In this talk, we explore the design and cognitive impact of immersive meditation environments that incorporate theomorphic objects—divine, symbolic entities—within AR/VR spaces. Rooted in Buddhist iconography and ritual, these virtual embodiments serve not merely as aesthetic enhancements, but as dynamic focal points for deepened spiritual engagement. We examine how recognition and real-time response to mudrā (Buddhist hand gestures) through gesture-tracking interfaces can catalyze a more responsive and dialogic form of meditation, drawing from both cultural practice and contemporary affective computing.

At the core of the system is a visual n-gram recognition model, enabling symbolic parsing of complex gesture-and-object interactions. This approach allows the system to construct meaningful, context-sensitive interpretations of a user’s embodied input, which can then be linked to automatic natural language query responses—offering real-time answers to common meditation-related questions, from doctrinal clarifications to somatic guidance prompts.

However, developing effective meditation tools using theomorphic objects presents unique challenges. These include symbolic overload, avatar fidelity vs abstraction, cultural specificity vs universality, and the cognitive tension between internal focus and external stimuli in immersive environments. Moreover, achieving stability and emotional safety in such mediated spaces requires careful orchestration of visual, auditory, and semantic layers.