Developing interactive VR-based digital therapeutics for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): a structured...

Area of Science:

• Digital therapeutics
• Virtual reality in mental health
• Psychotherapy transformation

Background:

• Digital therapeutics (DTx) require structured methods to convert evidence-based psychotherapy into digital formats.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a recognized psychotherapy.
• Translating ACT into immersive digital formats presents unique challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a practical framework for the digital transformation of ACT into an interactive virtual reality (VR) system.
• To develop a VR-based digital therapeutic intervention for depression.
• To establish a model for creating standardized, scalable digital mental healthcare solutions.

Main Methods:

• Development of DTx-ACT followed five phases: preliminary research, design, development, advancement, and commercialization.
• The ACT protocol was modularized into VR environments using the Session Structuring System (SSS) model.
• Gamification and multimodal arts strategies were incorporated for user engagement; evaluation metrics were defined.

Main Results:

• The final DTx-ACT system includes five immersive VR sessions (6-12 minutes each) with ACT metaphors and interactive tasks.
• Key components include an evidence-based protocol, interactive VR elements (gamification, arts-based guidance), and a data-driven evaluation framework.
• Evaluation metrics from a pilot study were integrated to collect clinical and interaction data for comprehensive assessment.

Conclusions:

• A practical framework for designing interactive VR-based DTx is proposed, bridging clinical structure, creative engagement, and real-time evaluation.
• This framework supports personalized and scalable applications in digital mental healthcare.
• It contributes to standardizing the digital transformation of evidence-based therapy and offers a transferable model for future therapeutic content development.