Hark: A VR based interactive narrative game / meditation app hybrid to help manage digital addiction in young people

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Young people who are struggling with disillusionment, loneliness, bullying, neurodiversity, and difficulties at home are more likely to retreat to the comfort of the digital realm, searching for escapism, connection, identity and fulfilment in another world that is perceived as safer.This can lead to digital addiction, exacerbating mental health problems and causing poor long term developmental outcomes. This presents the public health sector with a dilemma: facing a population in particular need of intervention, but one that is hard to reach via current solutions.We aim to access this hard-to reach group via a new kind of VR app to support mental health and wellbeing. We build on a similar model to Sesame Street, where experimental psychologists successfully pioneered the idea of using appealing characters to introduce children to new concepts outside their frame of reference. We will take the idea, but use characters and a deep original fantasy world to engage with a broader young audience.Our project _Hark_ combines a VR interactive narrative with a pantheon of enchanting creatures who act as guides, introducing the players to meditation and dialogical narratives. Each element of the game is developed with reference to psychological theory and therapeutic models. The aim will be to 'use digital media for good', supporting the wellbeing and socio-emotional development of younger people, with the goal of improving mental health outcomes in the longer-term.Whilst many games and other forms of digital media such as online gambling and social media seek to maximise engagement by providing a non-stop flood of stimulus, Hark aims to balance periods of stimulation, engagement, and adventure with longer stretches of blissfully restorative calm and tranquillity.The sequencing of gameplay is designed by using psychological and neuroscientific theory to account for an understanding of how emotional, motivational, behavioural and neurobiological pathways interface during digital engagement to maximise the beneficial possibilities. The goal is to pave the way for a new, healthier, more restorative form of digital media. We call this approach 'digital ergonomics'.