Playground

Playing with Perception

Make use of the perceived environment to support health, invite creativity and to foster connectedness: with oneself, other people & the surrounding.

  • 11 million sensory impulses “touch” the body through the five senses each second. A massive overload. What is important? The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is the brain’s perception filter. It selects and prioritizes up to 50 sensory impulses per second available to awareness.

    Pathways to get through the brain’s filter are:

    • novelty

    • surprise

    • multi-sensory experiences

    • changes

    • play of light & shadow

    • safety cues (psychological safety, autonomy)

    • curiosity

    • interaction triggers

    The understanding of the RAS’s functionality allows to invite perception out of autopilot into mindful and present awareness — by design.

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  • While estimates vary, research supports the idea that we make tens of thousands of micro-decisions daily, mostly below the level of conscious awareness (Chat GPT, Consensus - Academic Search Engine).

    Every micro-decision costs energy. Too many necessary micro-decisions reduce the probability of task completion.

    Take a closer look on the invisible thought processes. Reduce micro-decisions by design:

    • less but thoughtful pre configured options vs too much choice

    • invite for health supporting habits with as little micro-decisions as possible

    • detect and eliminate unnecessary micro-decisions with clear guidance

  • A mental state of wanting circumstances to be different. A form of psychological friction. It arises when the mind rejects the present moment—wishing things were other than they are. This creates a split between what is and what one thinks should be. Characterized by negative self-talk, often passing along outside of awareness, and significant energy loss. Which results in tension, dissatisfaction, or even suffering.

    Where does inner resistance comes up regularly? How could design mitigate such stressors to ease situational transitions?

  • smART Transitions invite one’s perception out of mental captivation into mindful awareness through: playfulness, nature(-relatedness), and formlessness.

    smART Transitions build bridges into the now by offering sensory cues to get out of the head into the present moment. Such cues can be visual, auditory, tactile or olfactory.

    Whakami creates art concepts how to invite perception into mindful sensing for connecting experiences.

  • Glimmers* are the opposite of triggers — subtle, pleasant cues that signal joy and safety. They are picked up by the nervous system, often unconsciously, and support mental balance and physical relaxation.

    Playfulness, nature(-relatedness), and formlessness are known to invite Glimmer moments.

    Whakami develops concepts how to balance mental stress and mental friction — by design.

    *Coined by Deb Dana in the context of Polyvagal Theory and neurobiology.

Follow Your Curiosity …

Learn about the connecting potential of cross-disciplinary insights: spark joy, meet needs, support well-being, mental & physical health — by design.

Cross-Disciplinary Creation
Whakami’s working method is based on the idea of antidisciplinarity. Since "anti" has negative connotations, it’s better framed as cross-disciplinary. Whakami helps to shine light onto unmet needs and recent scientific findings to develop connecting design solutions. How Works Antidisciplinarity in Practice?

Neurodiversity, Neurodivergence & Neuroscience
Do you know how different we all perceive the world?

Longing for Nature
How do nature & nature relatedness help to meet basic human needs?

Design Theories
How does perception impact wellbeing, health & connectedness?

Conscious Experience Design
How to add up energy by design instead of depleting limited human capacities?

  • GPT by Whakami: Conscious Experience Designer How much energy loss causes the perceived environment? Learn about environmental causes of illness and specific needs related to neurodivergence.

  • Design Guide PDF on request: Design for the Mind. Neurodiversity & the Built Environment. To make places more inclusive for everyone.

  • Design Guide PDF (61 p.): Inclusive Design to enable informed decision making at the right time and order and excel within inclusion.

  • Webpage: What Is NeuroArt? Scientific findings how art impacts health & wellbeing.

  • Global Network: The Centre for Conscious Design International collective promoting the emergence of healthy built environments.

Whakami helps to sense what goes unnoticed. She translates hidden needs into connecting ideas.

Work with Whakami to “Add Loving Thoughts by Design” within the experience of your brand & business.