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J Medical Syst

A therapy system for post-traumatic stress disorder using a virtual agent and virtual storytelling to reconstruct traumatic memories

Myrthe L. Tielman, Mark A. Neerincx, Rafael Bidarra, Ben Kybartas, and Willem-Paul Brinkman

WorldBuilder. Top images are from the CSA version, inscene person perspective (left) and edit (right). Bottom images are the war version. Left the inscene Person perspective, right birds-eye perspective. Translated from the original Dutch version

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Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well treatable, many people do not get the desired treatment due to barriers to care (such as stigma and cost). This paper presents a system that bridges this gap by enabling patients to follow therapy at home. A therapist is only involved remotely, to monitor progress and serve as a safety net. With this system, patients can recollect their memories in a digital diary and recreate them in a 3D WorldBuilder. Throughout the therapy, a virtual agent is present to inform and guide patients through the sessions, employing an ontology-based question module for recollecting traumatic memories to further elicit a detailed memory recollection. In a usability study with former PTSD patients (n = 4), these questions were found useful for memory recollection. Moreover, the usability of the whole system was rated positively. This system has the potential to be a valuable addition to the spectrum of PTSD treatments, offering a novel type of home therapy assisted by a virtual agent.

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Myrthe L. Tielman, Mark A. Neerincx, Rafael Bidarra, Ben Kybartas, and Willem-Paul Brinkman, A therapy system for post-traumatic stress disorder using a virtual agent and virtual storytelling to reconstruct traumatic memories, J Medical Syst, 41, pp. 125:1–125:10, 2017.

BibTex 

@article{bib:tielman:2017,
    author       = { Tielman, Myrthe L. and Neerincx, Mark A. and Bidarra, Rafael and Kybartas, Ben and Brinkman, Willem-Paul },    
    title        = { A therapy system for post-traumatic stress disorder using a virtual agent and virtual storytelling to reconstruct traumatic memories },
    journal      = { J Medical Syst },
    volume       = { 41 },
    year         = { 2017 },
    pages        = { 125:1--125:10 },
    doi          = { 10.1007/s10916-017-0771-y },
    dblp         = { journals/jms/TielmanNBKB17 },
    url          = { https://publications.graphics.tudelft.nl/papers/139 },
}