WORK-IN-PROGRESS PAPER
WEBXR TO SUPPORT STUDENT WELLBEING AND ANXIETY
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic social distancing measures had an immense evidenced impact on student life in higher education affecting their mental health in many ways.
In addition, remote working measures taken by Higher Education organizations to protect students and staff created an additional barrier for students seeking support at a stage they feel the most vulnerable. This paper presents a work-in-progress study that focuses on investigating ways of designing an online system for self-assessment symptoms of anxiety based on which available support is provided in a personalized and emotionally engaging manner.
The project builds and compares three prototypes: a conventional website; a VR immersive environment with a single virtual human playing the role of a student life advisor; and an immersive environment with more than one virtual human interacting with the user aiming to study which system engages and assists vulnerable students more effectively, contributing to a better user experience. The paper presents the project motivations, its aims and objectives, the proposed research methodology and the expected contributions to knowledge.
INTRODUCTION
The working progress paper is a result of my Computer Science dissertation.
Mental health is a topic very close to my heart, especially since this project took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when mental health issues, particularly among students, were significantly impacted.
WebXR is another area that fascinates me, and I believe that within a decade, it will become a central focus for many companies.
By combining these two fields, I envisioned a potential solution. With the guidance and supervision of Dr. Daphne Economou, who recognized the project's potential, this paper was created.
KEY WORDS
WebXR
Virtual Humans
Mental health
Anxiety
User Experience
TEAM
Mhanaj H.
Economou D. Ferguson J.
YEAR
2021
KEY INSIGHTS
Prototype Success: The WebXR One Virtual Human prototype demonstrated significant effectiveness in improving student engagement and comfort with mental health resources compared to other prototypes.
Virtual Interaction Benefits: Students found the virtual character interaction reassuring and effective, especially at a time when physical access to mental health services was limited due to the pandemic.
Skill Enhancement: The project journey significantly boosted the researcher's skills, particularly in programming languages such as JavaScript and C#.
Challenges Faced: Issues with text-to-speech translations, animation limitations due to lockdown restrictions, and other technical challenges were encountered during the project.
Future Development: Plans for future development involve enhancing translation features, incorporating video elements, refining animations, and adding warning signals for critical self-assessments across all prototypes to improve user experience.
GOAL
To enhance university mental health services by creating a more effective and accessible bridge between students and these resources.
Aiming to create a user-friendly, interactive platform that caters to students' mental health and well-being needs.
OUTCOME
The working progress paper was accepted by the 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN 2021). Due to COVID reasoning, the conference was conducted online in a virtual interactive space.
I had the opportunity to present the research paper and start the conversation about potential therapy via WebXR.
CONTINUE
Following the publication of my working progress paper, I completed my dissertation titled "WebXR to Support Student Wellbeing and Anxiety." Building on this research, I wrote my Master's dissertation for my degree in Human-Computer Interaction and Design (HCID), titled "Exploring the Perspectives of Mental Health Professionals on Virtual Reality Therapy vs. In-Person Therapy: A Comparative Study."
My research in mental health and VR/WebXR is ongoing, as it remains one of my primary goals to contribute to advancements in this field