Sound Self developer Robin Arnott is starting a publishing label named Orpheus Technodelics to curate and distribute consciousness-hacking VR experiences. ‘Technodelics’, according to Arnott, are digital psychedelics that provide peak experiences aimed at opening someone’s mind to commit to deeper contemplative practices. He sees that spiritual traditions are steeped in level of tradition and seriousness that is a turn-off for a lot of people, and that he hopes to use the insights of game design in order to make transcendent experiences more readily available through virtual reality.
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Arnott has been working on the Sound Self for over six years now, and he’s hoping to tap into the larger mindfulness market with other types of similar immersive, consciousness-hacking experiences. He’s working with visionary artist Android Jones whose MicroDose VR is a psychedelic particle painting program that cultivates flow states, as well as a mobile app called Breathscape, which helps cultivate regular breathing practices.
I talk to Arnott about the consciousness-hacking movement founded by Mikey Siegel, his concept of what constitutes a VR ‘technodelic,’ balancing peak experiences with the cultivation of spiritual practices using technology, takeaways from his GDC talk on designing a trance meditation game, and how he navigates his personal mission and role in helping tell the larger story and potential of transcendent technology and its connection to the larger mindfulness market and ecosystem.
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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip
