Digital biomarkers reflect stress reduction after Augmented Reality guided meditation: A feasibility study

Meditation, a mental and physical exercise which helps to focus attention and reduce stress has gained more popularity in recent years. However, meditation requires a concerted effort and regular practice. To explore the feasibility of using Augmented Reality(AR) Devices to assist in meditating, we recruited ten subjects to perform a five-minute meditation task integrated into AR devices. Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, and skin conductance response(SCR) are analyzed based on an Electrocardiogram(ECG), Electrodermal activity to monitor the physiological changes during and after a meditation session. Additionally, participants filled out surveys containing the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), a clinically validated survey designed to evaluate stress levels before and after meditation to analyze the change in stress levels. Finally, we found significant differences in Heart Rate and Mean SCR Recovery Time for participants between the three study procedure periods (before, during, and after guided meditation).