Imagine a gadget which empowers patients to overcome their life-limiting phobias. TeleSoftas has just received EU funding to research and develop virtual reality applications to do just that. The solution will help treat mental health issues, including phobias, by exposing the patient to the particular anxiety in a safe virtual environment.
The project is a partnership between TeleSoftas, the Ministry of Health, Invest Lithuania, State Mental Health Centre. On completion the app will be free and available as a self-help tool for the public. The content will offer cognitive behavioural therapy and the ability to monitor emotional well-being.
The EU funding has just been approved and by 2018 it is anticipated that there will be a clinically-tested application. The expert R & D team at TeleSoftas has already completed proof of concept successfully. Now they are working with psychologists on an extensive testing and data processing period analysing how the doctor/patient interface would work.
Mobile applications are already transforming healthcare, including monitoring our lifestyle choices, and helping us make decisions to improve our physical and mental well-being. In extension the very future of self-help could be VR with people turning on their headset to experience ways to change their behaviour and embed the theory in practice, rather than just reading about it.
The potential for mobile to help public health is huge and this is an exciting venture for TeleSoftas into the burgeoning health tech sector. This successful funding application is testament to the expertise of the cutting-edge R & D team, passionate about solving everyday problems with technology. They have already been collaborating with the Lithuania University of Health Sciences on a number of solutions, including software to assist with the rehabilitation of patients with strokes and a VR project to help children cope with tuberculosis.
In the latter project, currently children with TB are in quarantine for around six months, with visits only permissible through a glass screen to prevent the spread of disease. VR offers the opportunity for patients to experience a virtual meeting with their loved ones offering that much-needed emotional connection.
TeleSoftas is excited to be participating in Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month to demonstrate how they’re mobilising VR and other technologies to create workable, commercial solutions that will make a real impact on the world. This new health project is yet another step for TeleSoftas towards truly life-changing tech. Find out more about TeleSoftas’ adventure at MWC and you can book a meeting via [email protected]
