Stressed out? Put on your headphones, press play on this video, and expand it to full screen. Project JDM created this digital music box that plays notes as its dots bounce back and forth along rainbow-colored arcs. As the hypnotic visual patterns evolve, so do the soothing sounds, panning from ear to ear.
Need to unwind your mind? The Wryfield Lab YouTube channel is filled with soothing visuals and soundscapes. Among their collection is this reverse video of tomatoes being sliced, resulting in the illusion that they’re being reassembled. They also unsliced some kiwi and paprika, as well as unpeeled a grapefruit.
Need help relaxing your mind? This video from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is sure to soothe any tensions. It features 12 straight hours of colorful Pacific fishes, soft corals, and anemones from the aquarium’s Splash Zone. It also brings back memories of the old After Dark screensaver.
Artist Reuben Margolin creates kinetic sculptures inspired by nature and math. For his work Caterpillar and Woodpile, he created an articulated robot that moves like a caterpillar and programmed it to climb a woodpile in the shape of a polynomial spline. The machine’s slow crawl is so relaxing to watch.
This tabletop projector transforms any darkened room into the Arctic, with an entrancing light show inspired by the Aurora Borealis. It uses a bright direct-diode laser and specialized glass optics to project abstract patterns in blues, greens, and purples. They also sell a bundle version that includes their star projector.
Feeling stressed or anxious? There’s nothing quite so calming as the sound of a rain shower. To help us unwind our minds, UK designer Jez Burrows put together a compilation of soothing rain sounds captured entirely from video games. Since this clip is titled “Part I,” we imagine a follow-up will appear at some point.
Designer Yuki Kawae shared this soothing and relaxing video of patterns he created in his coffee table zen garden. With a slow and steady hand, Kawae used rakes of various sizes and spacing to achieve a number of intriguing and hypnotic geometric patterns.
myNoise is a wonderful website where you can customize ambient sounds. Use its EQ sliders to finetune over 250 soundscapes for relaxation, meditation, or just to provide a calm background for your workday. Sounds can be bookmarked, played in a mini-player, or purchased as a downloadable MP3 file.
Model maker asu_green11 built this wonderful living diorama which replicates the look of a bamboo forest. In addition to its greenery, it features a pump and a water diffuser grid which produce rain for the miniature scene. It took several tries to get the rain just right, but the finished effect is delightful.
The objective of PowerWash Simulator is simple – grab your pressurized water cannon, and start washing away dirt and grime. This wonderfully soothing sim is a great way to decrease stress without getting water all over the place. It’s coming soon to Steam, but in the mean time, play the demo version of the game.
TheCrafsMan SteadyCraftin is known as much for his soothing voice as he is for his crafting skills. He also posted a short video to help you manage your anxiety through a simple and methodical breathing technique. Memorize and use it any time you’re feeling stressed. (Thanks Rob!)
A fan of woodworker Mr. Zhou sent him a block of colorful material and requested that he use it to carve a chess piece. The process of turning the piece on the lathe is quite satisfying, especially watching the shavings as they go flying. The block appears to be wood that’s been infused with pigments, but we’re not sure.
This unique, illuminated wall art helps create a calm and relaxing environment. It features a multi-layered geometric design laser-cut from thin sheets of wood fiberboard. The colorful LED edge lighting really makes the patterns pop, and can be set to change colors. Available in 23.2″ H x 19.3″ W and 26.4″ H x 23.2″ W sizes.
Do you love Pokémon? Then put on your headphones and crank up the volume for an immersive audio session with Pikachu. The adorable, electrically-charged pocket monster romps around the living room, fills our ears with adorable noises for 15 minutes, and eventually doses off.
For some people, white noise helps you relax, while others prefer the sound of a rainstorm. But if you’re like us, that rain is accompanied by the sounds of the Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis. This 8-hour track made by Cole Phelps offers the perfect ambient background for unwinding your mind and releasing your tension.
If you enjoyed Maths Town’s hypnotic fractal zoom video, here’s another one with a very different aesthetic. Rather than filling our eyeballs with vibrant colors, this one is filled with soothing mathematical structures dipped in shiny gold.
Marble fanatic Jelle Bakker poured a stream of thousands tiny marbles, bearings, and other spheres into a giant hyperbolic funnel, creating an oddly soothing and hypnotic video that’s perfect for clearing your mind of clutter. Not enough marbles for you? Here ya go.
We can think of few more relaxing ways to spend a day than floating on a quiet lake, or in a lazy hammock. The MelloShip combines both of these “activities” into one. Lie back, relax, and steer the solar-powered vessel via remote control. Holds two hammocks, so bring a friend!
