MSC IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION DESIGN
FINAL YEAR PROJECT
EXPLORING THE PERSPECTIVES OF MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ON VIRTUAL REALITY THERAPY VS IN-PERSON THERAPY:
A COMPARATIVE STUDY.
Keywords: Mental health professionals, therapy, virtual reality, virtual reality therapy, reflexive thematic analysis, guidelines
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.
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.
Introduction
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.
Key Insights
The project successfully explored mental health professionals' perspectives on Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT) versus in-person therapy.
Through interviews and VR simulation tasks, it was discovered that while VRT offers significant potential for enhancing patient safety, accessibility, and personalization, it also presents challenges, such as the emotional disconnect between patients and therapists, high initial costs, and technical limitations.
Despite these hurdles, the findings suggested that VRT could be a viable complementary tool in mental health services, especially for those with specific needs or in underserved communities.
The project concluded with five design guidelines aimed at improving the integration of VRT into therapeutic practices.
Outcomes
Future work could focus on expanding the study to include a broader range of mental health professionals and patients to refine the guidelines further.
Additionally, long-term trials and collaborations with VR developers could enhance the realism and effectiveness of VRT, making it a cost-effective and accessible option for mental health treatment.
Research on improving emotional connectivity in virtual spaces, and solutions for the technical limitations, would be key to advancing the field.