The Campaign

Imagine being able to see inside your own mind. That might sound like the stuff of Science Fiction but, blurring the line between code and thought, we created an experience that translated brainwaves into a real-time visualization on screen, allowing users to view a picture of their mental state in the form of an ocean storm. To demonstrate how the body could calm the mind we had them play a short meditation game. To calm their thoughts, and hence the ocean storm, they simply had to relax physically. To show the opposite, how the mind affects the body, we triggered cognitive discomfort by asking a tricky question, designed to stimulate unpleasant physical symptoms. And automatically, they could see how that affected their mind too. So the wearer discovered through their own direct sense experience how their mind and body were intrinsically linked, and this was confirmed by on-screen results

Creative Execution

With The Mindful Ocean, we’ve created an innovative application that merges several technologies in an entirely new way. First, we used an EEG (electroencephalogram) device – a scientifically credible technology used to measure brainwaves – fashioned into an easily-worn headband. Next, we worked with a professor in Cognitive Neuroscience to isolate the appropriate brainwaves. We needed to represent the results in a simple way, so we created a webGL ocean fed by the real-time data coming from the EEG device. It provided an excellent visual representation of the wearer’s state of mind – the calmer the mind was the quieter the ocean would be, and vice versa. So, users could now see what was happening inside their own minds. Next, we created tests to simulate relaxation and cognitive discomfort. With a simple meditative breathing exercise we demonstrated to users that when their bodies calmed down, so did their minds. Finally, we asked tricky questions designed to trigger cognitive comfort – to produce knots in the stomach, or to create physical stress. So, once again, wearers could see the direct correlation between their minds and what they were experiencing in their bodies, and these experiences were confirmed with on-screen results.

More than just an informative experience, The Mindful Ocean has quickly become a key conversation enabler. Not only has it increased dwell time in-store by 130%, it’s been responsible for 12.5% of new leads, and 25% of those who tried it in store bought brain health products on the spot. The results have been truly wide-ranging. For one thing, we’ve debunked a widely held misconception, and solidified Blackmore’s advisory role in public health matters. More importantly, we’ve been able to help people understand through their own direct sense experience that true health begins in the mind – something many find difficult to accept. With that, we’ve begun the process of changing deep-seated attitudes and behaviours, and ultimately have made a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of vast numbers of people.

The Mindful Ocean, a unique interactive in-store experience devised with the help of neuroscientists, uses brain waves and sensory stimuli to provide definitive proof to users about a scientific fact that they’d usually find hard to accept unconditionally – namely, that their physical and mental health are inseparably linked. By inventing a new application for an existing technology, and using code to rewrite the way people could think about thought, we found a way to bring a difficult scientific truth to life for ordinary people, and invented an entirely new application for the technology in the process.