Researchers Submit Patent Application, “Virtual Reality Guided Meditation In A Wellness Platform”, for Approval (USPTO 20200276407)

2020 SEP 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Washington, D.C., NewsRx journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Goldberg, Alex Jeffrey (Lake Oswego, OR); Goldberg, Aaron Serling (Portland, OR), filed on March 9, 2020, was made available online on September 3, 2020.

The patent’s assignee is The StayWell Company LLC (Yardley, Pennsylvania, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “This disclosure relates generally to the field of guided meditation, and specifically to providing guided meditation to a user in a virtual reality environment.

“Meditation can provide numerous physical and mental benefits. For example, on a physical level, meditation may increase a person’s energy level, lower high blood pressure, improve the immune system, and reduce tension-based pain. On a mental level, meditation may, for example, decrease stress and anxiety, increase happiness, improve emotional stability, and achieve peace of mind. People who practice meditation regularly are more likely to experience these benefits. Guided meditation is a form of meditation in which a person follows voice instructions, either live or recorded, guiding the person step-by-step through a meditation exercise.

“Meditating outdoors in nature may facilitate improved meditation experiences compared to meditating indoors. Natural environments such as beaches, oceans, forests, waterfalls, and other pleasant settings can help people relax and focus while meditating. However, it may be impractical for people who do not live or work near these natural environments to meditate in natural environments. Virtual reality technology can let users view these environments through a virtual reality system. For example, the virtual environment may be a natural environment located across the world from the location of a user in real life.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “A method for providing guided meditation to a user in a virtual reality environment is provided. A VR guided meditation system receives information from a client device of a user such as a smart phone running a VR guided meditation application. The information includes a request for a guided meditation exercise and selections for the exercise. For instance, the user may select a type of meditation such as a meditation that focuses on breathing patterns or a meditation that involves a ‘body scan’ of the user. Further, the user selects a time duration of the meditation exercise and a location of the meditation exercise. The location options include natural environments that are suitable for meditation such as a beach, a waterfall, and a forest. Based on the user’s selections, the VR guided meditation system provides a guided meditation exercise and a VR environment to the smart phone device. In particular, the guided meditation exercise includes audio instructions guiding the user through the exercise. The audio instructions are played to the user via speakers of the smart phone or headphones connected to the smart phone. The VR environment is presented to the user via the display of the smart phone. The VR environment includes 360 degree imagery corresponding to the selected location for the meditation exercise, for example, imagery of a beach, waterfall, or trees. To help provide an immersive VR environment for the user completing the guided meditation exercise, visual elements and/or events in the VR environment are synchronized with steps of the guided meditation exercise. For example, a step informs the user to look at the waterfall imagery in the VR environment while exhaling a breath slowly.

“The VR guided meditation system also generates reports including statistics of data and usage trends from a population of users (e.g., a group of users with similar characteristics, such as a group of employees of a company) completing guided meditation exercises. For instance, the population of users may include employees of an employer or members of an insurance plan covered by an employer. The population of users may also include a group of users in general. The report is provided to the employer for the employer to track the wellness of the employees, covered member populations, and/or users in general. For example, the employer can track usage trends and the average number of minutes that each employee meditates per day. The system may also provide feedback to the user based on the user’s personal usage and trends of the user’s data relative to trends of a larger population. Further, the users may receive incentives for achieving certain goals through the guided meditation exercises. For instance, an employee who meditates at least 500 minutes in a month receives a coupon for meditation related products or a lower deductible for a health insurance plan. The VR guided meditation system and reports may assist employers in promoting workplace wellness and healthy practices among employees such as regular practice of meditation.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: obtaining, by a processor from client devices associated with a plurality of users, information associated with guided medication exercises performed by the plurality of users through a virtual reality environment displayed on the client devices, the plurality of users associated with a plurality of locations; for each location of the plurality of locations: generating, by the processor, a report specific to the location, the report including statistics about the obtained information of users of the plurality of users that are associated with the location, obtaining a respective goal of the guided meditation exercises, the respective goal generated based on the report specific to the location, the respective goal being specific to the location, and updating, by the processor, information of the virtual reality environment based on the respective goal specific to the location; and providing, by the processor, the updated information to the client devices associated with the plurality of users, the client devices configured to display an updated virtual reality environment to the plurality of users based on the updated information.”

For additional information on this patent application, see: Goldberg, Alex Jeffrey; Goldberg, Aaron Serling. Virtual Reality Guided Meditation In A Wellness Platform. Filed March 9, 2020 and posted September 3, 2020. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220200276407%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20200276407&RS=DN/20200276407

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