The UK Research and Innovation unit has revealed a series of new digital therapeutic solutions to receive a share of £3 million in funding.
The projects feature a range of immersive technology including VR, remote touch and mobile gaming. They are intended to support conditions such as bipolar disorder, psychosis, autism, dementia and anxiety.
“Delivering therapies via VR can achieve outcomes two to three times faster than traditional treatments, can cut wait times, improve access to services, and reduce the severity of symptoms,” UKRI said.
With a budget of £20million, the Mindset programme seeks to grow the UK’s immersive digital mental health sector by “investing in projects which deliver immersive digital mental health therapeutics”. It also looks to “create a supportive ecosystem which will help companies bring these innovations to market”.
George McGinnis, Innovate UK’s UK Research and Innovation Healthy Ageing Challenge Director, said: “These new tools provide clinicians the ability to deliver a more engaging experience, improve access to care and enable those clinicians to see and treat more patients effectively. The UK has a huge talent devoted to developing immersive digital experiences and applying this to create novel solutions for mental health could be a real game-changer.”
The innovations in the programme include:
Mediprospectsai Limited
NeuroXRFitness, a game-changing AI-enabled and gamified XR technology for digital mental health using music therapy.
Good With Limited
XR cognitive defusion experience building financial wellbeing in young adults.
Neuhealth Ltd
M-Fit, improving the wellbeing and mental fitness of people and productivity of companies.
Scenegraph Studios Ltd
SpiritVR, a VR application to aid with mental health and wellbeing.
Zecora Ura Theatre
Within Touching distance, scaling empathy through patient-centred affective touch.
I2 Media Research Limited
WAVE, designing and testing ways to help people to manage cognitive, emotional and physical anxiety symptoms.
Recreo VR Ltd
The application of VR to tackle mental health issues and improve wellbeing within elderly care.
Vision 3 Ltd
TheraVR, a closed-loop mixed reality interface offering highly personalised mental health solutions.
Animorph Ltd
Staying Well XR, a wearable VR software allowing service users to explore their ‘relapse signatures’ and coping strategies with and without a therapist.
Brainspark Games Ltd
NeuroWellbeing Immersive Tech, AI-enabled, augmented reality (AR), 3D open world, immersive educational mobile games.
Elucidare Limited
Spatial Audio for Managing Mental Illness, for the detection, tracking and isolation of sound sources with no prior knowledge of their presence, number or location.
Blying Limited
An AI based platform delivering group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the metaverse.
Squidsoup Limited
The implementation of the mixed reality submergence technology as a complimentary therapeutic mental healthcare solution.
Get Cerebral Limited
The Sandbox, VR internet-based CBT for children and young people in south Staffordshire.
Virtualspeech Ltd
Overcoming social anxiety through immersion in VR.
Chaotic Order Ltd
Hark, a VR based interactive narrative game and meditation app hybrid to help manage digital addiction in young people.
Tycho Medlink Limited
A VR software for people with seasonal affective disorders to improve their quality of life.
Play Well for Life Ltd
Using AR and AI-driven analytics to personalise wellbeing content in a social board game context.
XR Therapeutics Limited
A new VR platform for accessible treatment of phobias and anxiety.
Cineon Training Limited
Improving Service Access using Virtual Exposure (iSAVE)
We are Anagram Limited
Inside Mental Health, an immersive training tool for staff and clinicians that represents the experience of mental health issues in a way which has shown to have an impact on their empathy to patients.
Syncvr Medical UK Ltd
A VR application to aid self-management of people awaiting treatment for mental health conditions or symptoms.
Rescape Innovation Limited
VR-MELODY, utilising music and AI to advance DR.VR(TM) and co-create a personalised VR solution to reduce anxiety and build mental resilience in adults.
Oxford Dynamics Limited
Empathy-XR, an immersive AI-based tool for mental health wellbeing.
Phase Space Ltd
VR hypnotherapy as an early intervention for anxiety in students and young people.
Insideout 25 Limited
InsideOut XR, using AR and VR for psychoeducation and mindfulness-based intervention self-help tools.
Pixelmill Ltd
Planet WellBeing, using extended reality to improve mental health and reduce loneliness.
Care Reality Limited
Virtual Choirs in Care Homes, a networked XR therapeutic singing intervention to improve mental health.
Cocoon Wellbeing Limited
Mentis, building an AR or VR digital service delivered through a smartphone that incorporates state-of-the-art cognitive-behavioural science and neuroscience.
To learn more about the funded projects, please click here.
