A Reflection on Virtual Reality Design for Psychological, Cognitive & Behavioral Interventions: Design Needs, Opportunities & Challenges

Despite the substantial research interest in using Virtual Reality (VR) in healthcare in general and in Psychological, Cognitive, and Behavioral (PC&B) interventions in specific, as well as emerging research supporting the efficacy of VR in healthcare, the design process of translating therapies into VR to meet the needs of critical stakeholders such as users and clinicians is rarely addressed. In this paper, we aim to shed light onto the design needs, opportunities and challenges in designing efficient and effective PC&B-VR interventions. Through analyzing the co-design processes of four user-centered PC&B-VR interventions, we examined how therapies were adapted into VR to meet stakeholders’ requirements, explored design elements for meaningful experiences, and investigated how the understanding of healthcare contexts contribute to the VR intervention design. This paper presents the HCI research community with design opportunities and challenges as well as future directions for PC&B-VR intervention design

Examining the Effects of Disabilities on VR Usage and Accessibility Issues for Persons with Disabilities

Virtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology that’s popularity has been increasing at a yearly rate. Despite this, concerns about the accessibility of VR devices are ever-growing as many users struggle to use the technology, especially users with disabilities. This study analyses how different types of disabilities affect how often a user uses VR and any associated re-occurring difficulties that are related to specific types of disability. To do this, a previous survey regarding VR accessibility run by Disability Visibility Project and ILMxLAB is examined. In this survey, 79 participants who identify as having a disability answered questions related to their experience of using VR. In this study, the results from the survey are sorted into six different categories representing their types of disability (Visual, Auditory, Lower body, Upper body, Hands, Cognitive). Using a mixed methodology, the data from the survey is tested using logistic regression – to test the relationship between disability and usage, while content analysis is used to examine specific difficulties the participants wrote about in the open-ended questions. Results showed that participants with a visual disability were 90% less likely to use VR at least once a month when compared to users with motor, auditory or cognitive disabilities. No correlation could be confirmed between the other five categories and VR usage. Also highlighted were 25 difficulties that appeared in three or more participants’ open-ended question responses. These difficulties highlight barriers that people with disabilities regularly face (such as not being able to stand, read text or require subtitles) which should be considered in VR development to make the technology more accessible