would of been attending this beautifully conceptualized gathering in Seattle the same weekend. Bringing together mission driven XR companies using their powers for GOOD, I'm in.

Akili - After just receiving 55M in their Series C round Akili continues to set a precedent for what is possible in Digital medicine. Their next play is to get FDA clearance for a first of its kind ADHD treatment in a video game!

International Virtual Reality Healthcare Association - We were just introduced to this awesome group, and their website is a well of information around the vast array of medical applications that VR technologies are starting to fulfill.

Latest with Andromeda

SoundSelf Trailer

If you haven't seen it yet, here it is again - you'll thank me later ;-)

Sensory Pod

We are excited to announce Andromeda + Alberto Frias are in the prototype phase of a product I have always dreamed about. A fully immersive, 3 person cocoon with projection mapping, haptic feedback, aromatherapy and SoundSelf running through it. No headset required! If that wasn't enough, we will be partnering with other immersive biofeedback experiences and integrating into an experience menu in future models. I will have much more information shortly!

Audio Trip at Wisdome

We are thrilled to announce that Audiotrip is now an installation within the VR dome of the Immersive Dome theme park in downtown LA - Wisdome. Swan or myself will be in LA for the coming weeks, shoot us a message and will bring you and your friends to experience the magic with us. Do not hesitate to ask.

Location Based Experiences I have my eyes on

This is a new section! I have so many LBE's I am being introduced to that I feel the need to share!

Team Labs - I am obsessed with their creativity without ever even experiencing it. I was in Tokyo last year and decided to buy a few tickets, they were sold out for the next month! Click on the "all" tab on the website to be astonished by their library of installations

Flutter - Right in my backyard, this LA based playground is showing that the Meow Wolf concept of experiential art exhibits is not a fluke, it is what everyone now wants to do on the weekend.

Earth Codes Observatory - What would the library of the future look like? This group out of SF seems to have a pretty good idea.

Evermore Park - Utah has a permanent immersive theater that brings you back to the middle ages- it's what the renaissance fair always wanted to be and it looks exactly like something I would jump into.

Upcoming events

The Technodelic Temple

March 13 - 22 | Austin, TX - This is a big one, Andromeda will be throwing a 10 day event during SXSW this year! Hosted by the 3rd Eye Meditation Lounge we will be showcasing fully immersive SoundSelf installations, daily programming, and a transformational entertainment mixer on March 16 at 7pm.

GDC
March 16 - 20 | San Francisco, CA - Our lovely marketing director Swan will be running around the Game Developer Conference in SF as our Andromeda ambassador to report the latest in the industry.

Psy Tech Summit
March 29 - 30 | Tel Aviv, Israel - We may be sending someone to Israel to experience this convergence. I know I am raising my hand for it ;)

Additional Articles I found interesting

Microsoft ‘DreamWalker’ VR lets users traverse real world while immersed in virtual reality

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Iconic "Dream" Speech Coming to VR in 2020

This Oculus Quest Mixed Reality Apartment Is Straight Out Of Minority Report

Until next time,

Stay Blessed~
Lyle

PS: In honor of the late Ram Dass, enjoy this inspiring Spotify playlist