Need a break? Check out our first-of-its-kind soundscape mindfulness Snapchat lens created with and for Barnardo’s and IKEA’s LifeLabs project.
Developed to help support care-experienced young people manage their mental health, the lens uses augmented reality to allow users to create their own relaxing soundscapes to aid wellbeing. The featured tracks were created in collaboration with immersive experience experts Seeper and a group of young people in, or leaving care. The selected sounds were the ones the group found had the most meditative or calming effect. The sounds are designed to layer over each other so that they can be played together harmoniously, or work alone to create a calming and relaxing atmosphere.
Sound and mental health
For at least 40,000 years people have used music to enhance well-being. Music can act as a medium for processing emotions and to calm and regulate our nervous system. And music and natural sounds can have positive effects like:
- Elevating mood and motivation
- Reducing stress
- Improving focus
- Helping relaxation
- Reducing anxiety and depression
(You can read more about that here, here, here and here). Watch Leap’s Sustainable Designer Chevonne demo’ing the LifeLabs lens, as she builds her very own soundscape.
Facing the world on your own
In general, young people in the care system are expected to be living independently from the age of 16-18, whereas the average age to move out of home in the UK is closer to 25. While they will still have some support from social services etc. they often don’t have that informal support system of family or other adults to call upon. “When you look at issues faced by young care-experienced people – housing, education, employment and training, they come up as the big issues but actually – we can get all of those sorted. But when somebody moves into their own accommodation, they shut the door, and they’re on their own, they can be lonely and isolated.” – Nick Cook, Barnardo’s This is why LifeLabs works both with teaching tangible skills like cooking as well as softer internal skills like mindfulness and dealing with difficult feelings. It’s been great to see the project come to life and create real positive outcomes for real people. Leap recently also won a DBA effectiveness award for the development of Barnardo’s LifeLabs and our collaborative approach. If you want to know more, or discuss co-design for your project, get in touch with [email protected], we’d love to chat.