@inproceedings{7162,
  abstract     = {Heart rate variability biofeedback has emerged as a validated intervention for stress management and emotional regulation through coherence breathing techniques. Existing biofeedback systems typically present cardiac and respiratory signals as separate feedback channels or rely on discrete interface elements that fragment attention and disrupt immersion. We present a design framework that extends Viscereality, a bioresponsive VR framework originally developed for breath mapping, to integrate multi-channel biofeedback including heart rate within immersive VR, centered on a particle-based environment that functions as a spatial body-mapping interface. By leveraging bioresponsive breath interactions for embodiment and weak representational aesthetics for cardiac coherence, the framework aims to encode both streams within a shared visual substrate, reducing the attentional task-switching and experiential fragmentation that multi-channel displays otherwise risk. The system translates lung volume into spatial expansion and contraction of the environment itself, maps cardiac coherence onto affective visual dimensions (angularity, brightness, saturation, symmetry), and embeds breathing guidance within the same geometric substrate. We present the design rationale and implementation of this framework, with empirical validation of its effectiveness to be conducted in future studies.},
  author       = {Fejer, George and Holzapfel, Till and Hirvonen, Taru and Lalidis Mateo, Anestis-Pere and Blum, Johannes and Gaebler, Michael and Lenggenhager, Bigna},
  booktitle    = {Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in the Alps},
  isbn         = {9798400719486},
  keywords     = {heart rate variability, biofeedback, virtual reality, affective state modulation, affective visualization, coherence breathing},
  location     = {Ascona Switzerland},
  pages        = {79--86},
  publisher    = {ACM},
  title        = {{Breathing Space: Spatial Mapping of Breath and Cardiac Biofeedback for Affective State Representation and Coherence Training in Viscereality}},
  doi          = {10.1145/3780045.3780061},
  year         = {2026},
}

@misc{7165,
  author       = {Fejer, George and Holzapfel, Till and Hirvonen, Taru and Lalidis Mateo, Anestis-Pere and Blum, Johannes and Gaebler, Michael and Lenggenhager, Bigna},
  publisher    = {OSF},
  title        = {{Viscereality: Bioresponsive Virtual Reality for Box Breathing and Altered-State Experience}},
  doi          = {10.17605/OSF.IO/64MWK},
  year         = {2026},
}

@misc{7164,
  abstract     = {Breath-based interactions in virtual reality typically map breathing onto discrete visual objects or downstream physiological proxies. Viscereality takes a different approach, mapping lung volume onto a surrounding space composed of particles arranged in an orb enclosing the participant through interoceptive-exteroceptive sensory
substitution, such that inhalation expands the environment outward and exhalation contracts it inward. The aesthetic texture of the particle field is controlled by coupled oscillators governing phase relationships among individual particles' animation cycles, making visual organisation an experimentally adjustable parameter independent of the respiratory mechanics. In a preregistered within-subjects study (N = 39), participants completed three 10-minute audio-guided box-breathing sessions in counterbalanced order: a high-symmetry VR condition in which oscillator coupling transiently aligned particles into geometric coherence during breath holds, an asymmetric VR condition
in which coupling remained irregular throughout, and a black-screen control with only a minimal breathing performance indicator. Subjective experience was assessed with an altered states of consciousness questionnaire, temporal experience tracers, and three pictographic self-related measures. Relative to the black-screen control, VR conditions improved breathing synchronization, shifted participants toward a more spatially extended frame of self-reference, and produced altered-state profiles with strong perceptual effects, moderate positive effects, and weaker distressing effects. Despite lasting only 10 minutes, perceptual and positive effect intensities were superficially
comparable to those reported in 90-minute facilitated breathwork sessions conducted without VR, while negative effects were lower. Temporal experience tracers converged with the retrospective questionnaire across all dimensions. Participants remained blind to the aesthetic symmetry manipulation, which also yielded no difference on any outcome measure. These results suggest that even a brief bioresponsive VR breathing session can meaningfully augment both breathing behavior and subjective experience, and may warrant further exploration as a complement to established breathwork practices.},
  author       = {Fejer, George and Holzapfel, Till and Blum, Johannes and Hirvonen, Taru and Lalidis Mateo, Anestis-Pere and Gaebler, Michael and Lenggenhager, Bigna},
  keywords     = {biofeedback, breath-based interaction, breathwork, altered states of consciousness, particle systems},
  publisher    = {OSF},
  title        = {{Breathing Space: Spatial Mapping of Breath and Cardiac Biofeedback for Affective State Representation and Coherence Training in Viscereality}},
  doi          = {10.17605/OSF.IO/F2GMW},
  year         = {2025},
}

@inproceedings{6574,
  abstract     = {We introduce a bioresponsive virtual reality system that maps users' breathing patterns to dynamic, spatialized visual feedback. The system implements Gestalt principles, such as good figure, similarity, and symmetry, within a 3D particle-based environment to enhance the embodiment of interoceptive and exteroceptive space, aiming to blur the subjective boundary between bodily self and the external virtual space. Moreover, the system incorporates coupling kernels within a dynamic system composed of Kuramoto oscillators, enabling the emergence of geometric visual symmetries during breath retention phases. This architecture provides an experimental framework for investigating how visual–respiratory coupling of space can influence perceived bodily boundaries and peripersonal space, as well as for testing how such coupling affects positively valenced aspects of subjective experience, drawing on principles from the Symmetry Theory of Valence. A short video summary of the system is available at: https://osf.io/4enfg},
  author       = {Fejer, George and Holzapfel, Till and Gómez-Emilsson, Andrés and Hirvonen, Taru and Jermaks, Raimonds and Blum, Johannes and Lobser, David and Lalidis Mateo, Anestis-Pere and Glowacki, David and Gaebler, Michael and Lenggenhager, Bigna},
  booktitle    = {MCI-WS11: 18th Workshop “Be-greifbare Interaktion”},
  keywords     = {altered states of consciousness, bioresponsive systems, breath-based interaction, symmetry theory of valence, interoceptive-exteroceptive substitution, visual-respiratory coupling},
  location     = {Chemnitz},
  publisher    = {Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.},
  title        = {{Viscereality: A Bio-responsive VR System for Breath-Based Interactions and Coupled Oscillator Dynamics to Augment Altered States of Consciousness}},
  doi          = {10.18420/MUC2025-MCI-WS11-174},
  year         = {2025},
}