Bio-Aesthetic Resonance: Design and Evaluation of a Physiological Signal-Driven Immersive Art Therapy System for Personalized Stress Reduction

The escalating prevalence of chronic stress necessitates development of highly personalized non-pharmacological interventions. Traditional art therapy lacks real-time adaptability to match individuals' fluctuating physiological states. This paper introduces the Bio-Aesthetic Resonator (BAR), a novel closed-loop immersive art therapy system driven by real-time physiological feedback. The BAR integrates biosensors for continuous monitoring of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), utilizing deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to dynamically generate immersive visual and auditory artscapes. We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial (pRCT) with 60 participants with mild-moderate anxiety. The BAR intervention significantly reduced perceived stress scores (PSS-10: Cohen's d = 0.65, 95% CI [0.22, 1.08], p = 0.003) and increased high-frequency HRV (HF-HRV: Cohen's d = 0.92, 95% CI [0.48, 1.36], p < 0.001) compared to a sham-adaptive control. These results support bio-aesthetic resonance as a viable framework for personalized digital therapeutics.