Journey to Wild Divine
Encyclopedia
Journey to Wild Divine is a biofeedback
video game system promoting stress management and overall wellness through the use of breathing, meditation
and relaxation exercises. The graphics and interface resemble Myst
. The designers refer to the product as "biofeedback
software", considering it an entertaining training tool for mind and body health, rather than a "game".
Kurt Smith, PhD. is a research scientist specializing in biomedical engineering
. A serial entrepreneur, Smith started six medical device
startup companies, two of which are now owned by Medtronic
. After his tenure with Medtronic, Smith began to pursue a passion “to provide integrative healing tools and services to people in an effective way”.
Corwin Bell, a game designer, was studying at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington when he realized that computer animation was a format that he could use to manifest his ideas and images. After receiving a Masters degree in Communications, Bell moved on to work in the movie industry where he did set design and cinematography
. Bell turned to working on children’s software, including The Pagemaster
for Turner Interactive and Super Safe Kids, a CD tool that teaches awareness of abduction issues in an animated environment. He also became an instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado
.
Smith and Bell met and began exchanging ideas while rock climbing in Boulder Canyon, Colorado when Bell told Smith about an idea he had to combine a computer game with biofeedback in order to help people. They proceeded with this entertainment-based model intended to benefit people by providing both preventive and integrative care.
Other experts who assisted in the development of Journey to Wild Divine’s products include Jean Houston
, a pioneer researcher in human development and extending human capacities, and Nawang Khechog
, a former Buddhist monk, who’s studied with the Dalai Lama
and is one of Tibet
’s foremost world music composers and musicians. From the start, Liana Mattulich, M.D., a highly experienced biofeedback expert in Denver, Colorado helped the project see completion. Other experts consulted on the project were Dr. Bob Whitehouse and Sunny Turner.
reader. The device attaches to three fingers, and measures heart rate variability
and skin conductance level. Heart rate variability
measures the amount of variability between heart beats, which has been reported to be associated with various pathologic conditions. Skin conductance level indicates the amount of perspiration on the skin surface, which is a measure of stress in the body.
In The Journey To Wild Divine: The Passage, users navigate through a series of adventures in a video-game type interface.
The user must adjust these levels in their body to move through the game. The purpose is to develop meditation
skills and to gain greater control of unconscious bodily processes by observing and reacting to the changes in the game's various activities, which reflect the body's current state.
The second title in this series is The Journey To Wild Divine: Wisdom Quest. Wisdom Quest also utilizes the same proprietary Iom biofeedback hardware. It retains the same game format while building on the adventure game format.
The third title, Healing Rhythms, is a 15-step program of deep breathing and meditation
, along with the Iom biofeedback
hardware. In this program experts in the field of health and wellness including medical doctors Andrew Weil
, Deepak Chopra
, and Dean Ornish
guide the user through 15 separate lessons designed to teach stress management in an easy to use format with no navigation required.
Current research suggests that stress management can be beneficial to individuals with a variety of physical and mental ailments including high blood pressure and Raynaud's disease, according to the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
. Research by EEG Info Research has shown it to be effective for helping individuals with ADD/ADHD, PTSD, autism
and chronic pain
.
stress management devices. These include: HeartMath, which produces 2 main types of device the first released in 1999 was called the Freeze-Framer (now called emWave for Windows or Mac) a computer based software with finger/ear sensor, and the pocket-portable version called emWave PSR with finger/ear sensor and emits LED
display and sounds: StressEraser which is a portable feedback device regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and Resperate
which is a portable device regulated by the FDA designed to lower blood pressure.
Other non-biofeedback
alternatives used in stress-reduction include meditation
, deep breathing, and yoga
.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
video game system promoting stress management and overall wellness through the use of breathing, meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
and relaxation exercises. The graphics and interface resemble Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
. The designers refer to the product as "biofeedback
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
software", considering it an entertaining training tool for mind and body health, rather than a "game".
Company history
The Journey to Wild Divine is published by Wild Divine, founded in 2001 by Kurt R. Smith and Corwin Bell. The Wild Divine Project’s mission is “to deliver an affordable, engaging, and effective self-care technology to the health & wellness community.”Kurt Smith, PhD. is a research scientist specializing in biomedical engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
. A serial entrepreneur, Smith started six medical device
Medical device
A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
startup companies, two of which are now owned by Medtronic
Medtronic
Medtronic, Inc. , based in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the world's largest medical technology company and is a Fortune 500 company.- History :...
. After his tenure with Medtronic, Smith began to pursue a passion “to provide integrative healing tools and services to people in an effective way”.
Corwin Bell, a game designer, was studying at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington when he realized that computer animation was a format that he could use to manifest his ideas and images. After receiving a Masters degree in Communications, Bell moved on to work in the movie industry where he did set design and cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
. Bell turned to working on children’s software, including The Pagemaster
The Pagemaster
The Pagemaster is a 1994 adventure fantasy film starring Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Welker, and Leonard Nimoy...
for Turner Interactive and Super Safe Kids, a CD tool that teaches awareness of abduction issues in an animated environment. He also became an instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado
Art Institute of Colorado
The Art Institute of Colorado is a for-profit university whose parent company is owned in part by Goldman Sachs. The current population of the student body is about 2,100 undergraduates.-History:...
.
Smith and Bell met and began exchanging ideas while rock climbing in Boulder Canyon, Colorado when Bell told Smith about an idea he had to combine a computer game with biofeedback in order to help people. They proceeded with this entertainment-based model intended to benefit people by providing both preventive and integrative care.
Other experts who assisted in the development of Journey to Wild Divine’s products include Jean Houston
Jean Houston
Jean Houston is an American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher who has helped pioneer and motivate the human potentials movement. As a teacher and visionary thinker, Houston holds conferences and seminars with social leaders, educational institutions and business organizations worldwide...
, a pioneer researcher in human development and extending human capacities, and Nawang Khechog
Nawang Khechog
Nawang Khechog is a Tibetan flute player and composer.Nawang was born in Tibet, but following the Chinese invasion of 1949/1950, his family moved to India, where Nawang studied meditation and Buddhist philosophy...
, a former Buddhist monk, who’s studied with the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
and is one of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
’s foremost world music composers and musicians. From the start, Liana Mattulich, M.D., a highly experienced biofeedback expert in Denver, Colorado helped the project see completion. Other experts consulted on the project were Dr. Bob Whitehouse and Sunny Turner.
Products
The first program in the series, The Journey To Wild Divine: The Passage, comes with a USB-based biofeedbackBiofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
reader. The device attaches to three fingers, and measures heart rate variability
Heart rate variability
Heart rate variability is a physiological phenomenon where the time interval between heart beats varies. It is measured by the variation in the beat-to-beat interval....
and skin conductance level. Heart rate variability
Heart rate variability
Heart rate variability is a physiological phenomenon where the time interval between heart beats varies. It is measured by the variation in the beat-to-beat interval....
measures the amount of variability between heart beats, which has been reported to be associated with various pathologic conditions. Skin conductance level indicates the amount of perspiration on the skin surface, which is a measure of stress in the body.
In The Journey To Wild Divine: The Passage, users navigate through a series of adventures in a video-game type interface.
The user must adjust these levels in their body to move through the game. The purpose is to develop meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
skills and to gain greater control of unconscious bodily processes by observing and reacting to the changes in the game's various activities, which reflect the body's current state.
The second title in this series is The Journey To Wild Divine: Wisdom Quest. Wisdom Quest also utilizes the same proprietary Iom biofeedback hardware. It retains the same game format while building on the adventure game format.
The third title, Healing Rhythms, is a 15-step program of deep breathing and meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, along with the Iom biofeedback
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
hardware. In this program experts in the field of health and wellness including medical doctors Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil
Andrew Thomas Weil is an American author and physician, who established the field of integrative medicine which attempts to integrate alternative and conventional medicine. Weil is the author of several best-selling books and operates a website and monthly newsletter promoting general health and...
, Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
, and Dean Ornish
Dean Ornish
Dean Michael Ornish, M.D., is president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, as well as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco....
guide the user through 15 separate lessons designed to teach stress management in an easy to use format with no navigation required.
Current research suggests that stress management can be beneficial to individuals with a variety of physical and mental ailments including high blood pressure and Raynaud's disease, according to the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
The Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback was founded in 1969 as the Biofeedback Research Society . The association aims to promote a new understanding of biofeedback and advance the methods used in this practice...
. Research by EEG Info Research has shown it to be effective for helping individuals with ADD/ADHD, PTSD, autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and chronic pain
Chronic pain
Chronic pain has several different meanings in medicine. Traditionally, the distinction between acute and chronic pain has relied upon an arbitrary interval of time from onset; the two most commonly used markers being 3 months and 6 months since the initiation of pain, though some theorists and...
.
Alternatives
Several companies make other in-home, biofeedbackBiofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
stress management devices. These include: HeartMath, which produces 2 main types of device the first released in 1999 was called the Freeze-Framer (now called emWave for Windows or Mac) a computer based software with finger/ear sensor, and the pocket-portable version called emWave PSR with finger/ear sensor and emits LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
display and sounds: StressEraser which is a portable feedback device regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and Resperate
Resperate
Resperate is the brand name of a portable, battery-operated personal therapeutic medical device used to lower blood pressure. Sold over the counter for home use, it has been FDA-cleared since 2002 as a biofeedback device under an FDA filing...
which is a portable device regulated by the FDA designed to lower blood pressure.
Other non-biofeedback
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will...
alternatives used in stress-reduction include meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
, deep breathing, and yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
.