Calm Garden – VR Gardening for Mental Health

Calm Garden – Mountain Zen is a Virtual Reality experience designed to provide a serene and immersive environment that promotes relaxation and mindfulness to support your mental health. Set within a tranquil garden surrounded by majestic mountains, the project combines natural aesthetics with intuitive interactions to foster a deep sense of calm and presence.

Design and Atmosphere

The virtual garden features a harmonious blend of calming elements:

• A still mountain lake reflecting the hues of a serene sunset.
• Gentle natural sounds such as rustling leaves, chirping birds, and the soft crackle of a campfire.
• Dynamic environmental effects, including drifting cherry blossoms and softly swaying grass, creating a sense of life and movement.

The visual design emphasizes soft, stylized aesthetics with warm, inviting colors and organic forms. The interplay of light and shadow complements the natural scenery, enhancing immersion.

Interactivity and Focus

The project leverages VR's unique capabilities to encourage mindfulness through:

1. Guided breathing exercises: Users can visually follow animated cues in a 3D space, such as a glowing path or expanding shapes, to practice techniques like box breathing. These exercises help users synchronize their breath with calming visual elements.
2. Meditation checkpoints: The garden includes designated spots where users can listen to meditative audio guides that encourage a focus on the surrounding natural environment. These points are designed to enhance awareness and foster a deeper connection with the virtual setting.
3. Relaxing gardening tasks: Users can engage in activities like watering, sowing, and harvesting plants, which reinforce a sense of nurturing and care. These tasks are complemented by soothing LoFi beats, creating a relaxing flow state.
   
4. Functional Prototype: The Project was realized in Unity with the XR Interaction Toolkit Components. I tested it on the Quest 3, you can download the APK in the "try out links" section.

Development Details

The project was built using Unity and the XR Interaction Toolkit. The following Unity Asset Store assets were used to bring the environment and effects to life:

• Stylized Medieval Village URP
  Creator: RG Poly
  Asset Link

• POLYGON Nature - Low Poly 3D Art
  Creator: Synty Studios
  Asset Link

• POLYGON Farm - Low Poly 3D Art
  Creator: Synty Studios
  Asset Link

• HIGHLANDS - Stylized Environment
  Creator: Raygeas
  Asset Link

• Dissolve FX Lite
  Creator: INab Studio
  Asset Link

• Trails VFX - URP
  Creator: Vefects
  Asset Link

For the logo, the graphic was sourced from www.pngwing.com and customized for this project.

Premade Assets: The fence, as well as the garden beds, were modeled, textured, and used in this project by me before the challenge in connection with another project.

Contributions and Feedback

All interactions, environment design, branding concepts, and UI were created by Anne Rümmler. Feedback and tips were provided throughout the project by Lorenzo Carly, whose profile can be found here: Lorenzo Carly Devpost.

Purpose and Impact

Calm Garden – Mountain Zen showcases how Virtual Reality can be a powerful tool for mental well-being. By combining thoughtful design with scientifically-backed relaxation techniques, it offers users a digital escape that inspires mindfulness and provides practical tools for stress management. This project highlights VR's potential to transform everyday spaces into immersive sanctuaries of calm and reflection.

Built With

• c#
• unity