Today's comic is a preview of my upcoming graphic novel Little Reaper.
I am working on these between the webcomic and will release covers and other art over the next few Fridays. Now I want to move on to Bilateral Stimulation (BLS), something I've been interested in posting, but it doesn't apply to the comics. BLS is the stimulus presented to both sides of the body and is a crucial element of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). BLS achieved through VR correlates to stress reduction and is an effective treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I've found multiple research articles where they found similar results, but I'll link the most recent one here for now before I go into things.
BLS has been found to occur to varying extents during certain activities like drumming and dancing. These activities require a combination of coordination and timing which results in the two hemispheres of your brain communicating in a way they normally wouldn't. These articles never mention directly which game they are talking about, probably for legal reasons, but it is clearly Beat Saber that they speak of.
Below is a video of me playing Beat Saber on Expert+, the song is The Unseen Ones from Hades.
Beat Saber results in BLS occurring in a way that was not observed with other activities like drumming or dancing alone. The combination of dancing and swinging your arms rhythmically essentially combines the benefits of both drumming and dancing. The effect is also more pronounced than with traditional activities because it requires you to differentiate between two different colored blocks and strike them with the correct hand in the indicated direction, oftentimes requiring you to strike with both hands simultaneously.
In the study I linked, they found significant stress reduction in a small group of subjects. The studies I've looked at so far have all been small, but the theory behind bilateral stimulation has been utilized for some time now during EMDR with devices like light bars. By stimulating both hemispheres simultaneously, you facilitate communication between the logical and emotional sides of your brain. In my personal experience, this is more effective at reducing my stress than exercising alone. This is not a total replacement for therapy or exercise, but something to think of more as something to augment your routine and treat your brain while you're at it.