IBAS − Institute for Breathing and Sleep

Focus On: Music Therapy in Virtual Environments

Focus On: Music Therapy in Virtual Environments

Music Therapy in Virtual Environments

When we talk about virtual reality many people immediately think of gaming. Yet this booming technology is also making epic changes to therapeutic practice.

Jeanette Tamplin, Ben Loveridge, Ken Clarke, Yunhan Li, and David Berlowitz are the team behind our Music Therapy in Virtual Environments research project. Formed in 2015, this project set out to use virtual reality as a way of delivering music therapy to people with quadriplegia. Along the way they have achieved so much more.

Respiratory dysfunction is a major cause of illness and death for people with quadriplegia. Previous clinical research has demonstrated that group singing can help people with quadriplegia to breathe better, speak louder and make social connections. However there are hurdles to physically attending group singing and other therapeutic sessions. 

Our Music Therapy in Virtual Environments project has developed a proof-of-concept online virtual environment where quadriplegics can meet for telehealth therapy sessions without leaving home. While the project focuses on delivering these sessions to quadriplegics, they could also benefit other groups who are unable to access face-to-face music participation due to physical or geographical constraints.

In developing a virtual environment for music therapy the team have also addressed a major technical issue for all users of online environments: latency. This is the delay between when a user on one end starts singing and the other user starts hearing their singing. 

The project team has decreased the delay time down to a point where the music sessions can now be done in unison. There is still a minuscule amount of latency, but it is undetectable to the users. The work of our research team to overcome latency has benefits that stretch well beyond this project.

Researchers from this project will be part of our Digital band aids: How technology is good for your health event at the Networked Society Symposium 2016. Tickets are selling fast. Be sure to register below so you don't miss out!

Posted 8 years ago