Realms of Flow Meditation App
• 5-star rating
• PCVR, Quest, Link
• Meditation
• Comfortable, Stationary
Realms of Flow by talented digital artist Marc Zimmermann is a highly polished meditation app with ten or more different immersive scenes and multiple additive layers, but what makes it really shine are all the customization options that allow you to tailor the experience to meet your personal preferences and current mood.
Accompanied by engaging ambient and electronic soundtracks, each flowing and dynamic scene offers something different. From natural ocean settings to abstract crystalline structures. One scene even evokes feelings of being under warm blankets while being read poetry. These scenes appear to be pre-rendered videos that loop after a few minutes, but several layers of augmented features add to the experience - each of which can be activated separately or placed in an automated timeline.
Organic iris-like shapes shimmering and slowly contracting and flowing.
Breath Guide tracks the tempo of your respiration, which you can follow by moving your arms in time with each exhalation, or by placing your left controller on your belly where the app senses your chest movements. Visual cues are superimposed on the display as you monitor your breathing. Spatial Sounds adds ASMR-type audio effects that appear close to your ears, Entrainment aims to stimulate the brain using synchronizing audio beats and Humming Guide reprojects the sounds you make into the microphone back into your ears when you exhale. All of these features provide additional visual feedback on screen.
Voice-Overs in either English or German mostly discuss approaches to aspirational mindful goals which we found to be trite and distracting, but occasionally scenes offer narration that augments the experience; like that of the poetry reading that accompanies the Starry Blankets scene. The final feature is Element of Play which involves moving your hands in time with your breathing while tracing a line of dots on either side of the screen. We struggled the most with this feature as it was difficult to hit the targets that lie on opposite sides of our peripheral vision, resulting in lost focus.
Warm sensations and poetry readings from Starry Blankets.
Initially we'd recommend beginning with a bare-bones scene, then adding features on the fly through the session timing menu until you find what works for you. If you want to micro-manage your experience there are also a further level of menus with settings that can adjust every aspect of the app's audio and visual functions. You can also reset the view so the visuals are presented above you when lying down when you check the 'roll-axis' slider. Also you'll need to remember that this only works with the in-game 'reset view' option, and not the Meta Quest 'reset view' button.
Realms of Flow is the best meditation app we've experienced to date, and we're relieved to see that it's available at a reasonable one-time price. Other similar (and lesser) apps have opted for often predatory monthly subscription plans that deliver occasional meager updates and leave users with nothing when they cancel. Both Meta Quest and PCVR versions offer similar experiences, and Quest version offers a visual quality slider that will be beneficial for the faster processor in the Quest 3.
First of two levels of menu for customizing your experience.
✅ High quality, varied dynamic visuals.
✅ Very high level of customization.
✅ Additional experiences added for free.
• YouTube: Trailer
• Languages: English German
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* If you buy an app with the 25% referral link, Library of Realities also receives $5 Meta Store credit to buy more apps to review.
