LIMINAL GROUND
ENTER THE SPACE BETWEEN
Liminal Ground: Enter the Space Between, is an immersive VR prototype that delivers a powerful tool for clinicians and educators in the education and treatment of trauma, nervous system disorders, chronic pain, anxiety, and other neurobiological based issues. Play and body-directed storytelling safely empowers autonomous regulation skills in therapy-resistant and underserved individuals.
Curated to resonate with the Northern Irish community suffering from PTSD, intergenerational trauma, chronic pain, and addiction, this iteration showed us the deeply impactful roles intentional design can play in the recovery of homeostasis within a suffering nervous system. Testing confirms that universal neurobiological regulatory practices, when presented through the lens of a user’s cultural, language, and environment through story, significantly increases the rate of exercise engagement and the depth of impact.
Next steps for Liminal Ground are open ended. VR proved to be expensive, inaccessible, and unreliable for our intended audiences. The lessons we’ve learned from this project are informing new practical and accessible approaches to supporting individual and collective wellbeing. However, Liminal Ground did reveal the expansive potential of collaboration between artist and clinical practitioner to create therapeutic products that result in scalable emotional intelligence and mind-body education—bridging tech and humanity for the next era.
Welcome to Liminal Ground, a magical transitional space in immersive VR where the body is the key to the story and the practical path to wellbeing recovery. Through Northern Irish mythology and folklore, users navigate simulated realistic landscapes and ancient cultural symbolism to interact with mythological characters, practice regulatory exercises, and witness emotional shifts in real time.
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B A C K G R O U N D A N D D A T A
Innovating Embodied Solutions with Immersive VR
Drawing from the scientific and psychoanalytic research of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Dr. Stephen Porges, Dr. Peter Levine, and Dr. Candace Pert, Liminal Ground introduces the concept that sensations and emotions have natural life cycles that must be completed to maintain the ability to regulate and balance internal systems. When the body experiences overwhelming situations, the nervous system stores unprocessed emotions in muscles, organs, and fascia. If left unresolved, these stores can distort perceptions and cause long-term health issues. This immersive journey teaches skills in healing environments that support users in allowing sensations and emotions to complete their cycles and leave their systems, allowing them to regain balance.
Cross-Sector Collaboration for Real, Lasting Results
A fully realised production would include 9 biomes of 12 somatic exercises using regionally-indigenous folklore and sensory-therapeutic environments delivered to clinicians, educators, and patients worldwide. Interdisciplinary input from neurobiologists, psychologists, sound healers, and eco-therapeutic guides inform this dynamic catalyst for internal healing, drawing our attention to fractal and frequency-related therapy methods.
Trauma-Informed Narrative and Design
This prototype challenges the status quo of mental health recovery innovation, transforming play and integrated dynamic therapies into accessible engagements that deliver embodied results. Trauma-informed narrative and design empower users to explore their emotional states, reconnect with their bodies, and experience real-time physiological relief without being re-triggered or alienated by stigma.
Culturally Resonate Immersion
The user’s avatar is an Irish Fox, an unlikely hero charged with helping the Great Guardian of a Mystical Forest save his homeland from ruin. Through careful and compassionate NPC-led sessions, the user practices somatic exercises that propel the story forward. This approach engages level three empathy, which softens defensive psychological barriers found in most trauma patients.
Engagement & Early Impact
Our prototype test results showed 85% of users expressing strong interest in regular use for emotional regulation. 100% reported feeling safe and engaged, and over 70% experienced increased self-compassion, emotional agency, and body awareness. Several cases reported physical discomfort from the headset itself, as well as difficulties with using VR technology for the first time.
