Poets, architects, sound designers, academic researchers — when we talk about applying a multidisciplinary approach, HomeForest is Exhibit A. Designed to address heightened anxiety levels and bring the restorative effects of nature into the home, HomeForest is part multi-sensory wellness tool, part personal nature reserve — and all sanctuary.
You don’t have to be a peak-bagging naturalist to appreciate the healing powers of the outdoors. A variety of clinical studies have proven that exposure to nature reduces stress, improves mental health conditions like PTSD and ADHD, reduces sleep deprivation and boosts creativity.
However, few people in urban centers count long walks in the woods among their daily rituals, and of course, most are stressed out. This made us think: is there a way to use virtual spaces to connect with nature during those stressful moments, when an escape to the park isn’t possible?
That’s the backdrop against which Journey and Haptic Architects created the Davidson Prize-winning HomeForest. This multidimensional ecosystem puts nature within reach by bridging the physical and virtual worlds.
HomeForest grows out of the Shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) concept, which posits (correctly) that meditative time in forests reduces stress. HomeForest uses spatial computing — to generate flora and fauna that react in real-time to touch, movement, and mood.
The echoing tones of birdsong, the tendril-like wisps of a palm frond moving beneath your touch, a verse of poetry from Lion Heart coursing across your headphone channels…
Wait, did a bunny just hop across your path?
Studies of virtual-and mixed-reality–based relaxation programs have proven these technologies’ stress-reducing powers. HomeForest is not displacing nature in people’s lives. Rather, it’s rendering nature down to a format that brings substantiated therapeutic benefit, on demand, when the real deal is out of reach.
Because HomeForest continuously “learns” a user’s environment, the lush experiences it renders could become richer with time and use. Our teams remain committed to expanding HomeForest’s potential utility by leveraging new hardware solutions as they’re introduced. The program could run across a home or work environment’s networked Internet of Things (IoT) devices to open new dimensions of experience.
Lodgepole pine atomizer on demand, anyone?
If we and our collaborators have done our job, HomeForest will strengthen, not weaken, people’s connection to real nature.
HomeForest brings a more immersive, sensory connection to nature, which I find super interesting.