Zen on screen

The desktop computer as a meditative tool. It doesn't sound right. For all the good they do, PCs tend to inspire feelings of hatred and violence, not of calm and relaxation.

You're more likely to want to smash a keyboard to pieces with a hammer than sit opposite a screen, arms crossed, palms upturned humming 'Om'.

But the makers of The Journey To Wild Divine, a new PC game, disagree. They have taken the tried-and-tested, high-octane, guns'n'girls video game formula and gently tossed it aside. In its place comes Himalayan landscapes, Eastern spiritual philosophy, gentle music and stress-level monitors.

It's all in the head

Sound boring? Think it will send you to sleep? Well, that's almost the intention. This game is not meant to excite; progression through it depends on your ability to alter your mental state and calm yourself down at will.

It works through a system called biofeedback - a widely used medical tool that measures involuntary physiological responses (such as heartbeat) to certain conditions - and teaches people to control bodily processes they may have previously thought uncontrollable.

You are monitored while you play through a home-user version of clinically used biofeedback devices.

A set of three rings, worn over the tips of your fingers, attaches to your PC and gauges stress-levels through your galvanic skin responses (changes in electrical resistance) and heart rate.

Your mind and body are, in effect, your joystick. The game consists of a variety of tasks, completion of which requires you to change and maintain your physical and mental state.

For instance, one challenge requires the player to fire an arrow into a target. The position of the bow relies on breathing and heart rate: become too agitated and the bow points skyward; become too relaxed and it points to the ground. Other tasks involve maintaining the altitude of a balloon and increasing the intensity of a virtual fire.

It's all about mood control. And Corwin Bell, the game's creator, believes the techniques people learn through The Journey To Wild Divine can have enormous benefits. 'The breathing exercises are based on ancient Yogi practices,' he says. 'By doing them, you're learning meditative techniques. We've had a lot of people play the game and say they've taken those techniques and used them in their day-to-day lives.'

Skills you can use Dr Bob Whitehouse, an American psychologist who has worked extensively with biofeedback and who was a consultant on the project, agrees the game contains much that can be applied to everyday life.