VIRTUAL REALITY MOBILE GAME RESILIENCE
Welcome to Resilience, which will be our new virtual reality mental health mobile game, designed to help first-year undergraduate students reduce their anxiety and stress levels, whilst they transition to university life.
How Does Resilience Work?
Students will start off playing the game as customizable avatars. They will then have the option to either self-navigate their way through the game, or be guided by a virtual games wizard who will act as a storyteller through each of the 12 virtual scenarios. These scenarios will realistically depict and simulate the experiential journey of students attending university for the first time, with virtual challenges such as homesickness, adapting to new living environments, giving presentations and financial pressure. Students will then enter a series of obstacle-based challenges, which will see them run, climb, jump and leap their way through dozens of virtual courses, traverse canyons, dodge lasers, fire and earth tremors in order to win rewards. Resilience will enable students to choose their own difficulty levels for each scenario, as this will help them feel more in control of their own destiny. As they progress within the game, they must remember that if they require additional support from the virtual games wizard, they will need to enter a secret code, which will only be made available once they have successfully completed certain tasks or levels. Also included in the game will be privacy policies, encrypted passwords and immersive data analytics. Resilience will also include an optional peer support feature that will enable players of Resilience to connect with other first-year undergraduate students who may also be experiencing similar anxiety related issues. Artificial intelligence will also be integrated into the game in order to provide real-time feedback and suggestions to each student based on their performance in the game. This will help students develop coping strategies for anxiety and stress that are tailored to their individual needs.
Features
- Virtual reality technology: The game will use virtual reality technology to create an immersive experience for players and artificial intelligence, to create atmospheric music, sound effects and voice over.
- Obstacle-based games – the game will provide a fun and engaging way of teaching students how to manage their time more effectively, by teaching them how to prioritize tasks and work efficiently.
- Anxiety Management: This therapeutic game will focus on anxiety management techniques, that are specifically tailored to help first-year undergraduate students.
- Cognitive restructuring: The game will incorporate principles of cognitive restructuring, to help players reframe their thinking and behaviour in real life situations outside of the virtual environment.
- Interactive gameplay: The game will have interactive and immersive gameplay, that engages players and helps them learn anxiety management techniques as well as increase intrinsic motivation in a fun and engaging way.
- Customizable experience: The game will be customizable to each player’s individual needs and preferences, through relatable customizable avatars.
- Rewards – The game will comprise of both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, to induce both short-term and long-term feelings of gratification and long-term positive behavioural changes.
Benefits
- Reduced perceived stress
- Improved mental health
- Fun and engaging therapeutic gaming experience
- Reduced anxiety levels
- Provides a safe and supportive environment for students to learn coping strategies.
Research
This game is based on the latest research in virtual reality mental health games, such as the National Library of Medicine, (2021), JMIR (2021) and Chitale et al (20220. These studies have all shown that virtual reality mental health games can improve anxiety and depression levels amongst university students.
Tell me about your project
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Email: kennydunkwu@gmail.com
