Lights Out: A Short Dimming Ritual for the End of the Day in VR

Lights Out is a dimming ritual for the end of the day, done in a VR headset. You choose a length from two to ten minutes, follow a short ritual, and the scene dims as the time passes.

This post explains what Lights Out is, how a session works and who it suits. It is coming soon on aeternusvita.io. You can get notified from the product page when it is ready.

What Lights Out is

Lights Out is a dimming ritual for the end of the day, in a VR headset. The subtitle is "Dim the scene, then stop" and the one-line pitch is: "Choose two to ten minutes, follow a dimming ritual, then take the headset off."

The Play copy gives the shape in a few lines: "Lights Out is a dimming ritual for the end of the day, in a VR headset. You choose one of five rituals and a length from two to ten minutes. Three soundscapes can sit under the session, and optional spoken guidance can lead it."

You choose a ritual, choose a length, and follow the guide while the scene stays dark and dims further.

What is included:

• Five rituals and three soundscapes
• Sessions from two to ten minutes
• A breathing guide or a body scan
• The scene dims as the time runs
• The ending asks you to remove the headset
• Optional spoken guidance

Those six lines are the scope from the brief and the Play listings. There is no level to clear and no score to chase. You choose a length, let the scene dim, and take the headset off when it asks.

Lights Out is made by aeternusvita.io. The brief describes it for users seeking a pre-sleep ritual. The hook is a deliberately finite dimming ritual that ends by asking you to remove the headset. The three product pillars are low stimulation, finite sessions and zero navigation friction.

How a session works

A session follows a short loop: choose duration → breathe or body scan → scene dims → headset-off ending.

At the start you choose one of five rituals and a length from two to ten minutes. Three soundscapes can sit under the session, and optional spoken guidance can lead it.

You follow a breathing guide, or a body scan. The listing says: "You follow a breathing guide, or a body scan. The scene stays dark and low, and it dims further as the minutes pass."

Once the ritual has started, you stay with it until the time you chose runs out. There is no branching path inside the session.

The session is finite. The Play copy says: "The session is finite. At the end it asks you to take the headset off." When the time is up, that prompt is the close. Settings are saved on the device, comfort presets are included, and a new user reaches the core interaction within two minutes.

Rituals, soundscapes and guidance

Five rituals are included and three soundscapes can sit under the session. Both numbers appear in every locale and in the brief's MVP scope. The Play copy does not name each ritual or soundscape individually. It describes them as a choice at the start alongside the length.

The soundscapes are optional. The copy says they can sit under the session, not that they must.

You also choose how you are guided. You follow a breathing guide, or a body scan. Optional spoken guidance can lead the session if you prefer it. The Play copy says: "Three soundscapes can sit under the session, and optional spoken guidance can lead it."

If you want spoken guidance, you can have it lead the ritual. If you prefer to follow the breathing guide or body scan on its own, you can do that as well.

Lights Out is a quiet ritual for that moment in the evening. The Play copy adds: "It does not treat sleep problems." The brief lists sleep-disorder treatment as explicitly out of scope. This post is educational about a short evening ritual, not medical advice.

A dark scene that dims further

The scene stays dark and low, and it dims further as the minutes pass. That line appears in every locale and is repeated as "The scene dims as the time runs."

Low stimulation is a product pillar, alongside finite sessions and zero navigation friction. The required systems include brightness-safe themes and a timeline player. The acceptance criteria include no flashing or abrupt audio and that every session ends clearly.

The scene is dark from the start and dims further as the time you chose runs down.

The current build is web-first: a kit-three web template with a hosted web build and an HTML5 zip ready for itch.io, smoke test marked as pass. Nothing has been submitted to any store.

An ending that asks you to take the headset off

The ending is part of the design. The Play copy says: "The session is finite. At the end it asks you to take the headset off." The tagline is "Dim the scene, then stop."

The brief calls this the hook: a deliberately finite dimming ritual that ends by asking you to remove the headset. The acceptance criteria require that every session ends clearly and that a complete run can start, finish, restart and recover from interruption.

Overnight headset use is explicitly out of scope. The ritual ends with the headset off.

Comfort, settings and spectator view

Settings are saved on the device, and comfort presets are included. Both lines are in the Play copy, and the brief lists local settings and save data among the required systems. The app does not log microphone, health or biometric data by default.

The acceptance criteria state that the app works seated.

On a headset linked to a computer, a spectator view shows the scene on the desktop. The brief lists a desktop spectator view for PCVR among the required systems. It is not a second mode. It shows the same dimming scene on the desktop for someone else in the room.

The broader plan names Godot 4.x with OpenXR as the engine default and stable 72 Hz on Quest 2 as the target. The current web build is a vertical slice with a deterministic reset path.

Who it suits

Lights Out is described for users seeking a pre-sleep ritual. If you want a short, quiet step at the end of the day with a clear start and a clear finish, the format matches.

It suits you if you want a finite session. You choose from two to ten minutes and stay with the ritual until that time runs out. There is no open-ended mode.

It suits you if you want low stimulation. The scene stays dark and low and dims further as the minutes pass. There are no flashing visuals and no abrupt audio by design.

It suits you if you want a seated ritual. It works seated and a new user reaches the core interaction within two minutes.

It is worth being clear about who it does not suit. Lights Out does not treat sleep problems. That is in every locale and the brief lists it as explicitly out of scope. This page is educational, not medical advice. If you have concerns about sleep, speak to a clinician.

Coming soon

Lights Out is coming soon on aeternusvita.io. The product page is where you can get notified when it is ready. Visit Lights Out and use the notify option there.

There is no price, release date, rating or review to quote because nothing has been submitted or released. The brief lists release date as not decided, ratings and reviews as none, and price as not final. Store IDs are not yet assigned and the privacy policy is not yet live.

If you want the scope before it arrives, the listing is a reliable guide. Five rituals and three soundscapes. Sessions from two to ten minutes. A breathing guide or a body scan. The scene dims as the time runs. The ending asks you to remove the headset. Optional spoken guidance. Made by aeternusvita.io, coming soon.