Creating an Immersive Meditative Game App for Mental Health

[Jacobsrw]

Hey all,

So I currently have quite an ambitious idea. I seek to develop an immersive meditative game app directed at mitigating anxiety and tension for individuals struggling with mental health. The app would be directed towards those with anxiety disorder, OCD, panic disorder, PTSD etc. However, it could be accustom to any person whom desires playing it. Adjustable and custom settings.

The game would be set in highly immersive and aesthetic 3D environments wherein the player would be an inanimate object part of it that navigates the plains of a particular setting. The sole purpose would be to simply explore with no addictive objectives in which to attain, without inducing anxiousness and tension. For example, my first idea is to use a space galaxy setting with the player being a star. The player could navigate space past milk-ways, meteorites, planets and other various objects. The player would be a glowing luminescent star like object orbiting space consuming other small stars in a calming manner. Meditative, binaural sounds ages would accompany the background.

Functions would include touch screen holding and sensitivity, with slow movements to maintain a nice balance.
Eventually I would extend the game into other sceneries such as underwater, mystical, jungle, clouds etc. but I would begin with someone like this. I aim at creating an entire platform on self-development games as this is a completely untouched niche.

Longterm, the game would be a tool that could be implemented in treatment plans for patients within the mental health faculty. Therapists and medical practitioners could use the game as a revolutionary shift from conventional gaming applications.

Im currently in conversation with game developers at present discussing costs and requirements etc. I plan on investing into this quite soon as I have done research and found there is both a market interest and need. Other game examples include: flower, abzu, flow and journey. Extremely popular and successful games. However, they hold no aim towards these aims I earlier mentioned.

Having said all this. My question is: if you were to play game of this sort game what features would you like it to have?

What are some features you would like to see?

How long would you play a game of this, duration, time?

Other tips etc?

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Jacobsrw

[flowboy]

I want to be able to control it with my mind.

So a headset that is also used for neurofeedback therapy, detects my level of focus, and the more focused and present I am (brainwave frequency) the better I can control it/the faster I can move/some other positive thing.

Another cool feature would be to train me to evoke different positive emotional states.

So my star would be gratitude-propelled.

[Jacobsrw]

13 minutes ago, flowboy said:

I want to be able to control it with my mind.

So a headset that is also used for neurofeedback therapy, detects my level of focus, and the more focused and present I am (brainwave frequency) the better I can control it/the faster I can move/some other positive thing.

Another cool feature would be to train me to evoke different positive emotional states.

So my star would be gratitude-propelled.

Ooo this sounds interesting! Thanks for the feedback.

I like the idea of inducing different emotional states

brain wave function may be harder to detect without an external product related to the app. But could be a self computed input of some form.

 

[seeking_brilliance]

@Jacobsrw I love this idea

 Please consider the muse headband, since this can be adapted to other apps, I believe. If it's not muse then there's another inexpensive headset on the market that does allow app developers to use it. 

I don't think it takes strong readings, so the controls would have to be very simple. 

Check out 'mind music' on Google play. It uses the muse headband and you can control the tempo of the music with how relaxed you are. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by seeking_brilliance

[Jacobsrw]

51 minutes ago, seeking_brilliance said:

@Jacobsrw I love this idea

 Please consider the muse headband, since this can be adapted to other apps, I believe. If it's not muse then there's another inexpensive headset on the market that does allow app developers to use it. 

I don't think it takes strong readings, so the controls would have to be very simple. 

Check out 'mind music' on Google play. It uses the muse headband and you can control the tempo of the music with how relaxed you are. 

Thank you! @seeking_brilliance Awesome idea, I’ll definitely look into this man. We live in such a great time of technological advancement 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Jacobsrw

[slev1111n]

Seems to be a really interesting idea. And as my mental health is fine I think that I won't be able to give any reasonable suggestions in terms of features. But still, I have some thoughts on this one. The way such an app looks is just crucial IMO. It needs to be attractive and the design needs to suit the app's purpose really well. So be sure to hire a decent UI/UX team to get this done. Maybe use Awesomic subscription or something if hiring a designer is out of your budget for this project. I think that even for MVP it's quite important to provide a proper design in this case.

[Jacobsrw]

13 hours ago, slev1111n said:

Seems to be a really interesting idea. And as my mental health is fine I think that I won't be able to give any reasonable suggestions in terms of features. But still, I have some thoughts on this one. The way such an app looks is just crucial IMO. It needs to be attractive and the design needs to suit the app's purpose really well. So be sure to hire a decent UI/UX team to get this done. Maybe use Awesomic subscription or something if hiring a designer is out of your budget for this project. I think that even for MVP it's quite important to provide a proper design in this case.

100% agree. This is my main point of interest but I must also ensure the gameplay matches just as well.

I have a freelance game designer who I am considering to hire for a reasonable price. However, for art design and graphics we may need extra help. I am an artist myself but still quite intermediate when it comes to digital.

Heres a game I find has a similar environment effect I am aiming for

https://youtu.be/fe9DytkcSlc