“I had them on in the background very often, and I used them to meditate as well, to just shut everything down around me and bring myself into a calm space,” she said. (Hypermediacy can be defined as the act of viewing, consuming or interacting with multiple forms of media at once.) Paradoxically, a person has to wade through YouTube’s buffet of suggested videos just to locate an ambience video that will shut out the world. “You know what’s going to happen, and it’s predictable in a very safe and soothing way.”Īmbience videos provide a respite from the “ hypermediacy” of the internet, she said - a break from the constant bombardment of ads and emails and the self-inflicted burden of dozens of open browser tabs. There’s no narrative you have to keep up with in order to be a part of it,” Ms. “As soon as you have entered this universe, you don’t have to give it any more thought. Helle Breth Klausen, a doctoral student at Aarhus University in Denmark who researches digital media, including A.S.M.R., classifies ambience videos as a kind of “self-medicating media.” (She also includes in that category Spotify playlists of soothing sounds and meditation apps like Headspace and Calm.) “I leave all of my thoughts outside my bedroom door, turn on my ASMR Room, get in bed and read, and completely lose myself in a different world,” she said.

Relaxing scenery