A Digital Zen Garden for Mental Health Conditions Treatment.

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the severity and prevalence of symptoms of psychological distress, fatigue, brain fog, and other conditions have increased considerably, including among people who have not been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Many studies summarize the effect of the pandemic on the availability of mental health services and how this has changed during the pandemic. Concerned that potential increases in mental health conditions, had already prompted 90% of countries surveyed to include mental health and psychosocial support in their post COVID-19 response plans, but major gaps and concerns remain. In this paper we developed a de-stress proposal through a digital zen garden by using an augmented reality sandbox. The system provides patients with flexible interaction and easy control of the scenario, while making real time data recording. Three evaluation methods were developed to review the effectiveness of the therapy. According to the evaluation results of patients’ training, the system is a low cost entertainment tool that augments patients’ motivation, and helps to increase the effectiveness of therapy.