Avatar
Assisted
Therapy
2013
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.”
“If I had asked my customers what they
wanted, the would have said ‘faster horses’.”
"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous
and then dismissed as trivial, until finally, it
becomes what everybody knows.“
The Big Idea
Gartner Technology “Hype Cycle”
2012- Virtual Worlds
People Tell us Where They Want To Go
Pay Attention!
www.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2001 - 2012, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide
.
Pay Attention!
2008
Facebook Users
130 million
Tweets per month
170,000
Monthly Smartphone Use 4.5 hours
Pay Attention!
2008
2012
Facebook Users
130 million
900 million+
Tweets per month
170,000
4.2 billion.
Monthly Smartphone Use 4.5 hours
90 hours
Emerging Technology
ACHESS
NIATx
• Support Teams
• Online Group Discussions
• “Panic Button”
• High Risk Location Alert
• Ask an Expert
• Meeting Locations
Emerging Technology
+
iHeal Wristband
and Mobile App
UMass-Worcester/MIT
Emerging Technology
Web-based
Collaboration
e.g., eGetGoing, Valley Hope’s AC/ESS
Virtual World Counseling Platform
A persistent, computer based, simulated
3-D environment in which real people,
using avatars, are able to interact in
meaningful ways with each other and the
virtual environment.
Avatars, Simply Defined
Avatar: A computerized figure which
“represents” you in a virtual space, and
allows you to meet and interact
synchronously with others who are in the
same space.
Early Avatars
Avatars, v. 2.0
Commercial Virtual Worlds
Virtual World Conferencing
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Immersiveness + Interactivity = Engagement
Immersive
Web
XD
Interactivity
Web 3D
Interactive
Web
2.0
World Wide
Web
Static
Pre-Web
Internet
Text
Only
Basic Web UI
Rich, Interactive
Graphical UI
Richness of User Experience
3D-Digital
Experience
?
Avatar Assisted Therapy
The computer and the internet itself become a
tool – a tool that “disappears” the more you
become comfortable with it!
The Big Idea - Revisited
Avatar Assisted Therapy
“Advanced Telemedicine”
1. Immersive engagement at a level well beyond "talking heads" or audio only
2. 24/7 availability with educational and support opportunities.
3. Far more access points than with traditional telemedicine
4. Inexpensive creation of imaginative, appealing environments
4a. Environmental modifications on the fly
5. Middleware applications allows tracking and interaction (management level) with the virtual experience
6. Avatar choice/modification creates therapeutic opportunities
7. Private direction of group dynamics via 1:1 chat function
8. Avatar aliases and audio modification supports high level identity protection and anonymity
Avatar Assisted Therapy
But, Does it Work?
90% Program Completion Rates
2.4 x Activity Engagement
Avatar Assisted Therapy
But, Does it Work?
90% Program Completion Rates
2.4 x Activity Engagement
“Easier to Talk About Difficult Issues”
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Therapeutic and Practical Uses of Virtual Worlds
• Individual and Group Counseling
• Role Play
• Family Counseling
• Staff Training
• Virtual Conferencing
• Job Interviews
Avatar Assisted Therapy
Ongoing Considerations:
•
•
•
•
•
Funding
Licensure
Technology
Skills and Abilities
Availability of Assistance
Avatar Assisted Therapy
"It is not necessary to imagine the world
ending in fire or ice. There are two other
possibilities: one is paper work, and the
other is nostalgia."
Avatar Assisted Therapy
For More Information:
Dick Dillon
dickd@innovaision.com
314-504-6672