sensory room

sensory therapy is a field that has only existed since the 1960s – an attempt to provide calming therapy to people suffering from many kinds of anxiety, related to learning disabilities, hyperactivity, depression, autism, dementia, sleep disorders – you name it. it seeks to provide balanced stimulus of the senses to ground the mind. recently, sensory therapy has reached a wider audience because of studies showing it increases happiness, reduces stress and improves positive behaviors while reducing panic and anxiety. this year the massachusetts department of mental health announced the restraint/seclusion reduction initiative which seeks to make inpatient psychiatric treatment more humane by incorporating sensory therapy – among others – as a way to reduce containment, isolation and medication by providing enriching sensory experience. for artists and architects it seems this has always been the case, but finally empirical evidence shows that careful design of our sensory environment has measurable impact on our health and happiness – like this fiberoptic waterfall that generates soothing light patterns and is soft and warm to the touch (pictured).