Virtual
reality boast a long research tradition, already for three decades. After
gradual commercialisation, a spike in public hype and interest followed. As
artificial intelligence subsequently took over the tech relay rat race, the use
of immersive technology for clinical applications remained relatively unknown,
potentially underappreciated and definitely underused.
Therefore,
a question to be raised is what currently remains of the hype and what are
future perspectives? This talk aims to provide a brief overview of the current
evidence base, followed by zooming in on recent advances and future
perspectives.
Tom Van
Daele is the research coordinator Psychology and technology at Thomas More
University of Applied Sciences, an honorary professor at Queen’s University
Belfast and a research fellow at KU Leuven. As a clinical psychologist, he
conducts practice and policy oriented research on the added value of technology
for mental healthcare.