1. Digital Care for the Physical Environment A UCL Project Proposal for Equator` Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics Department of Computer Science University College London http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/rhttp://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/research/vr

2. “Much of what therapists engage in with their clients is the construction of artificial environments in which people can learn to overcome their fears.” Prof. Chris Brewin Department of Psychology, UCL

3. 1. Introduction Use of avatars in psychotherapy applications – Social phobia + paranoid ideation What is required to make these avatars believable? – Will a laughing avatar make you laugh? – A weeping avatar make you weep? Examples…in public speaking phobia

5. Overall Results on FOPS Overall Results on FOPS Evidence suggests that people do react to virtual audiences with appropriate affect Next stage is to build the method in the context of a treatment programme – Two clients have already been seen (ReaCTor) Fundamental research question remains: Why does it work?

6. Paranoid Ideation This is the typical pattern of thinking displayed in cases of paranoia; it is characterised by suspiciousness and beliefs that one is being followed, plotted against, persecuted, etc. Objective – To assess the extent to which paranoid thoughts could be triggered in a VE – To help in understanding how this happens

9. Typical Debriefing Comment “It was really weird, because they were all definitely in on something and they were all trying to make me nervous. It was clear that they were trying to mock me, they kept on looking at me and when I looked back, they were uuhh… The guy with the suit was really weird because he kept smiling at me and it was quite sinister.” “There were three people on the right – one with a suit, I think he was a business man working on his laptop…”

10. 2. Research Issues Digital-physical interface – Synchronous or asynchronous Digital city remains our technical focus: – Graphics and modelling issues – Properties that environments and activities must have to maintain believability, presence, copresence – ‘Effectiveness’

11. Effectiveness Effectiveness – for what? Psychotherapy application – Provides clear measures of effectiveness – Does the VE and activities within generate the anxiety response that would have been generated in real life? – Can be measured using standard psychological instruments developed over many years.

12. Levels of Research Algorithmic and interface research Properties for effectiveness within the given domain How can these systems be used to help people in the real world, to generate treatment programs, self-help and support groups?

13. 3. Agoraphobia include fears not only of open spaces but also of related aspects such as the presence of crowds and the difficulty of immediate easy escape to a safe place (usually home). Operates within the ‘digital city’ broadly defined (shops, transport, streets)

14. The user can trigger the number of people surrounding degree of interaction (egocentric/exocentric) weather lighting conditions A virtual experience within a village on a flat PC screen in 3D with stereo glasses in a 3D immersive environment

15. Issues Agoraphobia – problem with people going out – Initial systems PC based for home use Starting point – study of patients and therapists – Ethnomethodology? Focus groups? – Identify commonalities

16. Issues Create a parameterised environment – Individuals learn to control aspects of environment (eg, darkness, crowd density, location of exits) – More general orchestration and story managements Relapse – panic attacks in vivo – Hand-held display devices to re-establish calm and control – PDAs, digital toys?

17. Issues Physiological feedback – Anxiety measured and relayed to local PDA and to central monitoring system – use of wearable devices? Self-help and mass counselling – Use home-based PCs to support shared VEs where people can meet together – especially in anxiety producing environments

18. 4. The Way Ahead Provides a strong applications focus for our group, with the necessity for underlying research in our specialities Continued meeting with colleagues from psychology to map out a 6month – 3 year programme in the Equator context. End-goal has clear benefit to wider society.