A virtual reality app (VR) uses advanced display and immersive audio technologies to create an interactive, three-dimensional image or environment. An augmented reality app (AR), meanwhile, uses digital technology to overlay video and audio onto the physical world to provide information and embellish our experiences.
At the 人妻少妇专区, we鈥檙e crossing disciplines to collaborate on VR/AR innovations that will revolutionize how we , , heal, and as we work to make the world ever better.
What are new, innovative ways to increase community access to much-needed mental and behavioral health services?
That鈥檚 the big question Michael Hasselberg鈥檚 department chair asked him to ponder. Hasselberg, an assistant professor of psychiatry and clinical nursing, is acutely aware of the high demand, regionally and nationally, for behavioral health services and specialists to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders.
In this line of work, the gold standard treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy. CBT is a form of psychotherapy that usually involves a therapist and patient working together to recognize and change the latter鈥檚 thinking patterns while also developing coping skills, according to the . 鈥淚t鈥檚 our first-line treatment for several of the diagnostic clusters we treat, specifically the depressive and anxiety disorders, and there鈥檚 a lot of evidence to show its effectiveness,鈥� Hasselberg explains.
Given that a majority of Americans today own a smartphone鈥�77 percent, according to the 鈥攁 web or mobile app seems like an obvious answer. Indeed, such apps abound.
鈥淭he idea of putting cognitive-behavioral therapy on a computerized app isn鈥檛 new,鈥� Hasselberg says. Typically, such computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy (cCBT) features a voiceover with animation or perhaps a video of a therapist talking鈥攂ut no meaningful interaction.
鈥淧atients download the app, but after using it once or twice, they disengage from it.鈥�
Virtual reality app offer cognitive-behavioral therapy
Could a more immersive, customized experience, one harnessing today鈥檚 advances in virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR), help keep patients engaged with an app?
Hasselberg pitched the idea a year ago during a meeting of the , a multidisciplinary campus collaboration that leverages computing, analytics, and technology to solve challenges in medicine. Afterward, two faculty members approached him: Jiebo Luo, professor of computer science in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Matthew Brown, professor of music theory at the Eastman School of Music.
Luo, whose research interests include machine learning, data mining, and personal analytics, has previously worked on a computer program that could . Brown, meanwhile, directs , a musical multimedia ensemble at Eastman, and has always 鈥渂een very interested in the social impact and therapeutic functions of music.鈥�
Both were keen to bring their expertise to bear on such a project. Galvanized, Hasselberg tapped his colleague Wendi Cross, a clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, to help develop evidence-based scripts and storyboards for a working prototype of the virtual reality app.
Cross immediately thought ahead to how patients would use such an app. 鈥淚n a typical psychotherapy situation, you鈥檙e interacting in the office for 45 minutes,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲ell, nobody is going to stay online in an app for 45 minutes鈥攑eople like to come and go in ways that suit them. With this virtual reality app, the psychotherapy session is literally in the hands of the patient.鈥�
According to Christopher Winders, a laboratory technician in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, “These videos are being embedded into the mobile app and have our doctor [Lauren DeCaporale-Ryan, a clinical psychologist at URMC] laying out tenants of the CBT process. We filmed Lauren in front of a green screen and then I composited that footage into a 360-photograph of the office setting.”
A multidisciplinary collaboration yields a working prototype
Here鈥檚 how the virtual reality app works:
- Patients use their smartphones to access the app. They can see and hear the therapist, but can also look around the therapist鈥檚 room, which was filmed using a virtual reality camera.
- During a session, the therapist might assign the patient a task, such as completing a questionnaire about anxiety levels.
- The patient completes the in-app questionnaire. The answers dictate which video of the therapist plays next.
Later, the therapist might suggest a mindfulness exercise in which the patient is asked to imagine being in a relaxing environment, such as a beach. - The patient is then shown environmental photographs and asked to select a preference. Earlier in the module, the patient was able to identify personal preferences for calming music.
- The app鈥檚 algorithms then serve up the patient鈥檚 preferred 3D environment (a beach, complete with the sound of waves) and accompanying music. Meanwhile, the virtual therapist talks the patient through the mindfulness exercise.
The next time the patient uses the app for an on-demand therapy session, the previous answers along with visual and aural preferences will be taken into account.
Evidence-based psychotherapeutic practices? Check.
Aesthetically pleasing and immersive video and music? Check.
Built-in algorithms that deliver personalized content based on your needs and preferences? Check.
And no special headsets required. 鈥淚f people have to use headsets like Oculus or even the cardboard headsets for mobile phones, that really limits the patient population we could reach with this technology,鈥� says Hasselberg. 鈥淎nd our goal is to touch as many patient lives as possible.鈥�
With a working prototype in hand, the team鈥檚 next step is conducting usability testing to fine-tune the technology. If this intervention proves useful with patient populations, the big-picture goal is having the in-app data synch with a patient鈥檚 electronic health records.
鈥楢 common purpose is so important鈥�
With funding from Arts, Sciences & Engineering and the Medical Center, 鈥渨e formed a multidisciplinary team to create something that is otherwise not possible,鈥� says Luo.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how much I鈥檝e enjoyed working with colleagues toward a common purpose, one that will have a social impact,鈥� says Brown. Cross agrees: 鈥淎 common purpose is so important. Frankly, this project has been an adventure. It鈥檚 not what I do every day, but it鈥檚 taking what I do every day and thinking about it in a brand new way with people I don鈥檛 usually work with.鈥�
And Hasselberg contends that collaborating with researchers and professionals outside of medicine鈥攎usicians, computer scientists, data scientists鈥攈as made him into a better clinician and health care innovator. 鈥淚n the end, I think bringing these multiple perspectives to a problem will allow us to help more people.鈥�
