The Healing Power of Abstract Art and Multisensory Technology: What the Research Says
- Dr Lydia C Saiz
- Jul 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 27
In an increasingly complex and fast-paced world, stress and emotional overwhelm are common challenges. A growing body of global research is showing that creative practices, particularly abstract art and multisensory approaches, can play a powerful role in supporting emotional wellbeing.
When combined with emerging technologies like AI, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR), these interventions offer exciting possibilities for personalised, accessible mental health support across a wide range of settings.
Why Abstract Art?
Unlike representational art, abstract art focuses on form, colour, texture, and movement rather than literal images. This allows individuals to express emotions that are hard to put into words or too intense to confront directly. Studies with high school students, trauma survivors, and veterans show that abstract art can help reduce stress, ease anxiety, and support emotional expression in a safe and non-verbal way.
One U.S. study found that high school students experiencing academic pressure reported a significant reduction in stress after engaging in guided abstract painting sessions. In trauma-informed care, abstract mark-making is often used to externalise emotions such as fear or anger without triggering detailed memories. This non-literal mode of expression makes abstract art an especially accessible and flexible tool across clinical and non-clinical settings.
The Role of Multisensory Environments
Multisensory art experiences, those that incorporate touch, sound, sight, and sometimes even smell, can deepen emotional engagement and promote stress relief. For example, in Australia, a university created a sensory-art room filled with calming visuals, textures, and sounds. Visitors reported decreased negative mood, improved positive affect, and lower stress levels after just one visit.
In Macau, a tile-making workshop that engaged participants in both tactile and visual processes led to increased wellbeing and emotional regulation. The combination of hands-on craft and creative expression appeared to guide people through a full emotional journey, from initial anxiety to focused engagement, and finally, joy and pride in their finished work.
Multisensory approaches are especially effective for children and neurodivergent individuals who may struggle to express themselves verbally. Tailoring art-based experiences to personal sensory preferences, using specific textures, light, sound, or even digital tools, can make a therapeutic session more inclusive and impactful.
Technology Meets Creativity: AI, AR, and VR
Technological advances are expanding what’s possible in the space of creative mental health interventions:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used to generate images based on emotional input from users. For example, someone might describe their feelings in words, and an AI tool creates an abstract artwork in response. While not as effective as hands-on art-making, AI can offer new forms of emotional reflection and may be particularly useful for individuals who lack confidence in their artistic skills.
Augmented Reality (AR) allows individuals to overlay digital elements onto the physical world, adding layers of meaning to their creations. In emerging therapy applications, AR can help people visualise emotions in their environment, engage more deeply with their own artwork, or interact with metaphors and prompts in real time.
Virtual Reality (VR) shows some of the most promising results. Studies comparing traditional art-making with immersive VR painting or sculpting found that both reduce anxiety and promote a sense of flow. VR allows for full-body creative engagement, painting in space, walking around your artwork, and using exaggerated gestures to express emotion. For some people, especially tech-savvy youth or remote users, VR can be a highly effective and engaging platform for self-expression and stress relief.
In educational and wellness settings, VR is now being used to help students cope with academic stress, to support autistic individuals in building communication skills, and to offer immersive art therapy for veterans and other adults recovering from trauma.
Who Benefits?
Students experience relief from academic pressure through abstract painting and digital art-making.
Veterans report improved coping when combining traditional therapy with creative expression, including in virtual settings.
Children and adolescents, especially those with social-emotional challenges or neurodiversity, often respond well to sensory-rich, visual modes of expression.
Older adults show reduced anxiety in programs that blend mindfulness, AI-generated visuals, and calming audio.
General public users, from university campuses to art workshop participants, report enhanced wellbeing after even brief creative and sensory experiences.
Takeaways
This growing body of research offers strong support for integrating art, sensory engagement, and emerging technology into mental health and wellness programs. Key themes include:
Abstract art lowers barriers to expression and helps people access and process emotions.
Multisensory environments amplify the therapeutic effect, engaging the body and nervous system as well as the mind.
Technologies like AI, AR, and VR can enhance creativity, personalise experiences, and offer accessible formats for therapy and self-care.
These approaches are effective across diverse populations - from children to retirees -and adaptable to various cultural, social, and therapeutic contexts.
Whether delivered in schools, clinics, community centres, or digitally, these methods offer meaningful, human-centred ways to address stress and build emotional resilience.
For practitioners, artists, and educators alike, the evidence suggests that blending art and technology could be a powerful direction for the future of wellbeing.
Download the full research summary here:
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