Virtual reality

Re-imagining therapy using gamified virtual reality Tools

Introducing MIND, a cutting-edge suite of immersive VR tools designed to deliver transformative therapeutic experiences for young people with depression and anxiety.

MIND uses personalised virtual environments to guide users to learn and practice key therapeutic skills in an engaging and memorable way, equipping them to effectively manage distressing thoughts and emotions in the real world.

project overview

For young people, depression and anxiety are the most common mental health difficulties.

One of the main ways that psychologists help young people is by teaching them skills and techniques to manage negative thoughts and emotions that can drive depression and anxiety. However, these skills and techniques can be abstract and hard to learn, with many young people dropping treatment or struggling to use the strategies when they are needed most.

VR can help overcome these barriers by offering engaging, interactive and fun ways to learn and practice therapeutic skills in real world environments.

MIND is the first VR application designed for this purpose. Through a brief VR experience, young people with depression and anxiety learn and practice a key therapeutic skill to manage distressing thoughts and emotions.

MIND uses VR to help young people physically visualise their thoughts.

Using elements found in virtual games, young people can interact and play with physical representations of their thoughts in the virtual environment. Mirroring a key therapeutic technique called ‘defusion’, they learn how to step back from their inner experiences and relate to them in a more objective and positive way.

MIND is the first step in building a toolkit of fun, interactive therapeutic games that targets key psychological mechanisms in real-time, real-world contexts. It supports clinicians to deliver more effective, engaging and innovative treatments for young people.

MIND receives a Telstra Foundation Young & Connected grant

Orygen Digital and the MIND team greatly appreciate our long-term partnership with the Telstra Foundation. Through a 2023 Telstra Foundation Young & Connected $250,000 grant, MIND will move beyond an early prototype to a clinical trial, putting it a step closer to being in the hands of young people who need it. Read more

Jeffrey Rowe Faulkner bequest 

We are thrilled to announce that the MIND project has secured $35,000 funding through the Jeffrey Rowe Faulkner bequest at the University of Melbourne.

In combination with the Telstra Foundation’s Young & Connected grant, this critical funding will enable Orygen Digital to form meaningful partnerships with young people and clinicians through participatory design to ensure that MIND 2.0 is designed to fit the needs, expectations and preferences of these end users.

The funding also provides a vital resource to boost the development of MIND 2.0 alongside our partners Liminal VR, which will enable an expanded range of features and functionality.