by Jasmin Jodry
As loneliness and anxiety surge, immersive wellness and shared experiences are rising as a new remedy.
With the wellness economy projected to soar from $5.6 trillion to $8.5 trillion by 2027, people are seeking new ways to ease anxiety and reconnect. From experiential commissioners to wellness brands and real estate developers, now is the time to invest in projects that blend entertainment with well-being.
Immersive shared experiences are evolving beyond entertainment into transformational wellness catalysts. These are functional experiences, rooted in neuroscience, designed to create real-world impact on cognitive and emotional well-being.
As society demands solutions to global challenges, two key macro trends are shaping the future of immersive wellness.
Immersive art experiences for embodiment, shared reflection, and as emotional catalysts
Immersive art experiences restore embodiment, act as emotional catalysts, and provide shared reflection spaces to process global and societal challenges.
Pioneering in this space is the beautiful book Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross. This promotes the field of neuroarts and how it can improve health and wellbeing.
Immersive art experiences as embodiment
As digital life disconnects us from our bodies, we need functional, real-world experiences that restore embodiment and physical awareness. Immersive, multisensory art helps us feel present, grounded, and attuned to our emotions, offering a much-needed reconnection to our physical selves.
James Turrell’s Aten Reign plays with space, color, and the Ganzfeld effect—an optical phenomenon where uniform visual fields alter depth perception—shifting perception and deepening physical presence.
Spaces like Al Waha, a sensory spa inside the Museum of the Future, use light, sound, and therapeutic interactive treatments to reconnect guests with their senses.
Lupuna, a multisensory encounter with Lupuna trees, immerses participants in the natural world through spatial audio, light, and rain machines, dissolving the boundary between self and nature. This experience fosters a deep sense of interconnectedness, expanding one’s sense of self.
The Hum offers a new way of listening. Guests feel sound spatially inside their bodies through vibrations, deepening sensory perception.
Immersive art experiences as emotional catalysts
Once embodied, we become more receptive to emotions we’ve suppressed or overlooked. Immersive art can surface hidden feelings, bringing unconscious emotions into awareness and providing space to process them. Eliciting emotions we didn’t realize we carried helps us acknowledge, release, and move forward.
Olafur Elliasson’s frictional encounters reveal the symbiotic relationship between audience and artwork, where art catalyzes deep, unarticulated emotions. Your gaze, shaped by past experiences, actively co-creates the piece. This makes art both a mirror for self-discovery and a tool for emotional processing.
Chromasonic Field and Satellite One are rooted in neuroaesthetics. They use generative light and sound experiences to dissolve the boundaries between sight and sound. Participants are guided into a liminal state where color is audible and sound is visible.
This multisensory immersion fosters deep presence, embodiment, and emotional awareness, enhancing relaxation, resilience, and well-being.
Immersive art experiences as shared reflection spaces
Emotions are even more powerful when processed collectively. Belonging is key to wellbeing—when we process emotions together, we feel seen, supported, and connected. As traditional gathering places like churches and community centers decline, we need new third spaces beyond home and work.
Shared reflection spaces offer connection in an era of social fragmentation, fostering healing, social wellbeing, and deep emotional processing.
Dreamachine uses strobing light and Jon Hopkins’ immersive soundscape to evoke vivid colors and patterns in the mind. This simulates a psychedelic experience without drugs and fosters deep introspection. Social saunas are emerging as the new nightlife, offering contrast therapy and real-life connections beyond bars.
Othership blends sauna, cold plunges, sound baths, and tea room, with DJ-led “upper” sessions for energy or “downer” sessions for deep relaxation—fostering shared emotional release in a sober, body-positive, and tech-free space.
Submersive, an upcoming immersive bathhouse, uses sensory stimuli and neuroscience to elevate consciousness through awe, wonder, and euphoria. As bathhouses rise in popularity, they provide a much-needed digital detox and analog, communal experiences—an antidote to loneliness and information overload.
Transformation through awe, community, and catalyst experiences
Transformation through awe and wonder
When it comes to immersive wellness, awe is a potent force for personal and social transformation, fostering empathy, reducing ego, and increasing prosocial behavior. It shifts us from self-interest to connection, humility, and community. Meanwhile, wonder fuels imagination, risk-taking, and open-mindedness—key traits for leadership and innovation.
As Dacher Keltner defines it, awe arises when we encounter something vast that transcends our understanding of the world. It calms the nervous system, reduces stress, and deepens our sense of meaning.
Experiences that cultivate awe unlock creativity and adaptability. The Nomadic School of Wonder, founded by Barbara Groth, designs “adventures in awe” that blend nature, art, and play to nourish imagination and curiosity.
Barbara GrothIf you don’t have time to nourish your people and their imaginations, you don’t have time to create or invent the new.
Beau Lotto’s Lab of Misfits uses perceptual neuroscience to help leaders embrace uncertainty, recognizing that “not knowing is—ironically—the most important counterintuitive step that leaders and individuals can take to invent, innovate, and evolve.”
By enhancing Perceptual Intelligence—the ability to navigate uncertainty and see differently—they empower individuals and businesses to make better decisions, unlock creativity, and lead with adaptability.
Transformation through community
As social creatures, we seek to feel seen, understood, and valued. Shared experiences dissolve ego barriers, foster unity, and enhance well-being, making community a powerful catalyst for transformation.
Events like Burning Man demonstrate the power of radical participation. Extreme conditions, a gift economy, and communal rituals foster creativity, adaptability, and deep social bonds.
In a space without monetary exchange, attendees develop problem-solving skills, prosocial behavior, and resilience, experiencing transformation through community, self-expression, and shared purpose.
Rituals deepen transformation, turning ordinary moments into meaningful shared ceremonies that strengthen identity, belonging, and social bonds. Sociologist Émile Durkheim called this collective effervescence. In other words, the heightened energy of shared experiences, where individual boundaries dissolve, amplifying unity, emotional resonance, and collective growth.
Belonging combats the modern loneliness epidemic, which affects 61% of Americans and profoundly shapes both individual wellbeing and societal health. Storycraft’s Wheel of Belonging highlights pathways like empowerment, purpose, and authenticity, showing that belonging isn’t just a feeling but a commitment to curiosity and meaningful connection.
Transformation through catalyst experiences
People seek experiences that transform, not just transport. I design storyliving experiences with powerful catalyst moments that may spark change, with true transformation unfolding as participants apply insights in daily life.
My approach follows a three-phase process. First, priming, where context and engagement are set. Then, catalyst, where a pivotal moment may trigger change, and finally integration, supported through built-in reflection moments and follow-up engagement, such as email check-ins.
Transformation doesn’t end when the experience does. While personal application is unique to each participant, I see opportunities to deepen this phase—whether through guided facilitation or structured follow-through—to help change take root.
For example, my mother’s lifelong dream of singing was reignited at 72 when I surprised her with a live band playing her favorite songs—a catalyst that reawakened her passion. Now, she sings daily in her senior living home. To nurture that transformation, I hired a singing teacher specializing in dementia to help her reconnect with memory through music.
This experience reinforces how catalyst moments spark lasting transformation—especially when supported with thoughtful follow-through.
Even when transformation isn’t an explicit KPI for a ticketed immersive experience in LBE, I love embedding aspirational hooks and catalyst moments into the worlds I design. My projects span wellness to entertainment, including neuroaesthetic breathwork immersions and multisensory spa concepts.
Immersing guests in cinematic storytelling
On the entertainment side, I envision, conceptualize, and creative-direct IP-based worlds that immerse guests in cinematic storytelling and interactive experiences. Bob Marley: Hope Road at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas unites participants through music, while Mafia Mansion challenges guests to navigate ethical dilemmas.
In Avatar: The Way of Water Experience, guests synchronize heartbeat and breath like the Na’vi with Eywa. A rainforest journey fosters love for the jungle, inspiring rainforest preservation and driving climate action.
At their core, these experiences are bold, immersive, and entertaining—designed to inspire personal and social transformation with an impactful edge.
The future of immersive wellness
From awe and community to catalyst experiences, immersive wellness is redefining how we heal, connect, and grow. As Joe Pine says, we are in the New You business—where well-being unlocks human potential through transformative experiences.
This isn’t just a trend; it’s the future of experience design. Experiential commissioners, real estate developers, and wellness brands have a rare opportunity to pioneer new frontiers in healing and transformation—shaping a more connected, thriving society.
The time to act is now.
Top image: Oasis by Jasmin Jodry
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