What exactly is a meditation cushion? (Part One)
The idea for Aduri was born as a final project for a masters class.
I remember it was just before Thanksgiving in 2016, and I was dead set on designing something around meditation.
I talked about this in my last post, but in short:
Meditation has changed my life in more ways than I could write. I know that if more people did it consistently, they’d feel exactly the same way.
But it’s way easier to start meditating than it is to keep meditating.
So what if we could design something that would transform the experience of meditation (while keeping it natural, more delightful and rewarding.)
If you’re wondering how, so was I…
I just knew that I wanted to make meditation feel more immersive without distracting from the purity of the practice. Much of the beauty in meditation, to me, has been how easy it is to do pretty much any time.
And so, I did an experiment. I sat my classmates in a chair and guided them through a simple breathing and mantra meditation exercise. I then placed my hands on their arms. As they began chanting, I joined along with them, transferring my vibrational energy through my hands to them.
They loved it.
By externalizing the feeling of their internal vibrations, it helped immerse themselves into their session. Achievement unlocked!
But how do I recreate and enhance this meditation experience with tech?
Enter: The Aduri Dome
Or rather, all the Aduri domes that will never be.
Prototype 1 — Tent
What worked:
I ran 72 people through a simple immersive experience. A recording guided users through a 5 minute mantra-based meditation, and as they chanted, the entire platform vibrated underneath them, immersing them deeper into their meditation. The response was incredibly positive — and I was buzzing. This was the push I needed for me to think a bit more critically to bring this to market.
What we learned:
- Tent-like structures are great for protecting your from the elements of the great outdoors, not common indoor noises.
- Learned that there are better methods to edit and master audio to achieve high-quality, immersive sounds.
- Vibrations should be gradual, not jarring. They should respond directly by input from user.
What did we learn? How did we improve our perspective based on what we learned? Story to be continued…
Jesal
