VR Meditation Apps: The Future of Alternative Therapy

Contemporary Health Issues Require Contemporary Solution

Human society has come a long way in terms of fashion, art, technology and has gone far back in terms of mental health.

Every 5th post on the Internet is talking about mental health. ‘Stress’ has about 1,16,00,00,000 search results on Google while happiness has about 81,40,00,000 search hits. This just shows how much we are really talking about mental health. 

Actually, there’s only talking about it. 

When it comes to taking actions and sitting still for a while, users dread the very thought of it. Hence, the vicious cycle of toxic thoughts and stress never cease to cloud their mind.

On the other hand, even businessmen don’t notice the long-term returns that the mental health industry can fetch.

The mental health industry is slated to record the value of USD 5 Bn by 2027, while it registered the value of USD 2.3 Bn in 2020. More profitability is coming all the way to the mental health industry at a growth rate of 11.1% during this period (stats by Grand View Research).

“Okay, the current scenario of the mental health industry looks conducive with prosperity. Can a businessman be in the industry for a long haul?”

Definitely.

And I will tell you why.

Meditation is no longer an activity; it is a need for individuals. 

The awareness about mental wellbeing is rising proportionately with the increase in the hectic lifestyle of individuals. So, we know for sure that the urban sprawl is going to be there, leading to more time-exhaustion and, ultimately, mental exertion.

Hence, the sustainability of the mental health industry can’t be questioned.

Do you have some mental space to know about a profitable business? You will get some when you read about our exclusive business idea in the Virgin App Concept repository–VR Meditation App.

Virtual Relaxation App – The Future of the Mental Health Industry is Here

Let’s get to the idea real quick.

Given that most individuals suffer from the mental chatter at most active hours of their day, meditation, in turn, seems like a daunting task. Even when users have their eyes closed, the door to thoughts is wide open, which leads to nowhere. As a result, users only need to sit still with their VR headgears and let the app steer them towards mindfulness.

We propose a VR meditation app with beautiful and exotic locations powered with soothing music to keep away the hustle and bustle of life for users. The VR meditation app is programmed with guided visual relaxation sessions for users to practice visualization with utmost focus. Users need to put on their VR gears, aka VR headset and visualize the scenic beauty.

The admin can offer distinguished features to users in the VR meditation app to help them meditate without any distraction and achieve mindfulness. Users can choose the type of location and music they wish to focus on. 

At the beginning and end of every session, users will receive the option to add their current mood to the mood board. This can help offer personalized mediation sessions to users.

Why is VR the Best-suited Technology for a Meditation App?

Escaping reality is one of the most sought after adventures for users. If that hadn’t been the case, virtual reality would not have been popular. In fact, gaming would not have been popular in the first place.

What are books and movies for? They lead users to enter into a new world, leaving their real-lives on hold for some moments. Hence, conventionally or contemporarily, users love to escape reality.

That makes virtual reality a timeless technology.

Now, when two dynamics–mental wellbeing and VR technology–are here to stay, the business crafted out of these is definitely a sustainable one if it paces up with the user demands at all times.

The VR-based virtual meditation app serves the following purposes:

• Meditation is the #1 tool to gain mindfulness. However, users need to be consistent at discarding the thoughts to be in the meditative state. While that takes a couple of weeks and consistent efforts, a virtual reality meditation medium can keep them engrossed in visualization, thereby leading them to thoughtlessness naturally.
• Meditation should happen effortlessly, just like any other activity. For instance, a user does not need any motivation to get their hands on social media or to watch a movie. However, when it comes to meditating, they are under a lot of pressure to keep the distracting thoughts away. In this case, VR-guided meditation sessions may seem like any other entertainment tool, thereby making meditation happen with special efforts.
• The key to a good meditation is the overall feeling at the end of the session. Post the relaxation in a usual meditation, users drift back to run errands for the day, without paying heed to the outcome of the mediation. However, using the mindfulness application, users will have an option to fill out a questionnaire regarding their overall mediation experience. This further leads to an increase in consciousness.

Do you know what else feels like attaining a meditative state? Following passion.

VR Meditation App – Story Behind the Idea Generation

It all started a year ago when the whole world was locked down due to coronavirus. The stress level was higher than usual, as users had to strictly strike a balance between their work and personal life.

Numerous individuals lost their jobs, and the sword of EMIs and loans remained hanging on the heads. In such a situation, going out to a shrine of a therapist was not an option. So, telemedicine came to the rescue.

However, for less serious mental issues such as temporary mental disturbance, overthinking, and work pressure, telemedicine is not an apt solution; it is indeed the last resort. Hence, for day-in and day-out mental peace, the solution needs to be acute and instant.

That’s where the idea of a VR meditation app comes to the foreground.

And yet, it awaits a thoughtful businessman to bring it to real life.

Is that businessman you?

Yes, it’s me!

How to Define the Features of a VR Meditation App?

In the online business, it is crucial to test the market waters before actually diving deep into it. Hence, you can launch your VR meditation app in three phases:

• Launch with the most viable features.
• Enter into the popularity phase with some advanced features.
• Keep up with the market research and add the most demanded features to your app

Features of the VR Meditation App for Users:

Login/Signup

Users can choose to signup and create a new account or login into their existing accounts using their email IDs or social media profiles.

Sessions Category

Users can scroll through various categories to find the scenic view and music that best appeals to them.

Recorded Sessions

Users can access a couple of recorded sessions for free for every scenic view.

Purchase a Scenic View Session

From numerous guided meditations, users can unlock paid scenic views by making an online payment.

Session Reminders

Users can set a time for mediation and receive notifications at the schedule set by them.

Customer Support

The app can have a customer support feature, which can enable users to raise their concerns.

Features of the VR Meditation App for Admin:

Multiple Log in

The app can accommodate multiple admins on the platform. Admins can log in through their individual login IDs.

Manage Categories

Admins can view, add, and delete categories of scenes and music for users to choose from.

Admin Dashboard

Admin can view the dashboard and extract reports to analyze users in a better manner.

Manage Videos

Admin can add recorded meditation videos and define their categories for users to access them.

Session Tracking

Admin can track the top users, number of sessions viewed, interests of users, and similar information to improve the user experience.

Have some other interesting features in mind?

Share your requirements

How to Gear Up the Virtual Reality Meditation App Business?

Numerous clients often find themselves in the puddle of mid-business crisis–They have launched the app, which is performing fairly. But they spend sleepless nights over the next step.

The next milestone for your virtual reality meditation app is two-fold:

Engage your users with advanced features.

Entice and attract new users with interesting add-ons.

Advanced Features of VR Meditation App for User

Rescheduling an Appointment

Users can reschedule an appointment based on their availability and get a confirmation from a psychiatrist on the same.

Questionnaire

Users will get a questionnaire after every meditation session. They can share their meditation experience.

Mood Selector

Prior to starting a meditation session, users can select their current mood from the platform. This can help them receive the best recommendations.

Advanced Features of VR Meditation App for Admin

Reports and Analytics

Admins can extract advanced reports and analytics from the VR meditation app to identify the pain points and opportunities from the user experience of the app.

Patterns of Questionnaire

Admin can view, change, and add more questions to the set of questions sent to users after their sessions.

How to Generate Revenue by Launching a VR Meditation App?

Besides helping your app users maintain their peace of mind, the VR meditation app can be an instrument for your commercial success.

Limited Relaxation Sessions

Users can access a couple of meditation sessions for free. Post the exhaustion of the view limit, they will need to subscribe to the basic subscription plan to begin a new meditation session.

Unlock Premium Meditation Themes

The basic subscription plan will allow users to access standard meditation themes such as garden theme, lakeside theme, mountain theme, and more. While users will need to buy credits to unlock premium meditation themes such as waterfall theme, beach theme, etc.

How can Technology Assist the Development of a Unique VR Meditation App?

Virtual Reality is the primary technology for the mental wellbeing app. Users will put on their VR headsets while meditating to receive an immersive experience. Such a simulation can turn out to be effective for individuals with a distracted mind, who have poor imaginative faculties.

Along with virtual reality, we leverage the following technologies for developing a fully-functional meditation app.

• Artificial Intelligence offers a personalized meditation experience to users by recommending them the recorded sessions that match their mood.
• Quick processing of information to help users search and receive the best meditation sessions.
• Autonomous reasoning to identify users’ pattern and flood their feed with similar recommendations or popular ones among their demography.
• Virtual reality offers users the view of their liking to help them gather the pieces of mind.

USP of the VR Meditation App

Mental health issues can be dubbed as grave concerns of the 21st century. As a result, meditation and mindfulness practices are the ultimate solutions, with technology being the ideal tool for the solution.

You might find different meditation apps; most of them require the user to sit still and switch their mind to a meditative state.

Take, for instance, Calm similar applications.

Headspace and Calm have proven benefits for reducing anxiety and boosting the quality of sleep. However, since users can’t help but have a distracted mind, they need the induced meditative state. That’s where virtual reality comes into play.

The mobile relaxation application, coupled with virtual reality, can offer a personalized and visual-rich session of mindfulness. 

Defining the Ideal User Persona for VR Meditation App

Geographical Research

In order to launch your VR meditation app, you need to find the Goldilocks Zone, aka ideal geographical location, by assessing the demand.

As per the recent statistics coming to the fore regarding stress, depression, and anxiety, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, and Australia can be marked as suitable business zones. Given the fast-paced lifestyle, users tend to multitask and, in turn, end up juggling their peace of mind.

Another key driver that makes these geographies conducive for the launch of a VR meditation app is the penetration of smartphones. Almost every user has a smartphone, which means that the app’s reach with proper marketing efforts can be huge. 

Proper Internet connectivity is the third dynamic that can further facilitate a seamless meditative experience to users.

Psychographic

The mental distortion among working individuals is high. However, there is yet another cohort battling the adverse effects of overthinking and stress–the college-going students and teenagers.

Professionals and students often find themselves at the crossroads of making crucial life decisions and they lose their calm. As a result, a virtual meditation app can help them boost the overall quality of their lives.

Demographic

The mental disturbance is independent of any demographic. A child can experience abuse and suffer from mental stress, an old person can feel aloft from society and suffer from depression. Hence, a VR meditation app can actually have a very broad periphery of operation.

However, if we have to define the most common type of users, we can define the following:

• Age:

Users between the age bracket of 14 years to 70 years can be recognized as the ideal cohort for the VR meditation app.

• Gender:

Most of the women are overly emotional and sensitive. They tend to get into the thinking zone quite frequently, thereby leading to mind chatter. However, the ratio of men undergoing stress is also not less, owing to the financial issues and societal shifts.

Behavioral

The inclination towards health has been rising, and the billion-dollar mental health industry stands testimony to it. Usually, users prefer to avail meditation sessions offline in a group. However, the spread of coronavirus caused a behavioural shift, which benefited the online apps.

Given the convenience to unlock mental health at the fingertips and at any point in time, users prefer to pay a subscription and use the meditation apps.

We can even pinpoint the exact places for you to first launch your mental health app

Request for a personalized plan

Product Lifecycle: Determining the Various Stages of the App

Usually, there are two steps to the top and one step to staying as an established business in the mental health industry:

a) Introduction Stage:

Once you develop your VR meditation app, the first step would be to introduce the app into the right market to serve the right demography. For this, you will need to run thoughtful marketing campaigns that spark awareness regarding technology and mindfulness.

You can offer a freemium version of the app for a limited time. This can help users to interact with the app and explore its unique features.

b) Growth Stage:

At this point, you will find that you have attracted quite a loyal user base. The VR meditation app will have revenue flowing in through subscription plans. The loyal users will turn into advocates, and your app can benefit from word-of-mouth marketing.

c) Maturity Stage:

Once you have a large pool of users, your app will have reviews and ratings. These should be taken seriously for future implementation. You can even undertake surveys and find out the most-demanded features for the enhancement and development of the mental wellbeing app.

A few alterations and changes can be made to the application to target new geographies and audience.

What is the Business Model of VR Meditation App?

Our business analysts have crafted a sustainable business model of a virtual reality-based virtual relaxation app.

What is the Functional Model of a VR Meditation App?

Let’s get to know the functional model of the virtual reality meditation app in a step-by-step manner.

• A user creates an account using their email IDs or social media accounts.
• Upon logging in, users will have to add their personal information, such as gender and age. The app will then ask for their current mental state using the mood board.
• Based on the mood selected on the board, the app will recommend a list of VR-based meditation sessions.
• Users can select a meditation session from their mobile phones and put their VR headgears on to begin their meditation session.
• Users will be able to access two to three videos for free, then they will need to subscribe to the plans to continue using the app.
• Once the subscription plan is activated, users can scroll through to select various categories of themes for meditation. 
• At the end of every meditation session, users will have to fill out a questionnaire regarding their experience and their then state of mind.
• They can even set reminders in their mediation app to notify users.

What is the Revenue Model of VR Meditation App?

Subscription Plans:

There are two types of subscription plans–monthly and yearly. The freemium model of the app allows users to access a couple of meditation sessions for free. However, once the specified limit is exhausted, users will need to pay for the subscription to access the basic VR meditation sessions.

Premium Plans:

This revenue plan can be introduced at a later stage in the VR meditation app when you have a considerably large user base. This can help users ditch the routine and enjoy meditation at exotic locations using the premium plan.

Let’s discuss

SWOT Analysis of the Virtual Mental Health App

trength

Virtual reality is a relatively new concept, which means that it has the potential to capture the attention of users instantly with its USP. As a result, businessmen will need less marketing to reach out to their target audience.

Weakness

The adoption rate of the virtual reality app will be low to average. The price of the VR headset and the subscription plan of the app can be a bit tough on the pockets of users.

Opportunities

People are more conscious about their mental health wellbeing, given the pressure to strike a balance in every aspect they undertake. Besides this, the impact of COVID-19 is such that individuals are stuck in one place, thereby losing their calm by being overwhelmed about work and their personal lives.

Threats

The well-established meditation apps such as Calm and Headspace can pose a direct threat to the advancement of the virtual reality meditation application. The loyal user base of the current meditation apps will need a behavioural shift.

Is Investment in VR Meditation App Profitable?

Convenience is the #1 factor that users look for in a mobile application. With virtual reality, users can keep the distraction away and intensify their focus on mindfulness.

Being one-of-its-kind applications for mental wellbeing, businessmen who launch it within the span of two years are sure to receive the early mover’s advantage.

Technologically, users are turning smarter, which means that it’s time for virtual reality to move into sectors other than gaming. One of the prominent reasons why this virtual meditation app can win over the other data analytics based meditation apps is its ability to improve the retention rate of users.

Virtual reality can provide a detailed view of reality, which often offers an immersive experience for users. Besides using apps like Calm and Headspace, users who find it difficult to meditate can leverage VR meditation apps as an alternative therapy.