SPECIAL SESSION #2
eXtended Reality for Health and Wellbeing
ORGANIZED BY
Sara Arlati
Sara Arlati
Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing, National Research Council of Italy
Carola Gatto
Carola Gatto
Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Salento
Giovanni D'Errico
Giovanni D'Errico
DISAT - Department of Applied Science and Technology - Politecnico di Torino
ABSTRACT
Among all the technologies defining e-health, eXtended Reality (XR) has been focusing considerable research efforts in recent years, having the peculiarity of generating a sense of presence, using immersive, interactive, and collaborative virtual or augmented environments. XR technology has been identified, in many cases, as the medium that can provide a customized, realistic or imaginary environment, a reality that is not subordinate but rather continuous and coherent with respect to a physical space.
In the literature, XR has been shown to be effective as a tool for providing psychological assistance, therapy support, and rehabilitation. The debate quickly accelerated when containment measures taken to counter the COVID-19 epidemic forced many therapists to adopt online tools and remote practice.
The call of this Special Session is addressed to all that studies that involve the use of XR technologies for health and human wellbeing. Topics include (but are not limited to): psychological support, cognitive training and neuro and physical rehabilitation, Art and Museum therapy, Mindfulness. Studies combining XR and measurement systems for capabilities assessment or provision of real-time neuro- or bio-feedback are also welcome.
MAIN TOPICS
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- XR for assessment, training, and rehabilitation
- XR for progressive diseases and chronic conditions
- Serious Games
- XR for Psychotherapy
- XR-based Art therapy
- XR-based Mindfulness
- XR-based Museum therapy
- XR for Sport
- Bio/Neuroadaptivity
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Sara Arlati received her MSc degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2013, and her Ph.D. degree in Bioengineering in 2020 from Politecnico di Milano. Her Ph.D. thesis was about virtual reality-based cognitive interventions for older adults with mild cognitive impairment. She is currently a full-time researcher at CNR-STIIMA. Her research interests mainly deal with eXtended Reality (XR) technologies and their application to the health sector; in particular, she designs and develops applications supporting neuromotor rehabilitation and cognitive training for diverse populations of users. She is also interested in the evaluation of the user experience while using XR devices. She authored several papers in peer-review journals and contributions to conference proceedings.
Carola Gatto is a Ph.D. student in Science for Cultural Heritage at the University of Salento (Lecce). Her current research interests deal with digital curation in museology, eXtended Reality for cultural heritage, and the relation between museum fruition and wellbeing. She graduated magna cum laude with a master’s degree in European Heritage, Digital Media and the Information Society at the University of Salento in A.Y. 2017/2018. After graduation, she spent one year as a research fellow at AVR Lab (Augmented and Virtual Reality Laboratory) of the Department of Engineering for Innovation of the University of Salento, during which she has been involved in some Italian and international projects.
Giovanni D’Errico received the M.S. degree in Computer Science Engineering in University of Salento. He is currently a PhD student at the Polytechnic University of Turin (doctoral school in Metrology). His current research interests include the study of Passive Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) and eXtended Reality (XR) solutions to foster the EEG-based measurement of mental states. His past research interests include the study of XR applications and gamification in the context of smart cities, cultural heritage smart fruition and neurocognitive rehabilitation. He is currently part of AVRLab (University of Salento) and ARHeMLab (University of Naples Federico II).