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.
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.
