A new ‘immersive mindfulness experience’ designed and created by Pixel Artworks, ‘Room to Breathe’, opened in London on 25 July.
Hosted within the NOW Trending Building within Outernet London – ‘a new immersive culture, media, and music district’ in Tottenham Court Road, the ‘soothing sensory experience is based on the science of ‘box-breathing’. The aim is ‘to help anxious commuters and busy Londoners unwind and catch their breath throughout the day’.
Pixel Artworks was established in 2005, and claims to have ‘pioneered’ the use of light and pixel technology ‘to develop magical and measurable shared experiences for the world’s largest retailers, brands, and entertainment venues’. It said: “Since the pandemic there has been an increased focus on human wellbeing, and we have a greater understanding of anxiety, as we’ve shared a global traumatic event. Now, as people move around more freely and return to offices, they are experiencing increased stress, and the potential to be triggered into more anxious states. Providing free access to a calming and immersive experience like ‘Room to Breathe’ helps promote broader conversations around mental health and wellbeing, and is an opportunity to end the social stigma. It gives people time to stop and pause to breathe and just ‘be’.”
Jayne Cox, ‘a leading trauma and anxiety consultant’, fed into the experience using her knowledge and understanding of how breathing exercises like ‘box breathing’ reduce anxiety. Accompanying the ‘visual cues’ of rolling clouds, calm skies, and the sun, all of which mimic regulated, calmer breathing patterns, is original music by Matt Wilcock. The music ‘slowly moves from the acoustic piano, through to more organic synthesised tones, to help users settle into the calming, breath pattern’.