Projects include a relaxation experience by Pixel Artworks / Pixel Artworks
“One of our guiding principles is founded on the concept of ‘experience as medicine’. How can we create immersive environments that also become therapeutic environments?” says Ramy Elnagar, co-founder of wellness innovation consultancy White Mirror.
The company, which has a creative studio in London and a neuroscience lab in Lisbon, has been involved in many next-level projects focused on technology-driven art, science and music since its formation four years ago. These include producing spatial audio production for Apple Music designed to modulate the nervous system, sensory design for Surrenne, London’s newest wellness club (see p74) and anti-inflammatory soundscapes to enhance Dr Barbara Sturm’s skincare rituals.
The team behind these concepts includes co-founder Tom Middleton, a wellness music pioneer and sleep science coach who’s performed on global stages with stars such as Lady Gaga and Mark Ronson (see p86). Elnagar is a hybrid business strategist with a background in virtual and augmented reality and AI.
Research director Francisco Teixeira is a neurotech consultant who oversees the company’s Portugal-based research lab, where clients can validate their products and services before taking them to market.
Meanwhile, artistic director Arianne Amores focuses on creating stunning visual concepts for brands.
Elnagar had his own tech company before meeting Middleton at a sleep conference. Soon after, the idea for White Mirror was born.
He says: “Tom was performing music but wanted to focus on creating ‘music for purpose’. He’s a very kind soul who’s all about helping people. I was having my own purpose crisis and grappling with how we could create ‘tech for good’. We knew we had to work together.”
Virtual forest bathing With the wellness industry based on putting the human first, it’s fitting that White Mirror’s recent project with Thermengruppe Josef Wund in Germany brings these multisensory levels of technology into the spa environment.
In collaboration with art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and experience designers TheLoveTriangle, White Mirror created Lupuna, an immersive virtual forest bathing experience for Therme Euskirchen near the city of Bonn.
Elnagar says: “Thermengruppe is passionate about bringing science and nature together and studying the effects of the biophilic environment on human wellbeing. They also understand the need to embrace technology to meet the expectations of an evolving wellbeing audience, who want far more than saunas and steamrooms.”
Lupuna, named after the majestic South American tree, takes you through 24 hours of the Amazon rainforest in 24 minutes. Elnagar explains: “You step into a waterfall that opens up as you approach, leading to a room filled with rain. The space features 360-degree surround sound with detailed recordings from the Amazon. Using spatial sound design, you’ll hear everything from the buzz of a mosquito passing close by to raindrops falling.
“Next, you lay down on custom-designed lily pads. Overhead projectors display images ranging from wide-angle shots of towering trees to close-ups of the Queen of the Night, a flower that blooms just before dawn once a year. The space is carefully designed to engage and instil calm without overwhelming the senses.”
Research methods Behind the creation of such multi-layered immersive environments is research that monitors effects like reduced stress, greater relaxation, deeper sleep and enhanced sense of wellbeing.
Elnagar says: “Our lab examines psycho-physiological effects, such as heart rate, breathing patterns, brain activity, emotional arousal and galvanic skin response while the experience is happening. We also monitor how people feel before and after, using biometrics as well as pre- and post-questionnaires.”
White Mirror also recently facilitated a relationship between Thermengruppe Josef Wund and the International Arts and Minds Lab (IAMLAB) neuroaesthetics team at Johns Hopkins University in the US. This has resulted in ongoing research looking at what it is about light, sound and vibrations that make us feel good. The findings are due to be published by the end of this year, explains Elnagar.
“From this, we hope to develop a sensory playbook to share across industries,” he adds, “to help us all deliver more intentional wellness-orientated spaces.”
Awe-inducing experiences One thing that the wider wellness community, including spas and gyms, has seen since the isolation of lockdown is people’s increased desire for more meaningful social engagements, which is something that White Mirror’s work seeks to address.
Elnagar says: “We look at how we can use art, science and music to open people up so that they can feel more and become healthier as a result.
Part of that, he says, is creating wondrous experiences. “We’re in the business of creating awe. Awe is what makes us feel so small when faced with the spectacles of nature, like witnessing the Aurora Borealis.”
Research shows that experiencing awe can have profound mental and physical health benefits – reducing stress, enhancing wellbeing and even improving immune function. “To achieve that [awe], we need to perfect our sensory tools,” says Elnagar. “Take spatial sound, for example. As humans, we listen in the spatial sense, not stereo or mono and we feel present when we hear that in that natural way. Our brains don’t have to work to decode anything.”
Spatial sound can change our behaviour, he explains, making us feel calmer and less stressed, so it can have many applications for wellness. Elnagar sees it as being particularly useful in creating mood-enhancing sensory points in so-called dead areas, such as corridors and bathrooms.
With a growing tech toolkit of sensory approaches, which expand into areas such as aromachology, vibro-acoustics and photo-biomodulation, he’s hopeful that White Mirror’s projects will become ever-more impactful in the future.
Tom Middleton on audio-therapeutics
Middleton is an award-winning composer and former DJ / photo: Enes Alili
White Mirror co-founder Tom Middleton, who’s working towards a masters in the neuroscience of music, tells Spa Business: “Throughout my early career, I observed the health benefits of music beyond entertainment. If intentionally designed, it can be functional, therapeutic and transformational.
“For example, audio-hypnotics can help people sleep, audio-analgesics are for pain mitigation and audio-anxiolytics reduce anxiety, while audio-nootropics are intended to enhance performance, focus and flow.”
The concept of salutogenic design, which focuses on health-promoting results, really resonates with Middleton. “We can design music and sensory experiences with both an intention and outcome in mind and working closely with researchers, we can measure and improve the effects.”
He highlights the expansion of the field, pointing out that over 25,000 papers have been published on it over the past 40 years. “This demonstrates the significant potential of sound and music in improving human health,” he says, citing Einstein’s belief that the medicine of the future will be frequency-based.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
Projects include a relaxation experience by Pixel Artworks / Pixel Artworks
“One of our guiding principles is founded on the concept of ‘experience as medicine’. How can we create immersive environments that also become therapeutic environments?” says Ramy Elnagar, co-founder of wellness innovation consultancy White Mirror.
The company, which has a creative studio in London and a neuroscience lab in Lisbon, has been involved in many next-level projects focused on technology-driven art, science and music since its formation four years ago. These include producing spatial audio production for Apple Music designed to modulate the nervous system, sensory design for Surrenne, London’s newest wellness club (see p74) and anti-inflammatory soundscapes to enhance Dr Barbara Sturm’s skincare rituals.
The team behind these concepts includes co-founder Tom Middleton, a wellness music pioneer and sleep science coach who’s performed on global stages with stars such as Lady Gaga and Mark Ronson (see p86). Elnagar is a hybrid business strategist with a background in virtual and augmented reality and AI.
Research director Francisco Teixeira is a neurotech consultant who oversees the company’s Portugal-based research lab, where clients can validate their products and services before taking them to market.
Meanwhile, artistic director Arianne Amores focuses on creating stunning visual concepts for brands.
Elnagar had his own tech company before meeting Middleton at a sleep conference. Soon after, the idea for White Mirror was born.
He says: “Tom was performing music but wanted to focus on creating ‘music for purpose’. He’s a very kind soul who’s all about helping people. I was having my own purpose crisis and grappling with how we could create ‘tech for good’. We knew we had to work together.”
Virtual forest bathing With the wellness industry based on putting the human first, it’s fitting that White Mirror’s recent project with Thermengruppe Josef Wund in Germany brings these multisensory levels of technology into the spa environment.
In collaboration with art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and experience designers TheLoveTriangle, White Mirror created Lupuna, an immersive virtual forest bathing experience for Therme Euskirchen near the city of Bonn.
Elnagar says: “Thermengruppe is passionate about bringing science and nature together and studying the effects of the biophilic environment on human wellbeing. They also understand the need to embrace technology to meet the expectations of an evolving wellbeing audience, who want far more than saunas and steamrooms.”
Lupuna, named after the majestic South American tree, takes you through 24 hours of the Amazon rainforest in 24 minutes. Elnagar explains: “You step into a waterfall that opens up as you approach, leading to a room filled with rain. The space features 360-degree surround sound with detailed recordings from the Amazon. Using spatial sound design, you’ll hear everything from the buzz of a mosquito passing close by to raindrops falling.
“Next, you lay down on custom-designed lily pads. Overhead projectors display images ranging from wide-angle shots of towering trees to close-ups of the Queen of the Night, a flower that blooms just before dawn once a year. The space is carefully designed to engage and instil calm without overwhelming the senses.”
Research methods Behind the creation of such multi-layered immersive environments is research that monitors effects like reduced stress, greater relaxation, deeper sleep and enhanced sense of wellbeing.
Elnagar says: “Our lab examines psycho-physiological effects, such as heart rate, breathing patterns, brain activity, emotional arousal and galvanic skin response while the experience is happening. We also monitor how people feel before and after, using biometrics as well as pre- and post-questionnaires.”
White Mirror also recently facilitated a relationship between Thermengruppe Josef Wund and the International Arts and Minds Lab (IAMLAB) neuroaesthetics team at Johns Hopkins University in the US. This has resulted in ongoing research looking at what it is about light, sound and vibrations that make us feel good. The findings are due to be published by the end of this year, explains Elnagar.
“From this, we hope to develop a sensory playbook to share across industries,” he adds, “to help us all deliver more intentional wellness-orientated spaces.”
Awe-inducing experiences One thing that the wider wellness community, including spas and gyms, has seen since the isolation of lockdown is people’s increased desire for more meaningful social engagements, which is something that White Mirror’s work seeks to address.
Elnagar says: “We look at how we can use art, science and music to open people up so that they can feel more and become healthier as a result.
Part of that, he says, is creating wondrous experiences. “We’re in the business of creating awe. Awe is what makes us feel so small when faced with the spectacles of nature, like witnessing the Aurora Borealis.”
Research shows that experiencing awe can have profound mental and physical health benefits – reducing stress, enhancing wellbeing and even improving immune function. “To achieve that [awe], we need to perfect our sensory tools,” says Elnagar. “Take spatial sound, for example. As humans, we listen in the spatial sense, not stereo or mono and we feel present when we hear that in that natural way. Our brains don’t have to work to decode anything.”
Spatial sound can change our behaviour, he explains, making us feel calmer and less stressed, so it can have many applications for wellness. Elnagar sees it as being particularly useful in creating mood-enhancing sensory points in so-called dead areas, such as corridors and bathrooms.
With a growing tech toolkit of sensory approaches, which expand into areas such as aromachology, vibro-acoustics and photo-biomodulation, he’s hopeful that White Mirror’s projects will become ever-more impactful in the future.
Tom Middleton on audio-therapeutics
Middleton is an award-winning composer and former DJ / photo: Enes Alili
White Mirror co-founder Tom Middleton, who’s working towards a masters in the neuroscience of music, tells Spa Business: “Throughout my early career, I observed the health benefits of music beyond entertainment. If intentionally designed, it can be functional, therapeutic and transformational.
“For example, audio-hypnotics can help people sleep, audio-analgesics are for pain mitigation and audio-anxiolytics reduce anxiety, while audio-nootropics are intended to enhance performance, focus and flow.”
The concept of salutogenic design, which focuses on health-promoting results, really resonates with Middleton. “We can design music and sensory experiences with both an intention and outcome in mind and working closely with researchers, we can measure and improve the effects.”
He highlights the expansion of the field, pointing out that over 25,000 papers have been published on it over the past 40 years. “This demonstrates the significant potential of sound and music in improving human health,” he says, citing Einstein’s belief that the medicine of the future will be frequency-based.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
View contents of Spa Business 2024 issue 3
Editor's letter: At a crossroads
As the UK prepares to host this year's Global Wellness Summit, fresh research shows its wellness industry must address a number of issues if it's to maintain levels of unprecedented growth
Spa People: Charlotte Church
The Welsh singer talks about how growing up in the media spotlight has influenced The Dreaming, her healing retreat business
Spa People: Julia Bradbury
Leading a series of Walk Yourself Happy retreats based on her best-selling book and years of TV presenting
Spa People: Samantha Dunn
Shaking up the industry with her new, affordable DIY consultancy programme for entrepreneurs
News report: Big spenders
Finn Partners’ latest research shows how China’s high-net-worth women are redefining luxury travel
News report: Step back in time
Two new GWI reports analyse the growth of the global spa and hot springs markets over the past 10 to 15 years
Interview: Dillip Rajakarier
Following a 450 per cent increase in core revenues, Minor Hotels is planning 200 more properties. Megan Whitby sits down with its CEO
New opening: Kintsugi Space
Patrizia Bortolin talks to Lisa Starr about creating a transformative women-only sanctuary in Abu Dhabi
Research: To inform and inspire
The UK Spa Association has conducted its first survey of spa businesses in the country for 18 years. GM Bobby Griffiths unveils the numbers
Research: From wellness to wellbeing
A new study uncovers four wellness consumer market segments ripe for innovation. WELLSurvey co-author Kevin Kelly reveals the findings in a Spa Business exclusive
First person: To the source
Jane Kitchen takes to the sulphurous waters of Terme di Saturnia in Italy and shares details about its exciting upcoming sister site in Milan
Promotion: L'OCCITANE en Provence – the art of recovery
With an approach to wellbeing that’s both holistic and grounded in science, the latest massage from L’OCCITANE en Provence promises to have a powerfully-beneficial effect on customers, both in the spa and at home
New opening: Surrenne at The Emory
The £15k memberships at this wellness club in London sold out in just weeks. Creator Inge Theron tells us why
First person: Playful wellness
A Stella McCartney facial and Tracy Anderson studio are just two USPs Megan Whitby finds at Surrenne
Promotion: TechnoAlpin – naturally cool design
TechnoAlpin’s snow technology is not only an effective way to introduce gentle cold therapy into the spa environment, it’s also a powerful biophilic design element that can bring the wonder of nature indoors
Promotion: Biologique Recherche – potent partnership
A new anti-senescence serum from Biologique Recherche offers transformative results and raises the bar in anti-ageing skincare when combined with its iconic collagen formula
Promotion: Comfort Zone – A longer life for skin
Created to combat the visible signs of ageing, Comfort Zone’s latest range revamp is based on the company’s pioneering research into cutaneous cellular longevity
Promotion: G.M. COLLIN – Clinical excellence in skincare
With laboratories based in Montreal, G.M. Collin’s highly researched derma-corrective treatments have been helping skincare professionals deliver exceptional and exclusive results worldwide for many decades. We talk to VP Myriam Sayer
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
LVMH-owned beauty house Guerlain will launch up to five spas with partners a year as part of
its plan to expand globally, according to the brand’s international spa and wellness director,
Diane Davody.
A new global study by Kevin Kelly and Peter Yesawich, called WELLSurvey 2.0, has revealed
more than half of consumers in the UK, US and Germany would not choose numerous high-
profile wellness resort brands for a future trip.
Luxury hospitality and wellness pioneer Jeremy McCarthy has launched Leisure Alchemy, a
digital platform that will provide professionals with strategic guidance on how to build
transformational leisure experiences that drive profit.
