Design Process of a Ceramic Modeling Application for Virtual Reality Art Therapy

Abstract

In the last years, teletherapy has provided the possibility of improving the accessibility to the therapy itself, by means of digital platforms. Of all the technologies that make up e-health, Virtual Reality is the one that creates the sense of presence, using immersive, interactive and collaborative virtual environments. From this perspective, this paper presents the preliminary study for a Virtual Reality (VR) Art Therapy application. It concerns one module of a project called Ermes, aimed at providing psychological support for remote practice for hospitalized patients, by means of Mindfulness and Art therapy practice. This perspective research starts with the aim of experimenting with a new system of interaction in Virtual Reality for the practice of Art Therapy. In particular, the medium that we want to adopt for the practice is the modeling of ceramics with traditional techniques. In this paper, we introduce the methodology and the design of this VR Art Therapy application, by explaining the gamification choices we made, in terms of mechanics, dynamics (visual responses), and aesthetics. The output is the definition of an optimal experience for the implementation of the Art Therapy scenario.