Beyond Reality: Minimising isolation in lockdown with VR
COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on our community. With social distancing and lockdowns in place around the world, we’re finding ourselves living in a physically isolated and fearful environment.
How can we stop social distancing becoming unhealthy isolation?
This week the Mandarin published an article by Phoenix Australia which asked what COVID-19 is doing to our mental health which highlighted mental health as an important concern.
“A ‘review of studies investigating the psychological impacts of quarantine that has just been published in The Lancet found that symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, confusion and anger were common… This highlights the importance of ensuring that those who are quarantined have the information and provisions they need, that they try to establish some sort of routine, and stay in social contact with others.”
So how can tech help? CEO and co-founder of Beyond, Jessica Manins, jumped on Mindhive to ask what role VR could play in helping us connect socially and minimise the impact of isolation and loneliness.
“VR has the ability to bring people together in a virtual environment and more than ever we are seeing the need for social interaction to continue without physical contact.”
“One of my first projects was with the Breast Cancer Foundation making therapeutic VR experiences for patients stuck at home. These were solo experiences but had a positive impact on reducing anxiety and fear.”
Help Jessica, share your insights into VR.
Jessica isn’t alone in seeing the potential for VR to positively impact wellbeing. A 2019 article published in the Scientific American stated “Virtual Reality Might Be the Next Big Thing for Mental Health’. They make the case that VR has been used successfully to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the 1990s. While there is obviously a need for due care in its application, Stéphane Bouchard (the Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cyberpsychology at the University of Quebec) believes that ‘self-guided VR therapy could function similarly to self-help books… “It’s a relevant advance for patients who don’t have access to treatment or who do not need such a tailored treatment.”’
So can we use VR to prevent and support those suffering from anxiety and isolation? Jessica believes so, “I am making social VR games that bring people together as we know that for wellbeing social interaction is key. Our games encourage movement and have humour. Two other essential parts encouraging positive experiences that make us feel good. The question is how can we link our games to home users?
