🖱️️ And there you have it! You’ve clicked on our beautiful notification button that has suddenly appeared on the lockscreen of your smartphone. We’re obviously thrilled that you’re reading us! But let’s be honest: all these notifications are triggers. Technostress, the right to disconnect, addiction—these words keep ringing out. You guessed it, at CreativeTech, we have some ideas to de-stress you!

🏊 Or better yet ideas for you to decompress.Virtual reality, augmented sleep, plant music: We investigated innovative and protean technologies to avoid stress, the ones that makeus feel good. Let’s put aside the clichés for a moment and look at technology from another angle:

Take a deep breath and relax. Here we go!

A bit of calm and nature, photo of the Mercantour ©www.amarok-espritnature.com

Gentle wake-up calls and increased sleep

⏰ Panic alarm clocks are a thing of the past! At least, we can take full advantage of it thanks to the avalanche of technological products in recent years.
This is the case of the startup Jaune Fabrique,which created Piccolo, a design object that acts as both a lamp and a connected speaker. Designed by Thibault Lerailler, one of its features is to offer a pleasant sound and light alarm clock, with a new musical discovery every morning. It’s made in France, and it seems that it will soon be possible to synchronize several of them in different rooms. Perfect for impromptu naps.

Let’s talk about sleep now! A classic of its kind is the headband created by the French start-up Dreem. This technological feat analyzes the sleep of the person who wears it(heart rate, brain activity, etc.) to identify the phases of sleep and thus improve quality. Affixed on the eyes, it sends sound stimulations, without earphones, directly by bone conduction. It is possible to seeyour sleep statistics and thus follow personalized programsthe next morning. Proof of concept? One of these headbands was taken on board the International Space Station by Thomas Pesquet as part of the Alpha mission to study astronauts’ sleepin preparation for more distant missions. Classy.

In another register, the start-up AURASENS proposes a total immersion in a synesthetic sleep with the help of an armchair or a bench with vibro-haptic return (immersion by vibrations) in which to curl up, while listening to a relaxing soundtrack with which to merge. . . .The downside is that it is still a bit expensive to have one at home: but maybe one day we will spend our lunch breaks in such devices? We can already see ourselves there !

   Promotional photo of Piccolo ©Jaune Fabrique

The green ear 

Promotional photo for the Kickstarter campaign of PlantWave -Plant Music Device, ©Data Garden

Head for the virtual world 

👁️ Since the real world is too stressful, one solution is simple: go virtual! We talked about it in our last newsletter on metaverse, the future may have its place in alternative worlds.But before diving,body and soul, into new immersive universes, there are simple solutions to relax!

If you’ve already used mobile apps like Calm or Petit BamBou and are looking to take your experience to the next level, simply pick up an Oculus Quest to enjoy the experience offered by Guided Meditation VR from publisher Cubicle Ninjas.

In an even more concrete userexample, the start-up Healthy Mind offers a turnkey virtual reality solution to relax “before, during or after an anxiety-provoking or painful procedure”.It’s designed for the hospital environment. The turnkey solution is also used by caregivers to relax between two operations in an environment—as the health crisis has shown us—that can be extremely difficult, anxiety-provoking,and stressful. A beautiful use of XR technologies is full of optimism!

In the light of metaverse, we can already imagine ourselves relaxing with friends around the world in a 100% virtual environment! A virtual massage parlor? A collective meditation on a desert island? Or a sunrise from the Moon? There’s plenty to dream about.

Screenshot of Guided Meditation VR, taken from the Steam Store, ©Cubicle Ninjas

Art & No Stress

• Last month, Kelly Reichardt’s latest feature film, First Cow, was released in theaters. The pitch? In Oregon, at the beginning of the 19th century, two strangers meet and decide to start a doughnut business, whose secret ingredient is none other than the milk of the first cow brought to the United States, which they steal from the owner of the meadownext door. Behind this scenario lies a wonderful story of friendship that makes you smile.

• Released in 2012 from the minds of the studio thatgamecompany, the video game Journey takes us on a poetic journey that leaves a lot of room for contemplation. A moment out of time conducive to relaxation supported by a perfect soundtrack for a moment of meditation. In the same vein, don’t hesitate to check out Flower from the same publisher, where you play as a flower petal carried by the wind. Do you have a better definition of “relaxation”?

• The Canadian jazz band BadBadNotGood is back with a beautiful album, Talk Memory, to listen to while relaxing in bed with your eyes closed.

Screenshot of the video game Journey on PC, ©thatgamecompany

Goodbye fatigue ! 

😴 Final bouquet. As we want you to be rested and happy, we leave you some advice from hypnosis practitioner and writer Leonard Anthony, who has been working for years on a rather universal theme: fatigue.

In his video Brut, he advises us not to consider fatigue as an enemy, but as an ally thatwants to do us good! His advice? Good news: you can discover them in his latest book released on November 4.

Goodbye Fatigue! –The art of no longer suffering from fatigue and those of others, published by Overjoy. (Yes, it is). A must-have validated by Creative Tech and to be offered without moderation!

Goodbye Fatigue -L’art de ne plus subir sa fatigue et celles des autres, Léonard Anthony, 2021, éditions Overjoy ©overjoy.fr