Virtual reality-based therapy modules for patients with eating disorders: DigiEat is funded with a total of €1.91 million, among others by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Nuromedia GmbH announces the start of the DigiEat research project. The three-year project started on 1 August 2024 and ends on 31 July 2027. DigiEat’s project partners are NUROMEDIA, the Institute for Experimental Psychophysiology from Düsseldorf, the University Hospital Aachen – Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, and the MU – Media University of Applied Sciences GmbH – Campus Cologne.
The project is being funded with a total of €1.91 million, 72% of which is being provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the research program “Interactive technologies for health and quality of life”.
Motivation
Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that can often only be treated inadequately with psychotherapy. Digital technologies, especially those based on virtual reality (VR), offer innovative approaches to the treatment of eating disorders and optimise behavioural therapy interventions.
Goals & approach
The central aim of DigiEat is the development of olfactory-supported virtual reality (VR)-based therapy modules (‘DigiEat-ScentVR’) for patients with eating disorders. The aim is to improve the success of psychotherapeutic in-person therapy. In addition, therapy waiting times and treatment breaks can be bridged or enriched with VR therapy exercises for use at home.
The DigiEat team is developing behaviourally effective virtual eating scenarios that are particularly convincing thanks to their immersive simulations of social eating situations. Emotional odour stimuli reinforce the immersive experience and support the reconditioning of patients. For this reason, personalised therapy modules are being developed that specifically address the sense of smell, and the eating scenarios are synchronised with scent exposure systems.
The system is designed to enable patients to gain therapy experience in their protected home environment. It is intended to bridge waiting times, improve acute and maintenance therapy and thus promote long-term therapeutic success.
Innovations & perspectives
The innovations developed in the project can help to close the gap between standard behavioural therapy methods, virtual reality simulations and scent exposure systems. They offer new possibilities for expanding acute and maintenance therapy for eating disorders and help to bridge waiting times.
Tasks Nuromedia GmbH
In the DigiEat project, NUROMEDIA is responsible for the development and conception of the VR environments and the development of the authoring tool for VR in addition to its role as network coordinator. Further information about the DigiEat project: https://www.nuromedia.com/project/digi-eat/.
Nuromedia GmbH
Schaafenstraße 25
50676 Cologne
Contact: René Kaute
rene.kaute@nuromedia.com
+49 (0)221 – 398 808 00
About Nuromedia:
Nuromedia GmbH was founded in Cologne in 2006 and is an internationally active software company focussing on interactive applications. As a company builder, NUROMEDIA also builds its own digital business models and develops digital solutions and sustainable business models for relevant markets. NUROMEDIA is active for established companies and in national and international research and innovation projects. Its current focus is on applications for e-health, smart industry, digital twin, IoT, serious games & gamification, machine learning/AI and e-learning. The international team of 35 employees from 22 countries is primarily made up of developers, designers, artists and entrepreneurs. The team combines expertise such as software engineering, game development, 2D/3D animation, AR, MR & VR development and UI/UX design.