Biofeedback interventions using immersive virtual natural environment: A scoping Review

Read the Paper

Reference:

Sajno, E., Dagostin, F., & Cipresso, P. Biofeedback interventions using immersive virtual natural environment: A scoping Review. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2022, 17.

This work presents a scoping review of psychological interventions where biofeedback is enhanced by immersive natural Virtual Reality scenarios. Our target is to describe the biofeedback implementations in which the physiological feedback to the user is embedded in the design of the virtual environment. We focus specifically on the studies leveraging natural environment scenarios, as these are proven to enhance the sense of presence in the user. After a thorough screening of search results, we selected 16 articles fulfilling these desired criteria.

Virtual reality therapy in the metaverse: Merging VR for the outside with VR for the inside

Read the Paper

Reference:

Virtual reality therapy in the metaverse: Merging VR for the outside with VR for the inside. Annual Review of Cybertherapy & Telemedicine, 19, 3-8.

The Metaverse can be defined as a hybrid (digital/physical) environment offering places for rich user interaction. In this view, the main feature of the Metaverse is a twofold link between the virtual and physical worlds: (a) behavior in the physical world influences the experience in the virtual one and, (b) behavior in the virtual world influences the experience in the real one. Furthermore, any change in the physical world is mirrored in its digital representation (the digital twin), and feedback is sent in the opposite direction (i.e., if the avatar is touched, haptic feedback is provided to the physical body). Currently, this is achieved through 3D shared XR worlds, biosensors and activity sensors (from the real to the virtual world), two-way Internet of Things (IoT) object connections, social media, and wearable devices including smartphones (from the virtual world to the real one). Our view is that bridging technologies that simulate both the external world and the internal world (our bodily experience) will allow the simulated, cognitive, and embodied dimension of the Metaverse to merge, thereby transforming it into the ultimate clinical technology. In particular, it will allow for the emergence of Regenerative VR: the integration of external and internal simulated technologies to rewrite a faulty bodily experience and to regenerate the wellbeing of an individual.

Looking through your eyes: using immersive virtual reality to promote well-being among cancer survivors and their partners

Read the Paper

Reference:

Looking through your eyes: using immersive virtual reality to promote well-being among cancer survivors and their partners. ANNUAL REVIEW OF CYBERTHERAPY AND TELEMEDICINE 2023, 185.

The growing success of cancer therapy has increased the survival rates of many oncological diseases, posing the challenge of how to sustain survivors’ wellbeing. Since partners are the most important source of support for patients, and their role is essential to successfully cope with the challenges associated with the disease, the current study aims to enhance the survivors’ adjustment to the post-treatment life changes by focusing on the couple’s well-being. An Embodied PerspectiveTaking (EPT) paradigm will be implemented by using Virtual Reality (VR) to propose a VR Patient-Journey (VR-PJ) that guides the partner in feeling on their skin what their significant other is suffering and the problems they are facing. EPT will create in the participant the perceptual illusion of taking the perspective of the partner, allowing the caregiver to see through their eyes, from a first-person perspective, all the steps of the partner’s oncological journey, from the diagnosis to the current daily life. Our hypothesis is that the VR-PJ will work as a transformative experience able to promote empathic communication and greater couple wellbeing.