Unreal Engine
IDM Thesis Prototype 2023 || Journey to Wellbeing
Abstract
Existing research demonstrates the efficacy of mental imagery within blended therapeutic approaches to be a powerful tool for promoting emotional healing, behavior modification, and cognitive restructuring. This study first explores the interconnectivity between mental imagery, perception, emotion regulation, and decision-making. Then examines current technologies used in optimizing mental imagery for therapy. Additionally, it presents an interactive multimodal experience enabling mental health professionals to enhance their imagery-based interventions with clients.
A mixed-methods approach was employed in developing the prototype. Exploratory and qualitative research was used to collect data by interviewing several licensed counselors and therapists to understand the therapeutic process, which resulted in a participatory design collaboration with a licensed counselor.
The prototype attempts to create an accessible, integrative, and user-friendly digital tool for mental health professionals. Thus, enabling the counselor or therapist and the client to explore how mental imagery relates to arising emotions and behaviors through sharing experience, real-time imagery, and auditory representation.
When completing this thesis, a satisfactory working MVP with required sense activating interactions was still in development. A prototype with limited interactions, such as changing the color and lighting intensity of the interior environment and time of day with the addition of environmental audio cues in peer testing, showed positive results in creating curiosity, calmness, and ease.
After this thesis, an MVP will be ready to test on tier-two stakeholders, the mental health practitioners, to test the utility of interactions, ease of use, and the implementation of an administrative interface before testing on tier-one stakeholders–their clients.
