‘Room to Breathe’ is an immersive experience designed by Pixel Artworks at Outernet London’s centrepiece The Now Building which features 23,000 square feet of floor to ceiling, wrap around 8K screens.
The experience combines music, soothing visuals and rhythmic breathing exercises to evoke a more relaxed state of mind and body – offering visitors a mindful moment of release.
‘Room to Breathe’ offers visitors the possibility to explore other methods to help them manage the feeling of stress, through music and breathing techniques and supporting them in taking control of the everyday stresses that may lead to pain if not addressed through relaxation and breathing techniques.
Pixel Artworks approach us to run a research pilot to determine to what extent their audiovisual intervention influences the autonomic nervous system and cortical brain activity.
It was hypothesized that an audiovisual box breathing experience can influence the autonomic nervous system thereby affecting several biomarkers as follows:
(i) Decrease in EEG frontal Beta activity
(ii) Increase in EEG frontal Theta/ alpha activity
(iii) Increase in alpha frontal asymmetry
(iv) Decrease in levels of Arousal
(v) Decrease in Respiratory Rate
(vi) Increase in HRV variability
(vii) Decrease in HR overall
The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which Pixel Artwork's Room To Breathe influenced the autonomic nervous system and cortical brain activity. The testing took place in our Lisbon-based Research Lab and involved a sample of 25-30 participants.
It was a one-group, single-site, observational study. The study implemented an AB design where all individuals received a pre-treatment period of no sound and no visual activity for 10 minutes (A), followed by a single 10-minute session of Room To Breathe (B).
84.6% of subjects claimed the immersive experience helped them relax and destress.
On a mental level, “Room to Breath” upregulates the Visual Cortex justified by the visual activation the experience induces in the subjects - 70% where visually engaged with the experience.
On a physiological level, “Room to Breath” downregulates the Peripheral Nervous system improving Vagal Nerve Tone - 52% became more physically relaxed