At dozens of Air Force installations, a sleek, futuristic cube is drawing service members into a different kind of mission—one focused not on combat or readiness, but on calm. Dubbed the Lumena Mindgym, this mirrored relaxation pod looks more like something from a sci-fi film than a military base, complete with galaxy projections and strobing lights.
And while it may seem flashy, it’s fast becoming one of the most talked-about tools for improving the mental health and resilience of U.S. airmen.
The Air Force has already installed over two dozen of these therapeutic pods across base gyms and support centers, each with a price tag of about $100,000. The first international installations took place this year in Kuwait and Turkey. Despite its cost, the growing list of advocates across the military sees the Mindgym as a surprisingly effective tool for helping stressed troops decompress.
“It’s like a flight simulator for your mind,” said Jannell MacAulay, a former Air Force pilot and human performance expert, who helped develop the curriculum tailored for airmen.
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MacAulay has become a leading voice in championing the technology after being introduced to it through the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
The Mindgym wasn't originally built with the military in mind. In fact, Lumena, the company behind the cube, was showcasing the product at a sports tradeshow in Colorado in 2019 when AFRL’s Adam Strang came across it.
Strang, who serves as the Biotechnology Product Line Lead at AFRL, saw potential in the technology and connected the company with MacAulay.
By 2022, a seed grant helped launch the first official installation at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. There, explosive ordnance disposal airmen from the 775th Civil Engineering Squadron became the first to test the Mindgym in a military setting. The results were striking.
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According to Lumena, 55 airmen completed 219 twenty-minute sessions in the cube. The group self-reported a 30% improvement in mood, while biofeedback showed a 16.2% reduction in stress. Over 60% of users reported better stress management, and 15% noted improved sleep.
More anecdotally, users reported better focus during promotion exams, fewer road rage incidents, improved relationships, stronger workouts—and even better golf games.
“Many in the group reported stronger focus during the Weighted Airmen Performance Systems (WAPS) testing,” the company noted in its analysis.
“They also cited decreased incidents of road rage and across-the-board improvements in their marital relations, gym workouts, and even their golf scores.”
While these results are promising, the studies remain limited. There have yet to be follow-up investigations to further validate the early outcomes. Still, the idea that even short bursts of focused relaxation could meaningfully improve performance and reduce stress is catching on.
Strang compared the Mindgym favorably to sensory deprivation tanks, which have long been used to promote relaxation.
But he believes the cube goes further. “I hopped into Mindgym, and it didn’t feel like a waterless float tank to me at all,” he said. “It felt like a psychedelic experience.”
He acknowledged that while the Mindgym isn’t a cure-all for mental health or resilience, it represents a step forward in addressing the cognitive demands placed on today’s warfighters—many of whom may be piloting drones, operating satellites, or managing cyber warfare from behind a desk.
“They’re $100,000 cubes, I think, the last time I checked,” Strang said.
“Let’s say they facilitate relaxation and recovery across 100 people by 10%; what’s the operational impact of that? I don’t know. But what happens if one person who is flying an F-35 sits in that cockpit and, because of these interventions, prevents a mishap of a $60 million aircraft? Would that be worth it? Probably.”
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The company behind Mindgym is clear about what it is—and isn’t. “We don’t have anybody in-house that’s a neuroscientist or Ph.D.,” said Brandon Murphy, Lumena’s head of growth.
However, the company does rely on an advisory board of researchers and clinicians.
Lumena has continued to evolve the offering, expanding to 32 different mental training sessions.
A grant awarded last year helped develop stroboscopic light therapy, aimed at promoting theta brainwave states—linked with stress reduction and meditative calm.
As word spreads, other branches of the military are taking notice. Lumena demonstrated the cube at the Sea Air Space trade show, and Murphy says they’re in talks with Navy officials.
He sees the technology as particularly beneficial for high-stress communities like submariners.
“I’d honestly love to have [a Mindgym] on every military base on the globe,” Murphy said, “so that there’s not a service member that doesn’t have access to something like this.”
In an era where mental readiness is increasingly critical to mission success, especially in hybrid warfare domains, the military may find that investing in high-tech calm is more than a luxury—it’s strategic foresight.
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