I am celebrating my two-year anniversary of being a Virtual Reality (VR) user. On Black Friday in 2019, I took advantage of a sale that took place at GameStop. They were selling the PlayStation VR kit for $199 which was $100 off of the original sales price. “That’s savings!” I said in the most self-convincing monologue. This new purchase had immediately caused a small amount of internal stress as I started to increasingly ask myself if I had time to dedicate to this new hobby. Those thoughts subsided shortly as the purchase included a handful of games to showcase the new technology.

One of the most useful applications of VR technology is the innovative mediation app, TRIPP. The title is not so much a game as it is an experience in mindfulness. The experience is what the Washington Post describes as “A video game meets a happy pill”. In 2020, Men’s Health magazine named TRIPP the Best VR Meditation and Wellness software. The application has been instrumental in an observed change in thought-pattern, and a better sense of awareness for many in the VR community. At $29.99, I consider this to be a great purchase.

After several months of having the application, I have no shortage of great things to say about it. In fact, I had a lot of questions! I had the great opportunity to speak with Nanea Reeves, the CEO and co-founder of TRIPP. Reeves finds one of the best things about video games is the feeling of having control during times where we may not have the same amount of control in our real lives. Especially during times in life when things in the real world are not so perfect. Nanea also found that being able to meet people in multiplayer communities who may share common interests to be another great part of gaming.

“It’s not all just about the shooting and blowing things up,” Reeves had to say about video games.

Reeves has a very extensive background in the video game industry and was even an early investor in Oculus, the quickly crowdfunded VR system for commercial use. With a love for gaming and deep meditation practice, Reeves says that the idea for a VR-based guided meditation program was conceived in 2016. It would be another nine months before she would “gain clarity of intentions” when it came to the program’s direction and presentation.

TRIPP was funded in Q3 of 2017 – only one year after it went from being just an idea until it happened. That, Reeves said, has a lot to do with her entrepreneurial background and knowing it would take a lot of work in order to make it a reality. The small team at TRIPP spent over six months working on the initial prototype for the game. It took another six months to add the daily updates to track each user’s progress.

The program features a morning session called ‘focus’, which helps the user escape into a calm surrounding with beautiful imagery, soft sounds, and a guided meditation complete with a breathing exercise. The program encourages the user to breathe along and progress when they feel ready to do so. The messages are varied as each session is tailor-made for that session. The evening session, called ‘calm,’ helps the user clear their mind after a busy day, relax or think about reasons to express gratitude.

Another thing that TRIPP does is occasionally help to remind the user that others in their lives with whom they may be experiencing conflict are also on their own journey in life. In many ways, their own personal conflict may manifest and have unintended consequences –both positive and negative – on people around them. The concept of stepping outside of oneself to stop and care about others provided a new perspective and lesson to take with me. The software also comes with a mode that takes the user to relax in 3-D scanned environments including waterfalls, a campfire in the desert, a Bulgarian cow farm and several other nature scenes.

The team at TRIPP added a creative mode that allows each user the opportunity to create their own meditation sessions. Users of this amazing application can also download an app to pair with their meditation sessions to track their daily, weekly, monthly and yearly progress. In addition, users can use the app to upload photos that appear during the meditation session and help bring a greater sense of calm and relaxation. In TRIPP’s future, the company plans to improve visual quality and expand into artificial intelligence.

The company partnered with the Niantic, the firm behind the incredibly successful Pokemon Go! App which inspired many to meet at parks, shopping centers and other common areas to capture and battle creatures that appear in the immediate area on the user’s smartphone. The partnership will provide TRIPP users with augmented reality meditation experiences, using the surroundings to generate unique visuals that will change the environment and, subsequently, the user’s overall mood. The upcoming feature will make TRIPP accessible to a much larger segment of the market, which will not require a VR headset.

The software has been included in clinical studies, but Reeves stressed that it is not a replacement for professional help or intensive therapy. TRIPP VR software is for anyone who would like to see a positive change in thought and overall mood. It is also just a great way to disconnect from what can be a busy world filled with various stimuli – phones, tablets, television playing in the background – there are many ways that we pile on distractions. TRIPP VR can only be played while the user’s head is literally inside of a device, which provides a more focused experience. It is definitely an experience to behold and I personally look forward to all that the team at TRIPP releases in the future.

To find more information, visit http://www.Tripp.com