depression

Wave: A Preventative Virtual Reality Therapeutic Intervention for Youth At Risk

~ drmmu ~ Leave a comment

The provision of education for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is currently facing systemic challenges. In some local areas, the gap between strategic ambition and lived reality is stark, evidenced by nearly 7,000 school suspensions in one academic year. This crisis is not merely administrative; it represents a profound loss of potential for young people and creates a staggering financial burden, where just 50 permanent exclusions can generate a future liability to the state of nearly £10 million.

At the University of Northampton, we believe it is time for a paradigm shift from reactive crisis management to proactive, evidence-based prevention. In partnership with West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), and local schools, we are piloting Wave: a preventative Virtual Reality (VR) therapeutic intervention.

Wave is designed to support young people who may be resistant to conventional “talk therapy.” By integrating proven principles of evidence-based therapies into an immersive VR environment, we are creating a tool that feels less like a clinical appointment and more like a “training game.”

How Wave Works:

  • Stigma Reduction: By gamifying the therapeutic process, we lower the barrier to entry for adolescents struggling with anxiety and disruptive behaviours.
  • Skill Building: The intervention guides users to practise mindfulness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance in a safe, controlled environment.
  • Accessibility: It is designed for deployment in mainstream schools, SEND settings, and Family Hubs, reaching young people where they are.

Through mixed-method studies, we aim to demonstrate that digital innovation can deliver tangible returns. The human impact: helping children fulfil their potential and avoid the “shadow SEND system” is our primary driver.

This project supports the NHS “Fit for the Future” 10-Year Plan, moving the service toward greater responsiveness and technological advancement. We have successfully moved past the conceptual stage and are now refining the intervention based on real-world feedback from clinical psychologists and young people with learning disabilities.

We are currently piloting these solutions in Northamptonshire, but our vision is scalable. We welcome dialogue with educational trusts, healthcare providers, and potential funding partners who are interested in rigorous, technology-driven mental health solutions.

If you are interested in the intersection of digital innovation and youth mental health, or wish to support the expansion of this pilot, we invite you to connect with us.

InnerVoice – VR training for addiction recovery

~ drmmu ~ Leave a comment

We are funded by Innovate UK and West Northamptonshire Council to pilot a new VR training tool for addiction recovery.

Many parts of the UK face a worsening drug and alcohol addiction crisis, with rising deaths and hospital admissions. Alcohol-related deaths tripled and drug-related deaths doubled since 2015. Most adults who require specialist substance misuse treatment (82% for alcohol and 50% for drug misuse) are not accessing services.

Addiction recovery is hard and full of setbacks, challenges and moments of vulnerability. It requires people to be patient with themselves and to actively engage in techniques as they work through the challenges. But there is a painful gap. When we spoke to members of addiction services, we learned that while support and learning are available, they often fall short in practice. Many individuals lack confidence in their key coping skills, especially when things become stressful. The result is that many choose to retreat, distancing themselves from healthy relationships and interpersonal connections they need most.

That’s why we are developing InnerVoice, a new VR intervention to bridge the gap. The project is supported by Innovate UK’s AKT programme, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), and a network of charities. We’ve worked closely with community groups to ensure the therapy is safe, usable, and truly meets the user’s needs.

InnerVoice uses game design and immersive media to translate abstract therapeutic concepts into actionable confidence. It helps people understand their emotions effectively, practise self-compassion and life-changing coping skills in a safe, private space with virtual companions, and ultimately work towards a life they genuinely feel is worth living.

The innovation reflects key government priorities, outlined in ‘From Harm to Hope’, to create evidence that underpins novel digital therapeutics and technological interventions. The project is a crucial development for the WNC’s Alcohol and Drug Service, where digitisation is placed at the forefront. The innovation will benefit a network of addiction support charities and further boost digital innovations and investment in addiction services, fostering a local ecosystem of talent and expertise in health technology.

New innovation projects on VR-based therapies

~ drmmu ~ Leave a comment

We had an excellent new year start with two new innovation projects on VR-based therapies.

Swimming with AI dolphins

“Swimming with Dolphin” was previously developed by the UON Games Team (Iain Douglas and Rob Lambert)

The first Knowledge Exchange project will deliver an innovative VR therapy “Swimming with AI Dolphins” which offers a unique interactive underwater experience to ease the symptoms of mental illness with the Northampton-based company VR Therapies which has provided private therapy sessions for over 1000 people.

The figure above shows the outcome of the original “Swimming with Dolphin” project. Users can book a therapy session to be submerged in water virtually in a 360-degree view as the dolphin slowly and peacefully encircles the viewer. The current application is based on a conventional 360 video delivery. The content of the video is the same for all users and it will not respond to user activities.

With our expertise in game art and machine learning, the application will be transformed with interactive features and an AI-assisted dolphin character. We will use hand/eye tracking sensors and integrated microphones of new-generation headsets to capture and model user movements. Machine learning will be employed to develop an “AI dolphin” that can respond to viewer activities (such as voice and hand gestures) with natural movements.

The unique offering of the “Swimming with AI Dolphins” experience will help the company stand out from its competitors. Besides improved sales of onsite private therapy sessions, the solution can become a “killer app” of the company’s new Headsets@Home service, which allows people with mental illness to rent headsets with pre-loaded therapy content for self-administered therapy at home.

Feasibility study of an innovative VR-based psychotherapy

Virtual treatment room (designed by Andy Debus, et al.)
Interactive features

This Innovation and Commercialisation project will conduct a feasibility study of an innovative VR psychotherapy as a pathway to commercialisation. The VR application automates comprehensive psychotherapy that is widely used for life-changing treatment of anxiety disorder and depression. This revolutionary design can help improve public access to the therapy amid ongoing challenges in NHS. We will conduct a small-scale user trial, assisted by partnering health institutions (St Andrew’s Healthcare and Cardinal Clinic).

The project will support the following activities.

  • Product development. Transform the prototype into a clinically ready product that can be operated by patients. This step requires significant input from the patient and the public. Therefore, we will invite public volunteers of different age, gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds to support the product development. 
  • User trial preparation. This activity will focus on preparing all necessary documents, protocols and procedures for the trial. Involvement from the public is also critical for this activity. We will seek public participation in developing the trial.
  • User study. The study includes recruiting and screening 5-10 participants. EDI will be considered an important part of the recruitment. The study will be carried out by a trained therapist. The study will assess the feasibility of the solution and its pathway for adoption by the health services. We will collect feedback from patients and therapists at partner institutions.
  • Result analysis and dissemination. We will seek public involvement (PPI) to help the team to interpret the data. We will gather public opinions on our VR digital health innovation.

Evidence from the study will inform a commercialisation strategy for the effective delivery of services to patients, working within the NHS delivery structures, and maximising the number of patients that benefit from this work.