Extended reality for mental health: Current trends and future challenges

Abstract

Virtual and augmented reality have been used to diagnose and treat several mental health disorders for decades. Technological advances in these fields have facilitated the availability of commercial solutions for end customers and practitioners. However, there are still some barriers and limitations that prevent these technologies from being widely used by professionals on a daily basis. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a variety of new scenarios in which these technologies could play an essential role, like providing remote treatment. Disorders that traditionally had received less attention are also getting in the spotlight, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Improvements in equipment and hardware, like Mixed Reality Head Mounted Displays, could help open new opportunities in the mental health field. Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term meant to comprise Virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and augmented reality (AR). While XR applications are eminently visual, other senses are being explored in literature around multisensory interactions, such as auditory, olfactory, or haptic feedback. Applying such stimuli within XR experiences around mental disorders is still under-explored and could greatly enrich the therapeutic experience. This manuscript reviews recent research regarding the use of XR for mental health scenarios, highlighting trends, and potential applications as well as areas for improvement. It also discusses future challenges and research areas in upcoming topics such as the use of wearables, multisensory, and multimodal interaction. The main goal of this paper is to unpack how these technologies could be applied to XR scenarios for mental health to exploit their full potential and follow the path of other health technologies by promoting personalized medicine.

Systematic Review of Extended Reality Digital Therapy for Enhancing Mental Health Among South Korean Adolescents and Young Adults

“…However, AR effectively applies exposure therapy among XR technologies for mental health overseas. In contrast, MR is a technology that can realize therapeutic experiences in the real world rather than in a simulated environment [ 11 ]. Therefore, researchers should examine the applicability of AR and MR.…”

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“…Additionally, adherence to AR applications is not discussed in detail in the studies, which is an important issue that could affect the results considering that delivery method and place of the intervention can impact adherence. 72 …”

Social Robots and Brain–Computer Interface Video Games for Dealing with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review

“…Customizing cognitive training exercises according to the characteristics of each person is another hard challenge for engineers and researchers involved in designing general systems based on robots and BCI video games for dealing with ADHD [ 18 , 24 , 32 ]. This is due to different factors, such as the subtype of ADHD [ 57 ], the level of ADHD (from moderate to severe) [ 58 ], the preferences of each person [ 18 , 32 ], and poor adaptation to the users’ level of expertise with the technology leading to frustration [ 59 ], among other characteristics associated with the neurodevelopment of children living with ADHD, which should be considered in order to offer people a great experience.…”