Where Art Meets Well-Being: ELARA 0.1 Debuts at the Fine Arts Center Reopening

When the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Center reopens on April 16 after a $38 million restoration, visitors will get a glimpse of what happens when art, business and technology come together in the name of well-being. 

The Technology Empowered Storytelling Lab, or TESL, in the School of Art and the Sam M. Walton College of Business joined forces to create ELARA 0.1, a virtual-reality prototype designed to support emotional regulation. The School of Art is housed within the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. 

Moving away from conventional "calm VR" nature scenes, ELARA 0.1 takes a different approach. Instead of placing users in a passive landscape, the experience drops them into an interactive, art-driven environment where gradual color shifts and abstract visual elements respond to their choices, introducing a sense of control and agency. 

The interdisciplinary team of artists, designers and technology experts will be in the Fine Arts Center lobby all day demonstrating the experience and collecting user feedback and data to help refine future iterations of the project. 

"We're proud to support this exciting and important interdisciplinary work, which demonstrates how creative practice can expand our understanding of technology and well-being, opening new possibilities at their intersection," said Marty Maxwell Lane, associate director of the School of Art and associate professor of graphic design. 

"ELARA is a respite from the often stress-inducing chaos of the typical waiting room. This interactive experience gives the patient space and permission to ground themselves in a tranquil world of shape and color before crossing the threshold into the doctor's office," said graduate student Samantha Wischmeyer, who is the prototype developer. 

ELARA 0.1 is part of an ongoing research initiative exploring how visual storytelling, interactivity and biometric feedback can support well-being in high-stress environments, with particular attention to hospital waiting rooms and clinical spaces. Future iterations will incorporate biometric data to create adaptive environments that respond to a user's internal state. 

"ELARA isn't about placing users in a pre-designed calming scene. We're reducing the environment to fundamental visual elements, including color, light and form, to understand what actually contributes to emotional regulation and what doesn't. This prototype is a first step toward working with curated collections, such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and exploring how these adaptive environments could be integrated into clinical settings like medical waiting rooms," said Nadia Issa, teaching assistant professor of graphic design and founder and director of TESL. 

The project's research and theoretical framework are led by Tamara Roth and Zach Steelan, both assistant professors of information systems in the Walton College, with concept and art direction by Issa, alongside support from the School of Art Creativity and Wellness Fellowship. 

About the Technology Empowered Storytelling Lab: The Technology Empowered Storytelling Lab, or TESL, at the University of Arkansas School of Art explores how emerging technologies shape the stories we tell and who gets to tell them. TESL connects students, faculty and community partners to experiment with AI, AR/VR and other digital tools that expand creative expression and cultural understanding, advancing inclusive access to storytelling technologies and preserving non-dominant narratives through research, mentorship and collaboration. Follow TESL on Instagram at @tesl.lab to see current projects and upcoming events.