Discovering the hyperreal in VR as a remedy for mental health issues
Theme: Technological interventions in increasing well-being
Type of research: qualitative empirical, mixed-method
Description:
Developments in VR-based interactive applications have been promising for designing and applying interventions for mental health. However, many VR applications only mimic reality (e.g., McLean et. al., 2022) and their potential for interventions moving beyond immediate reality -the hyperreal- have been limited. More people than ever battle with mental health issues including loneliness, depression, and withdrawal from society (Cacioppo & Cacioppo 2018; Kelly et al., 2019). A central facet underlying these different ails is an overall feeling of disconnect from others and society and a corresponding notion of being trapped inside one’s own head. To remedy these ails, one option for this project would be to capitalize on the transformative potential of VR in inducing ‘awe’. Awe is accompanied by feelings of selflessness and increased connectedness with other people, the community, and the world at large (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Yaden et al., 2018). VR applications that explore the hyperreal has been successful in triggering bodily dynamics related to awe (Glowacki et al., 2022), but their effect on mental health is still unclear. In this project you will evaluate the hyperreal VR-application ELELE for inducing effects of awe and positively in terms of connectedness, selflessness and other notions that help battle mental health. ELELE is the directorial debut of Dutch artist Sjoerd van Acker (aka No Fish), see no-fish.nl/elele/. Awe is only one framework to consider the effects of the hyperreal in VR for mental health; alternative frameworks by students are greatly appreciated.
Potential research questions are: Which of the experienced effects of the hyperreal VR-application are most profound for mental health? Do these experienced effects depend on participant characteristics. To evaluate the effects, you can conduct interviews, observe body language, and control with preexisting scales on connectedness, awe, or perceived body boundaries.
References
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2018). The growing problem of loneliness. The Lancet, 391(10119), 426.
Kelly, D., Steiner, A., Mazzei, M., & Baker, R. (2019). Filling a void? The role of social enterprise in addressing social isolation and loneliness in rural communities. Journal of rural studies, 70, 225-236.
Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (2003). Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and emotion, 17(2), 297-314.
McLean, C. P., Levy, H. C., Miller, M. L., & Tolin, D. F. (2022). Exposure therapy for PTSD: A meta-analysis. Clinical psychology review, 91, 102115.
Glowacki, D. R., Williams, R. R., Wonnacott, M. D., Maynard, O. M., Freire, R., Pike, J. E., & Chatziapostolou, M. (2022). Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 8995.
Yaden, D. B., Kaufman, S. B., Hyde, E., Chirico, A., Gaggioli, A., Zhang, J. W., & Keltner, D. (2019). The development of the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S): A multifactorial measure for a complex emotion. The journal of positive psychology, 14(4), 474-488.