The potential of virtual reality (VR) as a medium to assist patients with mental health issues is evident in recent research. Companies are actively exploring this frontier, expanding the horizons of technology and mental well-being.
According to a report published by Nature Review, VR’s immersive environments combined with artificial intelligence can address a wide range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, psychosis, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, depression, and stress management.
Two notable companies in the mental health VR application space, Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro headsets, include Tripp and Liminal VR. These companies offer virtual experiences that aim to focus, inspire, and calm the mind.
Liminal VR
“There’s something unique about experiencing content from a first-person perspective and how it impacts people,” said Liminal VR co-founder and CEO Damian Moratti. “We recognized the significance of that aspect, which sets VR apart.”
Founded by Moratti and Nick Busietta in Melbourne, Liminal VR launched its mental health experience in 2018. Drawing on expertise from artists, developers, neuroscientists, and psychologists, the Liminal app was developed to provide a unique therapeutic experience.
Liminal VR offers users a selection of experiences, including calm, energy, pain relief, and awe.
“Awe can be simplified as a combination of vastness and surprise,” Moratti explained. “We use ‘vastness’ to encapsulate not just scale but other elements that contribute to the feeling of awe.” He cited an example of witnessing a child lifting a car to save a parent as a scenario that evokes awe.
“Experiencing someone tapping into their full potential can evoke a sense of awe,” he added.
Apart from mental health applications, Liminal VR also provides training simulations for various skills like firefighting, foraging mushrooms, landscaping, and construction.
Moratti emphasized the need for full engagement with VR due to its unique immersive quality. Unlike traditional media on flat screens, VR places users directly in the experience, offering a different psychological impact.
“In VR, you’re completely immersed in the virtual world,” Moratti noted. “You have agency within that world and experience content from a first-person perspective, resulting in a sense of scale, vastness, and depth that traditional media lack.”
Tripp
Los Angeles-based Tripp believes that VR alone is insufficient for a personalized experience. In July, the company introduced generative AI into its VR platform, dubbed Kōkua, which means “help” in Hawaiian.
Tripp was established in 2017 by Nanea Reeves, a former senior executive at Electronic Arts and Machinima.
“Kōkua holds deep spiritual significance for Hawaiians,” Reeves explained. “It embodies the concept of giving without expecting anything in return.” She also mentioned that Kōkua inspired a commitment to environmental stewardship.
Reeves shared that the concept of Tripp emerged from observing VR’s capacity to evoke fear and adrenaline in gaming scenarios.
“The technology could induce intense fear even in a familiar setting like a living room,” she said. “This led me to wonder about using immersion for positive emotional experiences.”
Working with neuroscience experts and mental health professionals, Tripp developed its VR experiences to promote positive emotions and well-being.
Through Kōkua, Tripp users can receive personalized reflections, custom meditations, and mindfulness practices by engaging with generative AI.
“You can interact with the AI in specific ways to tailor your experience,” Reeves explained. “For instance, you can request a meditation focused on taxes in Shakespearean style, and the AI adapts accordingly in real-time.”
Reeves’ personal experiences, including struggles with mental health in her youth, led her to explore the potential of VR, gaming, and meditation for well-being.
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