Saskia Davies

EXPLORING PERSONALISED VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCES USING REAL-TIME USER-TRACKING DATA IN APPLICATIONS TO LONELINESS INTERVENTIONS

Abstract:

Intervention strategies employed in the treatment of chronic loneliness are commonly found to be ineffective, which has particularly been attributed to their lack of focus on detrimental intrinsic cognition, disregard for the diverse structure of loneliness, and the minimal personalisation of treatment regarding individuals’ needs and contexts. Loneliness is a significant health concern with its causal influence on psychological functioning, cognitive decline, heart-related illnesses, and especially in the older population, morbidity and premature mortality. Given this importance, effective treatment strategies are vital in managing such wellbeing implications. Extensive research in various mental health technologies highlights the innovative application of user-tracking sensor data in the analysis of individual conditions, as well as immersive virtual reality devices that are beneficial within cognitive behavioural therapy intervention strategies. Both technologies are consistently found to be successful across a wide range of healthcare domains, however recent work has explored the combination of such applications, which have high potential in the personalised and multidimensional treatment of loneliness, consequently addressing the negative internal functioning that limits psychological progression. To investigate this potential, the methods applied in these technology applications are reviewed and compared in relation to loneliness and current intervention limitations, identifying the concepts most successful in related work. Utilising this analysis, a virtual reality application is developed in conjunction with real-time sensor data, analysing user behaviour in order to influence the virtual experience. As such, cognitive behavioural therapy approaches are incorporated, aiming to encourage behaviours that are successful in addressing hypervigilance, said to be one of the most harmful symptoms of loneliness. Through the human-centred development employed, mitigation of each concern i regarding traditional loneliness treatment is incorporated into the design, intending to demonstrate the suitability and effectiveness of such technology within a loneliness context. Preliminary evaluation of the developed system is achieved through user studies, in which results identify the successful application of such technology through participant beliefs and experiences regarding perceived purpose, appropriateness of functionality, and incorporation of literature concepts. In comparison with the overarching literature, these results conclude the suitability of combining real-time sensor data and virtual reality technology in application to loneliness treatment.