SOUL RETREAT: Relax in Nature & Meditate

v0.2.56 is rolling out now with Enhanced 3D, the biggest change to Soul Retreat since launch. Real places are rebuilt from LiDAR scans, so every rock, cliff and slope has its true shape and scale, while the water runs and the leaves move just as they did the day we were there. Real depth, real…

Earlier this June, Ignacio and I spent several intense weeks travelling through the Alps and Pyrenees to capture future Soul Retreat environments. The biggest focus was Switzerland. We found waterfalls, rivers running through forest, calm mountain lakes, and high mountain viewpoints that I cannot…

Update on my prev. review.

Still loving it. I just had a really bad day at work (abusive patient), and i couldn't face home and i don't feel like i want to be anywhere, but also i want to be safe. I was able to be on my own in a room with my headset and get away. A place where I was the only one, but also knowing that I'm safe and not worrying family. I spent 1hr on a beach and end up watching the clouds, felt relax after and have put the bad experience in perspective. I have an idea that I'm hoping the creators might consider. I love rain, or storm. Would that be possible one day? I love the beach and the sun and the night time, but i was also thinking of rain. Thanks again, for making it possible for me to get away and breathe.

24 found this helpful

Even a Non-Meditator Can Relax Here

I’m not usually a meditation person, but Soul Retreat won me over with how real it feels. The environments look like you could step into them, and the nature sounds are so convincing that my brain forgets it’s in a headset and starts behaving like it’s actually near water and open sky. The visuals aren’t just pretty, they’re calming in that quiet, effortless way that makes it easy to just sit there and breathe without feeling like you’re “doing meditation homework.” With Meta’s setting to play an app while lying down, this app has put me to sleep….so relaxing. I also really like the personal touches, especially being able to choose a male or female voice for guidance and switch into story modes when I don’t want straight-up meditation. It makes the experience feel more like a relaxing escape than a strict wellness routine. Even if you’re normally allergic to meditation apps, Soul Retreat’s mix of photoreal scenery, soothing audio, and flexible guidance makes it surprisingly easy to stick around. The app is free so might as well give it a try. If you really really like it and want more of retreating your soul, you can upgrade with two options available: subscription or lifetime purchase; or just keep using the free version.

18 found this helpful

The most photorealistic scenery on quest

Wow what a surprise. The quality of the scenery in the app is best I've seen on quest 3. Not just a static environment but a full real environment that lasts for few minutes not a quick 10 second looping scenery. Have 2 free environments which are great with free one rotating every week. Hope the subscription model doesn't deter people. A environment dlc option instead could be best approach that a lot of other successful apps have used. There are a lot of mediation and stories available in app as well or you can just enjoy the nature sounds and the calming waves crashing on the beach. If you want to showcase the quest 3 to others this is a fantastic that will blow them away. If we had these environments as our home environments on quest would be fantastic. 5⭐

15 found this helpful

Nope

Decided to check this out and I'll first say the lifetime license price is beyond ridiculous. Unless 100+ areas are going to be added, there is no way this would be worth the lifetime price. As for the base app, the quality of the two areas is worse than the photogrammetry that is used in Real VR Fishing as the scenery is fairly blurry, even when increasing the render resolution to 3k vertical per eye which is 40% higher than default. I also can't believe the frame/refresh rate is at 72Hz as though this is for the Quest 2 and not the Quest 3/3s. I checked out the data in the OVR metrics tool and it is barely using the gpu and cpu (set to level 2 for each) so there is no reason why it doesn't default to 90Hz/fps. Same with the render resolution which can be set a lot higher. There is a lot of untapped performance that could and should be getting used here. 72Hz causes eye strain and headaches for some of us in VR so that is why I just shake my head at it being used here. I also didn't care for the apparent AI use for the narration. I heard the female voice mispronounce a simple word.

11 found this helpful

Complete visual and audio immersion

An amazing experience. I’m not really into meditation, but this app made me feel completely immersed, almost like visiting these places in real life. Beautiful atmosphere, natural sounds and deeply relaxing. I highly recommend it to everyone, not just for meditation.

8 found this helpful