How Texture and Colour-Shift Illusions Can Support Mental Wellbeing

In an increasingly overstimulated world, finding ways to gently regulate the nervous system is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. At Arbibo, we explore the intersection of art, neuroscience, and sensory therapy to create multisensory artworks designed to promote calm and restore balance.

Our pieces go beyond aesthetics: they are crafted as tactile and visual experiences that engage the brain’s natural pathways for emotional regulation.

Calming by Touch: The Role of Texture in Regulating the Nervous System

Research in neuroscience and occupational therapy confirms that textured surfaces can profoundly influence emotional states. Specifically, predictable, rhythmic, or gradually shifting textures - such as soft ridges, horizontal lines, or smooth undulations - can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing cortisol and promoting relaxation (Chen et al., 2013).

Some textures, particularly those designed for bilateral engagement (where both hands interact with slightly different but complementary sensations), stimulate cross-hemispheric processing, a mechanism used in therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This technique helps individuals move from a state of heightened emotional arousal to calm by facilitating integration between the brain's emotional and rational centers (Shapiro, 2001; Pagani et al., 2017).

Inspired by this, Arbibo’s artworks include textured lines and patterns that are meant to be traced with both hands, inviting the viewer into a mindful, embodied state where tactile awareness supports emotional grounding.

Visual Calm: Colour-Shift Illusions and Bilateral Visual Engagement

In addition to tactile interaction, Arbibo artworks incorporate colour-shifting pigments and gradients that change subtly depending on the viewer’s position. These illusions are more than visual tricks, they’re neurologically meaningful.

Observing bilateral visual patterns - symmetrical gradients, flowing lines, or mirrored colour transitions - can engage both hemispheres of the brain, similarly to how bilateral tactile input works. This gentle stimulation encourages a meditative state, reduces mental noise, and draws attention away from ruminative thinking (Maxfield, Melnyk, & Hayman, 2008).

Moreover, the dynamic-yet-slow changes in colour act as a form of visual grounding, holding the viewer’s attention in a state of present-moment awareness; akin to the effects seen in mindfulness and visual meditation practices (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).

Multisensory Integration for Mental Health

Combining tactile stimulation, visual illusions, and calming sensory cues (such as scent or sound) activates multiple sensory pathways simultaneously, enhancing the effects on mood and cognition. This is known as multisensory integration, a process shown to enhance focus, emotional regulation, and a sense of safety (Stein & Stanford, 2008; Serino et al., 2017).

Emerging studies in art therapy and somatic psychology suggest that multisensory experiences can:

• Reduce anxiety and agitation

• Support trauma recovery through embodied awareness

• Increase emotional resilience by strengthening sensory-cognitive connections (Kaimal et al., 2016; Malchiodi, 2015)

By engaging with Arbibo artworks, users are invited into a soothing, interactive experience where touch becomes a tool for self-regulation, and sight becomes a gateway to calm.

Art You Can Feel, Calm You Can Keep

Arbibo’s mission is to create art that supports wellbeing, not just through what you see, but through what you feel. Our multisensory pieces offer a gentle, evidence-based way to bring nervous system regulation into daily life.

Whether in therapy spaces, wellness environments, or homes, Arbibo artworks are designed to calm the mind by engaging the senses with intention.

References

• Chen, H.-Y., Yang, H., Chi, H.-J., & Chen, H.-M. (2013). Physiological effects of deep touch pressure on anxiety alleviation: The weighted blanket approach. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 29(1), 65–78.

• Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants’ responses following art making. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 33(2), 74–80.

• Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156.

• Malchiodi, C. A. (2015). Art Therapy and the Neuroscience of Relationships, Creativity, and Resiliency. Guilford Press.

• Maxfield, L., Melnyk, W. T., & Hayman, G. C. (2008). A working memory explanation for the effects of eye movements in EMDR. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 2(4), 247–261.

• Pagani, M., Di Lorenzo, G., Verardo, A. R., Nicolais, G., Monaco, L., Lauretti, G., ... & Siracusano, A. (2017). Neurobiological correlates of EMDR monitoring – An EEG study. PLoS One, 12(9), e0184386.

• Serino, A., Alsmith, A., Costantini, M., Mandrigin, A., Tajadura-Jiménez, A., & Tsakiris, M. (2017). Bodily ownership and self-location: Components of bodily self-consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition, 48, 134–146.

• Shapiro, F. (2001). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. Guilford Press.

• Stein, B. E., & Stanford, T. R. (2008). Multisensory integration: current issues from the perspective of the single neuron. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(4), 255–266.