The Psychological Recovery of Patients in the Context of Virtual Reality Application by a Complementary Medicine Scheme Based on Visual Art

Abstract

Expressive art therapy, which originated from art therapy, uses visual art as a carrier and plays a complementary role in clinical medicine and psychological medicine in the healing process of mentally ill patients. With the rapid development of science and technology, expressive art therapy has also entered the field of technology-oriented virtual reality. This study aims to summarize the clinical psychology research of expressive art therapy based on virtual reality, to review the current state of the field, in order to provide detailed scientific research evidence summary for relevant content and complete knowledge reserve.

The Impact of Digital Media, Virtual Reality, and Computer-generated art on Traditional Art Forms

“…VR art creation tools offer a dynamic canvas where artists can craft three-dimensional sculptures, paint in an entirely immersive space, and experiment with spatial storytelling. This evolution transcends the limitations of traditional artistic mediums and has unlocked innovative possibilities for artists to express themselves [5].…”

Art as therapy in virtual reality: A scoping review

“…In this instance, "virtual objects" refers to the clients' artistic creations, which play the role of externalized concepts. VR offers the ability of viewing objects from any angle, including from within the artwork, and the ability of scaling the size of objects (Hacmun et al, 2018;Li and Shen, 2022). The viewing of such objects from different vantage points is a practice that is already employed in psychotherapy and VR can drastically enhance this practice.…”

“…Even so, the inherent qualities of VR applications motivate patients to keep exercising and instill in them the willingness to gain mastery over the new media (Baron et al, 2021). As no hard-and-fast rules for artmaking exist, VR artmaking is often viewed as an activity for relaxation and recuperation with no substantial impact on the physical world and free from the fear of failure or committing mistakes (Li and Shen 2022). A study that focused on the physiological measures of VR users during artmaking in a 3D virtual space, found a reduction in anxiety and negative affect (Richesin et al, 2021).…”

“…Guided imagery, as an art therapy practice, requires imagination, which patients sometimes lack. VR immersive environments may be able to provide the inspiration necessary for unimaginative patients to evoke concrete ideas and possibilities more easily while sparking the interest in further exploring these ideas (Kaimal et al, 2020a;Li and Shen, 2022).…”

“…VR interventions are found to be great alternative options of therapy in cases of clients rejecting traditional therapeutic methods. Therefore, VR assists in building rapport between clients, especially younger ones, and their therapists, by enriching the psychotherapeutic relationship (Shamri Zeevi, 2021;Li and Shen, 2022). The use of new media, such as VR, in art therapy paves the way for further cultural exploration of digital natives and their interaction with technology (Carlton, 2014).…”