VR in your Mind — The use of VR in Psychology
"VR’s attribute of “tricking” our brain and making our mind and body behave as if what we’re seeing is real has proven to be an effective tool for the mental health industry. VR is allowing mental health professionals to assess, understand, and treat many conditions, such as PTSD, anxiety disorders, and phobia (just to name a few!), also making psychological treatment accessible, adaptable, and affordable for a lot more people. In this edition of VRVienna, we will learn more about this fascinating topic through the research and projects of professionals who are currently exploring the possibilities of what VR can offer in the field of psychological therapy. Are you ready to have your mind blown? Here we go! TALKS & SPEAKERS • Future of VR: a psychological perspective – Michael Aigner (Sigmund Freud University of Vienna) • VR in the context of neuroscientific theories of perception – Andreas Fraunberger (Junge Römer, Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien) • Social interactions in VR – Anna Felnhofer (MedUni Wien) & Oswald Kothgassner (MedUni Wien, AKH) • The treatment of specific phobias with VR based exposure therapy – Johannes Lazinger & Christian Dingemann (Phobius) EXPERIENCE CORNER • Jan Horsky’s ‘eXPerience Project’ (iNFINITE Production – Prague, CZ) Have you ever imagined how it would feel like to see the world just as Van Gogh did? Jan’s ‘eXPerience Project’ will allow you to explore colorblindness. Will you be able to buy the right fruits or paint the walls with the right color? Try it and see it for yourself! • Markus Passecker’s Self Observation & Inneraction (FH St. Pölten) How do biofeedback signals, experienced through visualization and sonification in a virtual environment, affect our personal perception and physiology? Markus’s ‘Self Observation & Inneraction’ VR installations will help us find the answer! "
