The Journey to Wild Divine

By Patricia King, Common Ground. Posted January 31, 2005.

Warning: The Journey to Wild Divine is no shoot-'em up computer game for twitchy-fingered adrenaline junkies.

To play the game, I clip three purple biofeedback devices onto my fingertips. The devices will monitor perspiration and beat-to-beat changes in my heart rate. Using my mouse, I can take a leisurely virtual tour of the lush gardens and sacred mountain temples of Wild Divine's mystical Sun Realm while being serenaded by soothing, chirping birds and flute music.

But the mouse is useless for conquering the game's real challenges. To feed a white rabbit in the Temple of Compassion, to delicately balance one rock on top of another or to light a fire in a cozy cottage, my biofeedback sensors first have to conclude that I am relaxed. At the cold fireplace, nothing happens as I follow the instructions to coordinate my breathing with the slow opening and closing of a bellows.

I get impatient. I get nowhere. Finally, I give up trying to get anywhere and just inhale and exhale very slowly. The fire appears. I feel a sense of accomplishment and, yes, peace, even in the face of looming deadlines.

A Brave New World

Wild Divine and other user-friendly desktop technologies have revolutionized the once monochromatic world of biofeedback, intersecting with ancient mind-body techniques in new ways. Such technology can "accelerate the learning curve" for these ancient techniques, says Adam Crane, author of Mindfitness Training: Neurofeedback and the Process. When would-be meditators, despite their best efforts, have not been able to approach the mental states that are second nature for yogis, biofeedback can help: "You can take them right to it if the teacher and the equipment are right," says Crane.

One advantage of technologically aided mind-body exercises is that they provide quantifiable data. "It's objective," says Deborah Rozman, CEO of Quantum Intech, a technology licensing and manufacturing company, "you can't fool yourself." Unlike pharmaceuticals, these cyber-zazen sessions help you shift rather than mask negative emotions. "You can drug the emotions, but that's like disarming the fire alarm without putting out the fire," says Rozman. "You've got to give people tools to harness the power of their physiology."

Wild Divine's creators, animator Corwin Bell and biomedical engineer Kurt Smith, promise that "with patience and persistence," mastering the game's challenges will help you "discover a deeper understanding that can be applied to your life and your own personal journey." The game, which lists at $159.95, is only the first in a planned trilogy by the ambitious Colorado entrepreneurs, who met while rock climbing. The next installment, scheduled for release next spring, will feature the electronic avatar of author and teacher Deepak Chopra as a spiritual guide named Rama.

Another computerized biofeedback tool, Quantum Intech's Freeze-Framer, also uses a finger sensor to monitor heart rate variability. Developed by Santa Cruz-based Institute of HeartMath, the $295 (list price) Freeze-Framer features a five-step training exercise to teach players how to shift into a more relaxed state and three games that help you hone the technique. Those who prefer their de-stressing exercises devoid of mystic imagery will prefer these straightforward games to Wild Divine's elaborate Sun Realm. In the Freeze-Framer games, you can "heart power" a hot air balloon over obstacles or fill a pot with gold, but only when you shift into a relaxed state.

Freeze-Framer is being used in 200 schools to help students overcome test anxiety. Carmel High School teacher Diana Govan taught HeartMath's de-stressing technique before the computerized version was developed. She prefers the high-tech version because it provides accurate quality control: "It is so much more powerful to use the software because the students get immediate feedback." Preliminary results in the schools are so promising that the federal government has awarded HeartMath $1.7 million in grants to study the technique's impact on students and teachers.

Patricia King is a Bay Area writer and former San Francisco bureau chief for Newsweek.

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