Materials needed:
- laptop
- projector
- little cubicle-like space that can be constructed from panels – or any other ideas that you have?
Idea:
- The program will ask the user to input difficult feelings they have been experiencing. They must input at least 5 feelings, each input cannot be longer than two words.
- The program will then show them a diagram of a body, and they must select specific areas of the body where they feel the distressing emotions they have stated already. The body sections they can choose from will be divided into four parts: head, chest, stomach and legs. This step is important for users to be more thoughtful of their feelings by recognizing where they are feeling it. Recognizing where an emotion is felt can help individuals be more mindful of themselves.
- There will be a button that asks whether the user is “ready to start the meditation”. Once they click on the screen to start the meditation, a body sensor will be activated where they can see their body mirrored on a projection. The specific feelings they matched with the specific part of their body will be shown. In 10 seconds, the words will start vibrating and slowly flow out of the body while shaking faster and faster. It is important for the words to flow out of the body as it is a way for users to visually distance themselves from their emotions – to literally take a step back – and perhaps get a new perspective. After 10 seconds, the text will disperse into dust particles and the screen will go black. After five seconds, the small cubicle will brighten again. The purpose of the screen going from black to white was inspired by a quote- “you need the darkness to see the light”. I wanted to represent this quote visually. Throughout the whole project, there will be suspenseful music in the background.
- The whole purpose of this project is to make users more mindful of their emotions, provide a new perspective through distance and some sort of short-term relief from the difficult feelings they are experiencing.