Forests are rich in gentle stimuli that encourage playful perception. As Rachel and Stephen Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory ( ART) states, even contemplation of natural landscapes such as forests can relax the human mind and thus generate heightened attention. ART and the idea, borrowed from the Japanese aesthetic concept of Wabi-Sabi, of reducing everything, including color, to its essentials while simultaneously increasing energy, form the poetic basis of WALD.