Volunteers needed for virtual reality study to improve health

Improve your wellbeing, compassion towards self and others, and problem-solving ability.

The Algorithmic Human Development group at Imperial College London is dedicated to improving mental well-being in all people and is sponsored by the non-profit organization Empowered Human Foundation.

We have, over the past decade, developed the Self-Attachment Technique (SAT), which has generated promising results in both clinical and non-clinical populations. In this non-invasive intervention, participants imaginatively create a strong loving bond with their childhood selves using their favourite childhood photos and on this basis practice protocols that resemble how parents take good care of their children.

SAT has recently been extended with Virtual Reality (VR). Your help is needed to evaluate the efficacy of SAT intervention based on childhood photos and on personalised avatars implemented as a mobile VR application. As a result, you are invited to take part in our new study.

This study is based on eight weekly sessions and requires daily practice of the protocols using your favourite and non-favourite childhood photo or your customised avatar in the VR environment for at least 15 minutes twice a day.

You are eligible to take part if you are an adult without any history of psychiatric illness and have good quality photos of your childhood. If you are interested, please read the attached Participant Information Sheet to find out more about the study and contact us by 02 April at the latest: ahd@ic.ac.uk

Principal Investigator: Prof. Abbas Edalat

Co-investigators: Dr Dasha Nicholls, Dr Frank Ryan, Dr Barney Gilbert, Neophytos Polydorou

Advisor: Dr Kamran Saedi