Designing and implementing individualized virtual reality for supporting the treatment of mental health : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Information Sciences in Computer Science at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

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2022
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Massey University
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Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder with serious detrimental effects on individuals and society at large. Yet, it is largely untreated or underdiagnosed, often due to insufficient healthcare resources. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has the potential to be an effective treatment for mental health illnesses such as anxiety, eating disorders, and phobia, according to studies. However, little research has been conducted on the therapeutic application of VR to treat and prevent depression. Aside from this, little is known about how individualizations in virtual reality can alter user experience to improve mental health. In this thesis, we describe the design implementation process of iVR – an individualized VR application designed to promote self-compassion and support the treatment of depression. At present, there is little known about the effects of individualized VR on self-compassion and depressive symptoms. This research aims to investigate if an individualized VR can potentially be used to increase self-compassion and reduce symptoms of depression, and also evaluate the usability and acceptability of the individualized VR among participants. A total of 36 participants were recruited in the pilot study. Participants attended two iVR sessions, at least two weeks apart. Findings reveal that individualized VR shows promise in increasing self-compassion and reducing symptoms of depression and that the iVR system was generally usable and acceptable among participants. This provides justification for a larger-scale clinical study in the future.
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