Designing Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiences for Health and Safety

This event is part of a series of Psychology seminars that regularly occurs during the Autumn and Spring terms.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are rapidly transforming the fields of learning, training. At the same time, there is growing interest in their use as therapeutic technologies in both physical and mental health. In this talk, Luca Chittaro will introduce the design and evaluation of VR/AR applications across the domains of Health and Safety, drawing on 28 years of experience leading projects at the HCI Lab of the University of Udine.

In the Safety domain, Luca will examine VR experiences, and VR-based educational games, as potential solutions to a well-known problem: the ineffectiveness of traditional media, such as safety cards and safety briefings, in fostering safety awareness and knowledge among the general public. He will show how the effective design and evaluation of such systems requires a multidisciplinary approach that brings together computer science and psychology. Concepts will be illustrated through practical examples taken from systems we have designed, evaluated, and deployed. For instance, he will showcase applications for the general public created in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which have been installed by tens of millions of users worldwide.

In the Health domain, Luca will discuss how the immersive techniques we have developed are being applied both to the professional training of doctors and nurses (for example, in basic life support and in the pre-hospital management of complex myocardial infarction) and to therapeutic interventions for patients with conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, and eating disorders. In building VR/AR applications aimed at patients, we have drawn on techniques ranging from exposure therapy and biofeedback based on multiple physiological sensors to mindfulness, yoga, and music therapy.

Finally, he will reflect on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into these scenarios to transform virtual characters into coaches or counselors, highlighting both its potential contributions and its limitations.