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ASafePlace: User-Led Personalization of VR Relaxation via an Art Therapy Activity

Chuyang Zhang, Bin Yu, Yuchao Wang, Mansi Yuan, Wanqi Wang, Seungwoo Je, Pengcheng An

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of shallow personalization in VR biofeedback relaxation and proposes ASafePlace, a system that personalizes a 360° VR sanctuary and audio guidance through an art-therapy-inspired Safe Place exercise coupled with AI-driven content generation. It combines verbal and non-verbal user inputs to produce a user-authored environment and memory-infused relaxation scripts, then evaluates the approach with a 2×2 factorial study (n=52) across personalization and biofeedback conditions. Quantitative results show that personalization and biofeedback jointly enhance HRV and respiration regulation, with increased presence and perceived relevance, while qualitative findings reveal memory-driven imagery and embodied experience as key mediators. The work offers design implications and safeguards for memory integrity, arguing that autobiographical memory-driven personalization can meaningfully deepen engagement and therapeutic potential in VR relaxation beyond conventional interfaces.

Abstract

To overcome the lack of deep personalization in standard biofeedback methods, we introduce ASafePlace, a system utilizing an AI-powered, art-therapy-inspired exercise called The Safe Place, to create a personalized VR biofeedback experience. In our system, users sketch a personal sanctuary from memory, which is then transformed into a customized 360 virtual environment with personalized audio guidance for relaxation training. A study with 52 participants showed this approach effectively reduced anxiety and increased user presence, while the integration of art-therapy-inspired activity and biofeedback produced strong improvements in physiological relaxation, measured by heart rate variability and respiration rate. Qualitative results showed how participants' sense of familiarity and presence was enhanced by the symbolic elements and natural sanctuaries created from their autobiographical memories. Our findings demonstrate that art-therapy-inspired activity is a powerful tool for creating highly effective and individualized relaxation experiences, naturally connecting the virtual environment to a user's core memories and emotions.

ASafePlace: User-Led Personalization of VR Relaxation via an Art Therapy Activity

TL;DR

The paper tackles the challenge of shallow personalization in VR biofeedback relaxation and proposes ASafePlace, a system that personalizes a 360° VR sanctuary and audio guidance through an art-therapy-inspired Safe Place exercise coupled with AI-driven content generation. It combines verbal and non-verbal user inputs to produce a user-authored environment and memory-infused relaxation scripts, then evaluates the approach with a 2×2 factorial study (n=52) across personalization and biofeedback conditions. Quantitative results show that personalization and biofeedback jointly enhance HRV and respiration regulation, with increased presence and perceived relevance, while qualitative findings reveal memory-driven imagery and embodied experience as key mediators. The work offers design implications and safeguards for memory integrity, arguing that autobiographical memory-driven personalization can meaningfully deepen engagement and therapeutic potential in VR relaxation beyond conventional interfaces.

Abstract

To overcome the lack of deep personalization in standard biofeedback methods, we introduce ASafePlace, a system utilizing an AI-powered, art-therapy-inspired exercise called The Safe Place, to create a personalized VR biofeedback experience. In our system, users sketch a personal sanctuary from memory, which is then transformed into a customized 360 virtual environment with personalized audio guidance for relaxation training. A study with 52 participants showed this approach effectively reduced anxiety and increased user presence, while the integration of art-therapy-inspired activity and biofeedback produced strong improvements in physiological relaxation, measured by heart rate variability and respiration rate. Qualitative results showed how participants' sense of familiarity and presence was enhanced by the symbolic elements and natural sanctuaries created from their autobiographical memories. Our findings demonstrate that art-therapy-inspired activity is a powerful tool for creating highly effective and individualized relaxation experiences, naturally connecting the virtual environment to a user's core memories and emotions.
Paper Structure (47 sections, 10 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 47 sections, 10 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and Related Work
  3. HCI for Relaxation Training
  4. Personalization in Relaxation Training
  5. Safe Place Technique and Art Therapy in HCI
  6. ASafePlace
  7. System Design
  8. Personalization Phase
  9. Relaxation Phase
  10. System Implementation
  11. Personalization of VR-based Relaxation Training
  12. ASafePlace Relaxation Training Application
  13. User Study
  14. Participant and Procedure
  15. Set-up
  16. ...and 32 more sections

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: The personalization phase of ASafePlace system.
  • Figure 2: The relaxation phase of ASafePlace system: (a) Personalized audio guidance with embedded snippets is played; (b) the user wears an HMD and a breath belt to immerse in the virtual environment; (c) the environment is presented with particle effects; (d) during inhalation, particles move toward the user; and (e) during exhalation, particles move away.
  • Figure 3: The procedure of the user study.
  • Figure 4: (a). HRV-SDNN changes (Relaxation session S3 vs. Stress session S2) across four groups. (b) Boxplots of percent changes in SDNN between S3 and S2
  • Figure 5: (a). Respiration Rate changes (S3vs. S2) across four groups (b). Boxplots of percent changes in RES between S3 and S2
  • ...and 5 more figures