Marbl - the idea we shared with Meta and was shortlisted for Cannes Lions 2023

My partner Brett Pfefferman (USA Copywriter) and I (Mx Sr. Art Director) signed up for the competition representing Media.Monks agency in the Innovation category. We were selected in the shortlist next to 10 other teams and after competing with almost 200 participants. This is the complete idea we create!

The brief: VR for Good

Virtual Reality promises to transport users into new experiences, far-off places – even new worlds. Unfortunately, this impact just isn’t getting enough clout, because many still see it as a gaming device.

Our challenge was to get Gen Z excited about the potential of VR as a vehicle for change. Through innovative technology, we have to promote VR’s ability to deepen our understanding of ourselves and each other and move the needle for topics like mental health, medicine, safety, or social justice.

The insight we find...

Thinking about how to help the Meta users, we decide to focus our idea on mental health based on this fact:

Gen Z is called the most anxious and depressive generation in history.*

The anxiety is affecting not only Gen Z people, affects all of us. We also have our music playlist with calm and natural sounds, we used to hear ASMR videos, and we have a lot of different apps on our mobiles with strange games that relax us.

Based on those facts we had that EUREKA! idea - What if we use all the technology we already have and mix them in a VR environment to have all-in-one?

The idea

We’ve already been watching and listening to different technologies to try to relieve symptoms. But, when we’re dealing with anxiety, it alters our whole reality.

So, we designed Marbl – the first fully tech-immersive VR headset that offers powerful experiences, built to relieve anxiety, and to make you not lose your marbles!

By offering a VR experience that’s more personal, effective, accessible, and stimulating compared to other anxiety-reducing methods, we can provide a solution that helps users take more control over their lives and feel better.

Marbl’s friendly UX design makes immersive experiences (approved by medical experts) super easy to navigate and explore.

Just choose from any of the available journeys and do things like be in the forest, gaze at the stars beside a campfire, and breathe/stretch on the beach.

Oh, and don’t forget to use Ami along the way…

Meet Ami!

Ami is Marbl’s Ai-generated avatar, previously developed with the help of psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical experts, that can quickly find the perfect experience and detect anxious behavior so users can explore, relax, or do anything that helps calm anxiety right away.

Ami can detect breathing levels, and heart rate by connecting your smartwatch with your Quest Pro, and offer more personalized assistance if needed.

Giving users the power to have better control over their mental health and improve their overall quality of life starts today.

Thanks to existing Ai and VR technology, Marbl is just the beginning of how we can improve the future of mental health.

The result

We participated in this competition together with thousands of creative minds, including some of the most important artists, designers, copywriters, and friends around the world, and we were so proud to be shortlisted in this huge competition. Cannes and Meta shared with us a certificate to thank us for our work in this campaign and we were excited to receive it. The winner in this category was really awesome, so that encourages me to do better work next year!