Gratitude gARden
What is it?
Amidst the backdrop of an age of anxiety and worry culture, the gARden is an AR art installation of a communal virtual garden that transforms the intangible feeling of connecting with oneself and others into a 3D experience whereby people from all walks of life can plant their introspection in the form of a flower in a visually stimulating garden that other people can interact with. We wanted to create an experience that encourages people to be introspective, thoughtful, and emotionally connected in AR, allowing people to explore perspectives while also being in tune with themselves.
Why is this important?
Until recently, the traditional “mental disease model” of psychology focused on how one can relieve suffering rather than how one can amplify well-being. Reverse-engineering the science of happiness, modern models utilize simple methods, such as revisiting a pleasant memory or expressing our gratitude towards others, as a way to nudge our mentality towards a healthier well-being. The gARden, thus, is a project that aims to provide a safe space for people from all walks of life to have a meaningful moment reserved for eliciting introspection.
Why AR?
With the help of AR, we are able to provide a communal aspect to introspection, whereby individuals are physically in a space where they see introspection from diverse people at different points of time. We are at the forefront of technology where we can build new worlds of connection and redefine the way people engage with one another. We want gARden to be a space where people can interact and connect in ways that aren’t possible offline.
Awareness & Empathy
Introspection rewires the brain by kick starting production of dopamine and serotonin levels from the brain stem. This drives pro-social behaviors and improves awareness & empathy in the self and others.
Cognitive/Behavioral Benefits
Introspection rewires the brain by kick starting production of dopamine and serotonin levels from the brain stem. This drives pro-social behaviors and improves awareness & empathy in the self and others.
Happiness
Internal self-awareness is directly correlated with higher emotional intelligence and happiness.
Individual Reward/Motivation
Introspective thoughts activate reward centers in the brain (nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area) that elicit rewarding feelings similar to eating good food and listening to your favorite music.
The Gratitude Journey
- John opens the app, sees intro (welcome, mental health info).
- John is given 3 prompts and types his answers.
- App generates customized flower & John is given a flower.
- John plants it at x, y coordinates, which activates one section of the pre-programmed garden to show.
- John can only plant maximum 3 flowers within an hour.
- John can walk around the garden to view other flowers planted by other users.
- John clicks on Sarah’s flower and sees a pop up of her gratitude.
- John resonates with Sarah’s flower and decides to water it.
- After John waters it, he gets a reward of a butterfly coming to him to deliver mental health information.
- After John water it, Sarah gets a notification on her phone that someone watered her gratitude flower.
