If you visited the ever-trippy immersive artscape Meow Wolf and thought, I wish this was a spa ... you were probably alone in that. Congratulations. Nonetheless, Meow Wolf cofounder Corvas Brinkerhoff delivers.

Brinkerhoff is leaving the growing art giant to launch Submersive in 2026, a spa in Austin that follows many of the same immersive art and lighting ethos in a spa setting. The venture calls itself the "world's first neuroscience-enabled spa," pointing to collaboration with neuroscientists and other thought leaders to make the combination work.

Among them are perception expert Dr. Beau Lotto and neuroaesthetics researcher and writer Susan Magsamen, plus others more removed from the neuroscience space, like an economics theorist and a hospitality expert. Brinkerhoff himself was Meow Wolf's CTO and SVP of Experience, bringing some of the technological expertise.

Returning to our opening hypothetical, although most Meow Wolf visitors aren't wishing for a robe and a face peel, it is not a stretch to call the experience transformative. Although each dramatically and theatrically altered warehouse housing a Meow Wolf location is different, the overarching theme is discovery.

Visitors can poke through the seeming mundanities (suburban houses in Santa Fe and Grapevine, Texas; a grocery store in Las Vegas) and surrealist installations alike to begin to uncover a story about how we experience each other and the world. This art experiment stands out from its more selfie-inspired imitators not just in its size but in its ideological depth.

If wellness ventures are seeking similar ways to ease or even jolt visitors out of their daily grind using sensory tools — a hot stone massage, a sensory-deprivation tank — is it really that different?

Creating a magical space to bathe in does sound relaxing.Rendering by Lua Brice courtesy of Submersive

“At Submersive, we believe there’s an opportunity to go beyond relaxation, to create environments that transport us into elevated states like awe, wonder, euphoria, inspiration, connection, and even transcendence,” said Brinkerhoff in a press release.

Among the more traditional wellness elements included in the proposed 25,000-square-foot space (which either doesn't exist or isn't announced yet) are saunas, steam rooms, pools, and cold plunges, according to the release. Presumably more so than at even the most futuristic spas, these spaces will include creative lighting and sound along with video and interactive technology to guide the experience. (That's sight, hearing, and touch, if you're counting. Taste and smell are TBD.)

If this all sounds fun, that's all well and good — but it's not really the point. Submersive advisor B. Joseph Pine wrote a whole book titled The Experience Economy, which goes hand-in-hand with what he calls the "transformation economy." Basically, people don't just want to be entertained and end up back at square one when it's over; They want something that fosters lasting change.

“If Meow Wolf is a shining example of the experience economy, we think Submersive will be that of the transformation economy,” said Brinkerhoff. “Submersive can offer new therapies within the context of immersive experiences."

In a world of burgeoning psychedelic therapies — which got their own track at South by Southwest in 2024 — why not? If Austinites show enough interest in this project once it launches, Submersive plans to expand around the world.