Deepak Chopra's Leela, is an extraordinary journey into the self that is scheduled to debut Nov. 8 on Kinect for Xbox 360 and on Wii, blending ancient philosophies with the newest home-entertainment technology.
Breaking the boundaries of what has ever been created for video-game systems, Leela is not a game. It is a one-of-a-kind experience that invokes whole-body movement with meditation and breathing techniques to relax, stretch and control both body and spirit. In Sanskrit, "leela" means "play" - a concept vital to mind-body wellness.
At its foundation is the concept of the Seven Chakras, spiritual energy centers inside every human being. When these ever-spinning Chakras are aligned, the result is greater well-being, opening new avenues of possibility and personal fulfillment. Seven individual stages of Leela focus on these Chakras - each offering successively more challenging experiences. Each area uses a different section of the body, and as each section is mastered, players have a greater understanding of how to bring these energy centers into alignment. There is no traditional winning or losing in Leela, just as there really is no beginning and end - Leela moves at an individual's pace, and its only aim is to instill an inner sense of harmony and accomplishment.
"The medium of interactive video games is enormously rich and filled with creative opportunity that has barely been tapped," says Chopra, who, along with Curious Pictures, spent more than two years conceptualizing Leela. "There are many people who practice yoga and meditation who have video-game systems in their homes, but they rarely use them - but these are powerful devices, capable of creating wonderful experiences. I hope anyone who explores Leela will feel enriched by what we've created."
On Kinect for Xbox 360, Leela also incorporates "Stillness Meditation," an activity that - for the first time ever - utilizes Kinect technology to display a real-time graphical representation of breathing, offering gentle feedback and guidance for a number of deep-breathing exercises.
Each person who experiences Leela will also have an opportunity to create a personalized "mandala," or visual representation of the inner self. No two can possibly be alike, and each one reflects the beauty, nature, senses and imagination of the individual. Three days after its anticipated debut, on Nov. 11 - or 11/11/11 - Leela will add functionality to allow these personal mandalas to be shared with family or friends using Facebook.
Whether experienced for two minutes or two hours at a time, whether utilized once a week or three times a day, Leela is an utterly unique concept that offers an interactive experience available only on video game consoles this fall from THQ and Deepak Chopra.
