visions on virtual worlds

some thoughts&perspectives on Virtual Reality and how technology could inspire humanity.

My first experience in virtual reality happened on an open day of my former working place – the German Aerospace Center. One of the departments had built up a VR-installation for simulation trainings in extreme environments. I was supposed to explore a human habitat on a Martian surface through the glasses of an Oculus Rift. I ended up completely fascinated by turning around my head in a 360degress perspective, but also motion sick due to the lack of coordination between my vision and my actual movements. 

VEMES experiment/astronaut training (c)OeWF

 

From there on, the technology infrequently popped up in my life. During a Mars simulation we trained our astronauts using VR and I remember reveling an intense discussion with a colleague about reality and augmentation. Another time a friend of mine visited me with his VR-glasses and I ended up crashing into my desk because I tried to catch a donut in my virtual environment.

Some time ago, I randomly read an article about Virtual Reality saying that the first glasses for private use will be on sale soon. I started wondering if this technology will become as usual as the usage of my smartphone – and I am certain, it will be.

testing VR in extreme environments (c) OeWF

New technologies shape a high diversity of perspectives – in good and in bad ways. I could name some of the associations I have regarding VR: gaming, sensory stimulation, addiction, augmented sports events, astronauts calling home, flow, architecture, flight simulations, porn, isolation and shared environments. 

blocks and chairs

Sometimes current VR-software reminds me of the computer my parents used to have when I was a child. I could sit for hours in front our screen sparkled with small stars and follow a perception my brain was not used to. Today’s VR-tools somehow show us the same applications – just using blocks. Many scenarios include a short duration and easy tasks – such as jumping, flying, running away or just watching. Nevertheless, excitement arises once we start using it!

I am lucky to be part of a university project investigating the effects of virtual reality on people, who have never experienced any of it yet. In our project we research how VR influences physical and self-perception and how the feeling or immersion changes if we can impact our virtual environment.

into immersion

physicality in VR

Immersion – a term which will be a part of our future in virtual worlds. The word describes the feeling of transit from ones real reality into the virtual one.

I remember one day in our lab, where my colleague gave me the glasses including a Leap Motion Controller, which allows me to impact my environment by using my hands. I could form small or bigger blocks and build towers. Therefore the movement of my hands would be transmitted via an infrared camera, causing the result that my embodied perspective opened the door towards an immersive experience. I stopped listening to my colleagues’ conversation surrounding me and lost track of the time. What I would now call ‘reality’ contained about twenty different grey cubes, which I would nudge around the space. 

including impact

What supported my perception of virtuality as reality was that I did not only experience an embodied perspective, in which my body would walk around in a new environment. Being active and obtaining the possibility to impact my environment created the illusion of being embedded in this world. 

During my education as a body therapist I learned that these two aspects – being embedded and embodied – describe the core possibilities of interaction humans can experience. If either the feeling of a healthy embodiment or the need to belong is inhibited or destroyed, mental diseases might occur. Virtual Reality produces a stadium of embeddedness into any kind of environment. This can support illusionary concepts, but also allow learning and fulfilling desire.     

Blocks//LeapMotion

future steps towards the ancient

Changing our environment allows us to change our perspective. We might be able to enter spaces we usually would not reach using our capacities. One is – to enter another human body. How would it feel to be taller, smaller, bigger, thinner, male, female, in between? How would it feel if I would be you? And if I would learn to walk in your physical shoes – would I be able to learn about your feelings and thoughts? The theories behind the concept of ‘Embodiment’ state that during our lifespan we incorporate all our experiences, which shapes our way of physically entering this world. Would incorporation support understanding of each other?

Humans already change their perspectives in a mental way – this is what we call ‘empathy’. Empathy allows us to feel what another person feels and opens the door towards a compassionate reaction, if we choose to do so. Among Buddhism concepts mindfulness and compassion are described as one of the core concepts towards a common humanity. Could Virtual Reality be used to increase these effects and support understanding and empathy among humans?

what inspires me is to combine thousand year old Buddhism concepts of mindfulness and compassion with future technologies such as Virtual Reality.

impacting environments via LeapMotion

I am not the first person to share these thoughts. The performance artists BeAnotherLab invented an installation called ‘the machine to be another’ to investigate the same concept. Two people face each other using VR-glasses while receiving the video feed of the other person. In their performances the artists ask the people to synchronize their movements and apply all kind of tasks to their test subjects. The result is an astonishing performance supporting the idea of shaping empathy through virtual worlds.  

Synchronization and rhythm always played an important role in human interactions. Tribal dances occur all over the world, cultures share songs and languages (which can also be viewed as synchronized movement as well). In my movement classes I love to use synchronization as a method to build up teams and increase group cohesion. Virtual Reality would allow me to leave the physical space and connect people all over the planet.

I could use the technology to communicate between lovers, cultures or coworkers. I could use the technology to make people on earth understand how astronauts feel in space. I could use the technology to show German children how to people in Africa live. I could use the technology to leave my own physical body and enter another one. And I would use the technology to inspire our basic need for belonging and understanding we all share.

worth reading

•   FUCHS, T. (2010). Der Schein des Anderen. Zur Phänomenologie virtueller Realitäten. BOHRER, CLEMENS & SCHWARZ-BOENNEKE, BERNADETTE (HG.): Identität und virtuelle Beziehungen im Computerspiel. München (KoPaed), 59-73.

• Falconer, C. J., Slater, M., Rovira, A., King, J. A., Gilbert, P., Antley, A., & Brewin, C. R. (2014). Embodying compassion: a virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism. PloS one, 9(11), e111933.

worth surfing 

• BeAnotherLab – the machine to be another - www.themachinetobeanother.org

• TedTalk by Chris Milk “the ultimate empathy machine” https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_milk_how_virtual_reality_can_create_the_ultimate_empathy_machine?language=de

•  HyperReality – how the world could end up using VR (very pessimistic!) - www.hyper-reality.co

• EVENTlab//MelSlater (check the publication list!) - www.event-lab.org

Tango statt Tränen

warum Therapie mehr sein sollte, als ein abstrakter Raum für trübe Gefühlswelten
 

Meine erste therapeutische Erfahrung habe ich mit circa 15 Jahren gemacht. Sie fand zwar nicht beim Therapeuten, sondern in einer abgerockten Hinterhoffabrikhalle statt  - aber ihre Auswirkungen auf mein weiteres Leben, würde ich als therapeutisch bezeichnen. Ich war das, was mit 15 viele Menschen sind: latent aggressiv, emotional unkoordiniert und trotzdem träumerisch. Unsere Theaterchoreographin war eine junge Brasilianerin mit sehr großem Herz und nonverbalem Gespür für Menschen. Eines Tages bat sie mich, früher als die anderen zur Probe zu kommen. Sie drückte mir einen großen, alten Bühnenvorhang in die Hand und forderte mich auf ihn zu zerschlagen. Ich griff nach dem Vorhang und schleuderte ihn minutenlang immer wieder auf den Boden, bis der Schweiß von meiner Haut perlte. Obwohl ich mich verausgabte, veränderte ich die Struktur des Vorhangs nicht. Erschöpft brach ich über dem Boden zusammen, spürte, wie sich die Arme unserer Choreographin um mich legten. Ich glaube, wir saßen eine Stunde so da. Danach war das mit der Aggression vorbei. 

Heute weiß ich: das was damals in diesem Raum geschehen war, beinhaltete eine Wirkung, die mein ganzes Leben prägen würde. In diesem tatsächlichen Moment allerdings, verstand ich gar nichts.

So geht es wohl vielen Menschen, die eine Therapie machen.

Wenn ich mich an meine selbstrelevanten Ziele als 15jährige erinnere, sahen sie folgendermaßen aus: ich wollte cool aussehen und dabei einer Gruppe angehören. Das Theater bot mir genau diese Möglichkeiten: ich lernte Bewegungen, die im gesellschaftlichen Kontext als „cool“ bewertet wurden, und war dabei auch noch Teil einer Gruppe. Interesse an persönlicher Entwicklung oder Selbsterfahrung? Das konnte ich damals bei mir absolut nicht entdecken.

wie Therapie manchmal sein kann

Heute, rund 10 Jahre später, bin ich Körpertherapeutin. Ich tue das, was unsere Choreographin mit mir gemacht hat, mit vielen anderen Menschen. Die Erfahrungen haben sich in meinen Körper eingebrannt, mit den Jahren habe ich sie reflektieren gelernt. Ich weiß, warum es sinnvoll ist Theatervorhänge auf dem Boden zu zerdeppern. Aber aus meiner eigenen Erfahrung weiß ich auch, dass das nicht alle Leute verstehen. Menschen, die sich nie umgehend mit Therapie beschäftigt haben, verstehen Therapie vielleicht nicht. Einfach, weil sie es nie gebraucht haben. Trotzdem kann es passieren, dass sie an einem Punkt im Leben stehen, an dem sie Therapie benötigen.

In meiner heutigen Arbeit bieten sich mir oft Bilder, die ich als ironisch bezeichnen würde: Topmanager, die Körbe flechten sollen. Mütter von vielen Kindern, die ihr Leben in drei Farben auf A1 Bögen bringen. Aggressive Schwerverbrecher, die mit bunten Tüchern spielen. Oft habe ich mich gefragt, ob der jeweilige Mensch mit der jeweiligen Biographie dahinter versteht, was er da eigentlich tut. Ganz oft habe ich eine Antwort erfahren: Nein!

Wir sind Therapeuten. Wir sind dorthin gekommen, weil uns irgendwann die Idee für dieses Konzept so sehr überzeugt hat, dass wir uns dem gewidmet haben. Und ganz oft automatisch allem, was dahinter steckt: leise gesprochenen Sätzen, andächtigem Nicken und tiefsinnigen Gedanken. Oft habe ich mich gefragt, wie sehr das mit der Lebenswirklichkeit vieler Menschen da draußen überhaupt korrespondiert. Ist Therapie vielleicht ein surrealer Raum, geprägt von Weichspüler und virtuellen Milchschaumwelten?

Ich erinnere mich an Momente aus meiner Therapieausbildung, die ich wirklich langweilig empfand. Ich sollte in Übungen minimale Bewegungen andeuten – etwas, was ich in meiner Freizeit niemals tun würde. Wenn ich Bewegungen ausführe, dann soll das auch richtig sein, nicht nur pro forma. Es soll „Klettern“ oder „Tanzen“ oder „Schwimmen“ heißen. Und nicht „Therapie“. Wenn ich tanze, dann entsteht durch das Erlernen der Bewegung, durch das Schwitzen zur Musik und das absolute Versinken in der Tätigkeit ein Flow. Ich vergesse dann alles um mich herum, und lebe den Moment. Das passiert nicht, wenn ich meinen Arm in die Luft halte und ein bisschen wedele. Natürlich haben auch kleine, segmentierte Bewegungen ihren Sinn – aber den muss man erstmal verstehen lernen. Heute bin ich dankbar dafür, die Erfahrung des Nichtverstehens erlebt zu haben.

Mit der Therapie ist es wie mit der Kunst: man muss lernen, sie zu verstehen. Für jemanden, der sich mit Kunst auseinandersetzt ist es einfach sich vor ein komplexes Gemälde zu stellen und es zu begreifen. Für mich ist es: ich stehe davor. Schön oder nicht schön. Mehr habe ich nicht gelernt. Bei Musik ist es das Gleiche: komplexe Klassik motiviert mich nicht zur Reflexion, sondern erzeugt Dissonanz, die mich eher abschreckt. In solchen Momenten, in denen ich in Bereiche eintauche, die zu komplex für mich funktionieren, denke ich dann an meinen Patienten, den Topmanager. Er soll Körbe flechten, ohne die tiefere Bedeutung davon intrinsisch begriffen zu haben. Ja, ich habe vielleicht durch jahrelange Ausbildung und Erfahrung das Konzept von Achtsamkeit und von Momentaufnahmen des Lebens erlernt. Sollte man die Menschen nicht deshalb dort abholen, wo sie gerade stehen? Und ist das bei dem Manager nicht eher am Börsenkurs anstatt beim Korbflechtmaterial?

Warum suchen wir unseren Menschen also nicht Bewegungsformen, die ihnen wirkliche Freude bereiten? Dazu müssen wir keine neuen, therapeutisch angelehnten Pseudobewegungen etablieren, sondern dürfen ruhig auf das vertrauen, was seit Jahrhunderten Menschen glücklich macht – Tanz, Spiel, Laufen, Springen, Schwimmen oder Klettern.Therapie kann deshalb in der Kletterhalle stattfinden, im Café, auf der Straße oder in der Kneipe.

Ich glaube an die intrinsische Motivation des Lernens. Menschen lernen gerne – und die beste Therapie kann genau daraus bestehen in einen Prozess aus Lernen einzutauchen, in dem Erfahrungen gemacht werden, die der Realität des Menschen entsprechen. Der idealen Realität eines Menschen entspricht nicht, in einem Therapieraum zu sitzen und dort im Stuhlkreis hockend Gefühle zu benennen. Der Realität des Menschen entspricht in diese Welt eingegliedert zu sein – auf seine individuelle Weise. Manche gehen dafür in Vereine, andere bleiben eher für sich – und sind damit trotzdem Teil dieser Gesellschaft.

wie Therapie sein sollte

Ich habe das Gefühl, dass wir in der Therapie oft vor Mitgefühl zerfließen. Therapie kann cool sein, sollte manchmal sogar cool sein, Spaß machen und Menschen zum Lachen bringen. Therapie ist der erste Raum, in dem neue Erfahrungen stattfinden können – also auch positive. Ein therapeutischer Raum sollte die Vielfalt des Lebens und seine Ironie erlauben können. Und das Leben zeigt uns oft, wie dicht Leid neben Liebe steht, welche Rolle Nähe, Verbundenheit, Wut oder Spontaneität bedeuten können. Dazu gehört auch, dass Therapie mal laut, ruppig und plump erscheint. Und, dass diese Fülle sein darf und auch schön so ist. 

Ich habe die Erfahrung gemacht, dass Menschen nicht das Bedürfnis nach Heilung bei mir suchen, sondern den Wunsch nach Entfaltung verspüren. Einen ruhigen, sicheren Raum zum Entdecken, zum Ausprobieren. Am meisten lernen die Menschen, wenn wir sie nicht therapieren, sondern sie einladen ihr Wissen über sich selbst zu erweitern. Wir, therapeutisch arbeitende Menschen sollten die ersten sein, die zu dieser Reise einladen, und mit einem Lächeln sagen: Komm einfach mit!

from yoga to club

how mindfulness can accompany our daily life without completely changing it.

organic hippie versus clubbing

It’s part of the title of every second health care magazine. You read, whenever you pass by any random yoga studio and it might follow you in daily conversations with friends.

Mindfulness – a word everyone is using, but nobody can define. What remains are fuzzy associations of violet colored yoga lofts, old moaning women eating vegan food and wandering around in Birkenstock shoes (hopefully someone outside Germany knows what that is). When we are using the term, many of us think of modern hippies, hiding on their meditation pillow filling the space with super wise calendar quotes.

Usually when I mention the word ‘mindfulness’ to others, I receive one of the following three reactions:

1.      “Mindfulness! I have no idea what that is.”

2.      “I hate meditation.”

3.      “Oh no, all these super organic ecofriendly people.”

      Honestly speaking, when the idea of being mindful entered my life, I had to deal with the same sort of categorizations and prejudices our society dictates.

And if I come to believe them, I’m anything but  a mindful person: I love eating steaks and spare ribs, getting wasted on my Saturday nights, wearing colored clothes and I'm loud and spontaneous.

Nevertheless, the idea behind mindfulness attracted and touched me every time I faced it. I once read about the Buddhism monk Matthieu Ricard. His brain might be one of the most researched ones in the history of neuroscience. I learned about meditation and its impact on stress reduction and health. But when I sat down on a comfortable pillow, trying to meditate, my mind would just get lost in random thoughts. I wondered if I possibly would not be suited enough for mindfulness.

Then, another question bothered me: is meditation the only guideline towards mindfulness? Or could it be that mindfulness contains more possibilities, even including short-cuts? Can mindfulness be cheerful or sexy? Can you mindfully use a smartphone or go to a bar and have a beer?

definition of a mindful person

When I lived in China, I was lucky enough to spend some days in a Buddhist monastery. My stay there was not scheduled; I ended up there after losing my way on a hiking tour. The monks offered me to stay at their place. The night I spend on a cold floor in the middle of 30 sleeping monks is one of my beautiful memories. I remember feeling absolutely supported and protected by an ultimate feeling of awareness and empathy for my situation. I slept ten hours in a condition in which I would usually not even fall asleep.

The next day I had the occasion to observe the monks in their daily activities. Novices played in the garden, while older monks prepared food or cleaned the space. There were meditations and singing circles, but I had no impression that anyone was forced to join or felt judged in his actions. In order to describe my observations, I would use the words: friendliness, respect, patience, empathy, acceptance and integration. All this did not happen, because the monks attended special courses on mindfulness as we do. Their concept worked out, because they absolutely wanted it and would trust in this ideal.   

For me, this is mindfulness: to live the idea of values we want to see and share to this world.

In our western society we seem to hide behind yoga classes and meditation courses. I know so many people jumping from one yoga retreat to the next one, talking about inner balance and harmony. But when it comes up to support a sick friend, they fail to help. I know people who spend so much time in promoting the idea of anti-capitalism, but at the same time consume people on dating apps. Mindfulness should not mean copying and pasting a stereotype of behaviors and patterns into your life.

Mindfulness is not something you can learn, but it is something you decide to do.

The ultimate definition of mindfulness could be that even if your house burns down while your boyfriend breaks up with you after you’ve lost your job - and you still handle life in a self-compassionate and accepting way. Then you might reach a high level of mindfulness. 

Last time I visited my family in Romania, I experienced another situation I would entitle with ‘mindfulness’. My aunt, 78 years old, is nearly deaf and blind. She might recognize shadings and the direction, where a sound originates from. In a small town near Bucarest, she lives with her husband, ten years older, in a flat with two rooms. When I entered the flat, I realized how clean it was. My uncle told me that they’ve spend their entire day cleaning for us. My aunt had prepared a cake – the only one, for which she know the recipe by heart. My uncle told us, that he still accompanies her to the hairdresser and the manicure shop. In all their interactions, I felt respect and valuation for the other person, but also acceptance for the situation and patience. These people don’t know the word ‘mindfulness’. But they are the best example for its execution.

how to become a mindful person

All these examples invited to me overthink my concepts of mindfulness. I experienced interaction with mindful people – and still I had no idea how to become one. I searched for a clear definition on mindfulness and a pathway towards it.

Once I read a book by Kristin Neff, one of the pioneers in research in self-compassion. She introduced her definition of mindfulness as following: the awareness of being aware. As an example: you can be upset in a certain situation. Mindfulness in this would mean that you are aware of the fact that you are upset in a certain situation. I understand mindfulness as an invitation to zoom out of your own perspective, and widen it. You will realize that your situation is just a feeling, a moment in life, which helps you to accept its transience.

 

Another result of this change of perspective is that other people have the possibility to enter it. Zooming out allows us to observe ourselves but also others in the same scenery. All humans are equal. We are invited to focus our perspective towards a collective awareness for space and people instead on our ego.

Meditation can work as a safe space to explore this change of perspective. But you can also use your daily life as a training platform for mindfulness.

A daily activity, such as showering or eating can be enhanced by zooming out of your own perspective, letting thoughts pass by and focusing on the present moment. You invite yourself to describe the sensations you have, e.g. water temperature, strength.

Waiting at the bus stop can transform into an exercise in which your awareness travels through different parts of your body.

Interactions with other people can be conducted by an inner voice trying to witness the situation from outside and following the interactions in an empathic way.

For me, mindfulness can happen everywhere. You can be mindfully sitting at a bar and flirting, being respectful and empathic with the other person.

You can mindfully buy yourself new clothes, asking yourself if this action supports a real pleasure or tries to cope a bad situation you’ve experienced before.

You can mindfully go clubbing enjoying the sensations on your body.

You can mindfully eat any dish you like, being aware of what you eat and how much your body deserves and needs it.

You can be mindful, if you want to be mindful. There is no guideline onwards it. There is just the present moment. And this is now.