Ancient Ritual Arc Connected Sauna

Many people today are stressed out, can’t sleep, and worry too much. Saunas are a known way to mitigate that stress, but existing saunas are flawed and limited. They are huge, don’t fit inside a home, and are ugly and uncomfortable. They also only offer heat. We saw an opportunity to create a compact in-home sauna-like experience that went way beyond, by including useful (and wonderful) features such as relaxing lighting effects, soft music, advanced machine-learning controls, superior heating technology, and plug-and-play installation. Our goal was to create the ultimate health experience for both mind and body.

One of the most challenging aspects of the design was making it compact enough to fit in a home while not feeling claustrophobic. Once the maximum footprint was established, we looked at how other senses could be engaged through touch, heat, sound, and visuals so that the sauna would feel comfortable without feeling confining. We experimented with many lighting effects, primarily light curtain projection techniques. We explored every light variable including intensity, color, direction, form and focus. The result is a magical shimmering effect like the northern lights, which was very appropriate considering most saunas are in Finland!

In a world driven by intense productivity, people are overworked and overwhelmed. Arc provides a means to achieve your deepest states of well-being through experiential therapy. Societal wellness is a result of individual wellness, and the infrared sauna is one of the most powerful health tools that exists in the modern age. Responsibly made, Arc uses FSC-certified white oak and Japanese hinoki wood sourced from a responsibly managed forest. Because Arc is small, and local to your home instead of driving to a sauna, it uses far less energy than conventional saunas. It runs off a standard 120 volt plug.

Arc was designed during the pandemic, which worked to the team’s benefit - it allowed us to go inward, finding stillness and solitude amidst uncertain times. Saunas have existed for many centuries in northern Europe and Asia so there was a lot of knowledge to draw from. Since our intention was to reinvent the sauna and make it more sensory rich, the historical references only took us so far. We wanted to respect some traditional elements that still apply, like the use of wood, while creating something future-focused and entirely new. Nature was our first inspiration, especially sunrises and sunsets, and the endless song of the natural world. We were also inspired by traditional Japanese inns that feature low light, tatami floors, cedar tubs and zen gardens. Similarly, massage culture inspired us, particularly the recumbent posture and gentle music. We realized that it would not be easy to simulate these inspirations inside a small chamber without technology, so we pulled inspiration from movie special effects, VR tech, art lighting, and the latest heating technology. Throughout the project we kept ringing these inspiration bells to make sure we stayed true to our lofty objective of reinventing the personal sauna.