创新背景

在过去的25年里，虚拟现实技术已经在少数专业精神保健诊所得到了应用。它支持由临床医生提供的现场治疗。

创新过程

gameChange VR项目是由一个由大学、健康和行业专家组成的多方合作团队开发的，包括牛津大学的衍生产品:牛津dvr，心理健康沉浸式技术的创造者。该研究由牛津大学(University of Oxford)和牛津健康服务体系基金会(Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust)的研究人员领导，研究对象是精神病患者普遍存在的一个问题:对日常生活中的户外活动产生强烈恐惧。对于许多患者来说，这些恐惧会发展成严重的广场恐惧症，这意味着他们会避免离开家，严重破坏与家人和朋友的关系，他们的教育和职业。gameChange旨在治疗这种广场恐惧症，帮助患者重新参与日常活动。它把他们从居家生活带到外面的世界。

gameChange显著减少了对日常情况和困境的回避。然而，受益最大的是那些发现最难离开家的患者，以及那些有最严重的精神症状，如严重焦虑、抑郁、妄想和幻觉的患者。这些患者获得了巨大的好处——例如，他们能够从事以前认为不可想象的活动。这些益处在6个月的随访中得到了维持。患者反馈显示，这种疗法非常受欢迎，接受率非常高。

由于缺乏临床医生，有效的心理疗法难以获得。对于精神疾病等严重精神疾病患者来说，这一问题尤为严重。患者热衷于尝试心理干预，但很少有人接受。带有内置虚拟教练的自动化虚拟现实技术为打破这一僵局提供了一种创新而有效的方法。

创新价值

心理治疗已经在虚拟现实中实现自动化，这是一个里程碑式的发展。有了虚拟教练的指导，用户就不需要现实生活中的治疗师，这意味着治疗可以惠及更多的患者。

创新关键点

过去的虚拟现实疗法支持由临床医生提供的现场治疗。然而，通过gameChange，治疗是内置的，所以它可以由一系列工作人员监督。它可以在各种环境下传送，包括病人的家里。

创新主体

牛津大学（University of Oxford），简称“牛津”（Oxford），位于英国牛津，是一所公立研究型大学，采用传统学院制。是罗素大学集团成员，被誉为“金三角名校”和“G5”。牛津大学的具体建校时间已不可考，但有档案明确记载的最早的授课时间为1096年，之后在1167年因得到了英国王室的大力支持而快速发展。

Using virtual reality technology to provide automated psychotherapy

The gameChange VR project was developed by a multi-party collaborative team of university, health and industry experts, including Oxford spin-off: Oxford DVR, creators of immersive technology for mental health. The study was led by researchers at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, The subject of the study is a common problem among psychopaths: a strong fear of outdoor activities in daily life. For many sufferers, these fears develop into severe agoraphobia, meaning they avoid leaving the house and severely damage relationships with family and friends, their education and careers. GameChange aims to treat this agoraphobia and help sufferers re-engage in daily activities. It takes them from their home life to the outside world.
GameChange significantly reduces avoidance of everyday situations and dilemmas. However, the patients who benefited the most were those who found it most difficult to leave home and those with the most severe psychiatric symptoms, such as severe anxiety, depression, delusions and hallucinations. These patients have reaped huge benefits - for example, they have been able to engage in activities previously thought unthinkable. These benefits were maintained at 6 months of follow-up. Patient feedback shows that the treatment is very popular and the acceptance rate is very high.
Effective psychotherapy is difficult to obtain due to a shortage of clinicians. The problem is particularly acute for people with severe mental illnesses such as mental illness. Patients are keen to try psychological interventions, but few accept them. Automated virtual reality technology with built-in virtual coach provides an innovative and effective way to break this deadlock.