VERVE · Vanquishing fear and apathy through E-inclusion: \nPersonalised and populated Realistic Virtual Environments for clinical, home and mobile platforms

Social exclusion has many causes, but major factors are the fear and apathy that often accompany a disability. The European e-Inclusion policy stresses the importance of ICT in improving the quality of life in potentially disadvantaged groups, including older people and persons with disabilities. In this project, we will develop ICT tools to support the treatment of people who are at risk of social exclusion due to fear and/or apathy associated with a disability. These tools will be in the form of personalised VR scenarios and serious games specifically designed for therapeutic targets and made broadly available via a novel integration of interactive 3D environments directly into Web browsers. We will perform cutting edge research into rendering and simulating personalised and populated VR environments, 3D web graphics, and serious games. These technical efforts will be underpinned by our clinical/laboratory and industry partners, who will be fully involved throughout in the requirements, design and evaluation of VERVE, and liaison with the stakeholders (i.e., participants, carers/family, and health professionals). They will implement the VERVE interventions in three use-cases, each targeting a different group of participants: Fear of falling, Apathy related to cognitive decline and behavioural disturbances, and other emotional disturbances linked to anxiety. While developing clinical assessment methods and interventions for the first two patient groups is our primary focus, our results will be applicable to a much wider range of potentially disadvantaged individuals.