The funding from Innovate UK’s £20 million Mindset programme is driving the growth of immersive digital mental health solutions in the UK. By supporting projects that develop therapeutic interventions, Mindset is building a robust ecosystem to bring these innovations to market.
Through fostering collaboration between the immersive technology sector and mental health providers, Mindset aims to improve treatment options, offering faster, more cost effective and accessible support for individuals with mental health concerns.
The challenge
Mental health is a significant and pressing issue, one which is growing and affecting millions of people across all demographics.
Five million patients accessed NHS treatment in 2022 and 2023, an increase of more than 25% in five years. With the cost to the UK economy estimated to be at least £117.9 billion per year (5% of UK gross domestic product), the need for innovative solutions has never been greater.
The innovations
The projects focus on digital mental health therapy through the application of extended reality (XR), from early-stage viability assessment to industry-led research.
Solutions include:
- immersive hypnotherapy for patients with functional neurological disorder (FND)
- an XR application for adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- a mixed reality (MR) environment for a variety of mental health conditions including bipolar disorder and psychosis
Various virtual reality (VR) solutions will support young people with depression and those who experience hearing voices, as well as those with autism spectrum disorder.
Innovations to support people in addiction recovery, with post-traumatic stress disorder, and those who self-harm are also amongst the projects funded through Mindset.
Enhancing care, driving growth
Dr Stella Peace, Executive Director for Healthy Living and Agriculture Domain at Innovate UK, said:
These solutions will enhance patient care by offering faster, more accessible support for individuals facing mental health challenges. By investing in these cutting-edge technologies, we are fostering business growth and unlocking innovations that truly make life better.
George MacGinnis, Director for Healthy Lives at Innovate UK, said:
Bringing together the UK’s world class creative and health technology industries to develop immersive digital mental health solutions opens up new opportunities to transform care and improve access to effective treatments for many more patients.
Further information
Industrial research projects
Artificial intelligence-based, virtual reality application to provide data-driven, patient-centred treatment for people with eating disorders (Oasis)
Project lead: SyncVR Medical UK Ltd
Decreasing waitlists for young patients with eating disorders through an evidence-based VR treatment, developed in collaboration between SyncVR Medical and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Building psychological readiness for credit through XR games
Project lead: Good With Ltd
Good With’s FinIQ™, financial psycho-education simulation experience, gives learners a safe space to deal with personal finance situations, improving their metacognitive skills, financial knowledge and decision-making capabilities in the real-world.
Dragons of Afterlands: implementing an augmented reality-social board game that improves wellbeing into education and healthcare settings
Project lead: Play Well For Life Ltd
Implementing a novel social intervention for adolescent socioemotional development, aimed at clinicians and educators supporting inpatient young people and those struggling with mainstream education.
Low-cost VR for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within routine mental healthcare settings
Project lead: Propeer Solutions Ltd
Our VR platform enhances PTSD treatment by immersing patients in realistic environments which has the potential to reduce therapy times and improve outcomes.
MindPsy: a culturally sensitive transdiagnostic XR mental health app to prevent mental health decline, prioritise waitlists, and save the UK economy £385 million per year
Project lead: Little Beginnings Ltd
MindPsy is a compassionate co-pilot app for young people. It passively analyses mental health decline through a smartphone and provides mentorship through artificial intelligence Avatars.
New VR application to support people that self-harm
Project lead: XR Therapeutics Ltd
XR Therapeutics is creating a new VR tool to prevent people from self-harming, focusing on providing a healthier way to cope with negative emotions.
Prototype building, testing and beta product development for a new digital therapeutic to support adolescents with low mood and depression
Project lead: BFB Labs Ltd
Supporting adolescents with low mood and depression using a next generation digital intervention that combines immersive gaming with evidenced therapy and real time data.
Researching, designing and delivering VR-based mindfulness based cognitive therapy to Mind service users across the UK
Project lead: Tend VR Ltd
Scalable, affordable digital therapies deployed via immersive technologies at population scale.
SamphireXR: digital therapeutics for perimenopausal insomnia and anxiety
Project lead: Samphire Neuroscience
Our XR-enabled platform allows women to advance their management of menopause-related symptoms, specifically anxiety, hot flushes, and insomnia, in combination with brain stimulation treatments.
Soul Garden: a digital video game minimum viable product providing mental health benefits ready for post-project clinical trials
Project lead: Sketchbook Games Ltd
A multi-platform game featuring engaging puzzles and narratives as well as mindfulness exercises and meditations to provide mental health and wellbeing benefits for players.
StayingWell XR
Project lead: Animorph Ltd
Relapse prevention technology using MR, guided by clinicians, to support those living with bipolar disorder, psychosis, depression and anxiety disorders.
VR therapy and close loop vagus stimulation
Project lead: Rescape Innovate Ltd
Using a class 1 medical device, DR.VR® a virtual reality immersive intervention, and vagus nerve stimulation to reduce depression and anxiety in chronic pain sufferers.
Feasibility projects
Depict VR: a VR intervention to help young people who hear voices
Project lead: Borderpoint Films Ltd
Depict VR helps young people who hear voices to share their experiences using a virtual environment. It is a cost-effective platform to help patients sooner.
XR solutions for the wellbeing of community mental health teams: a feasibility study
Project lead: EXR Solutions Ltd
Exploring the use of XR technology to combat stress and burnout in mental health professionals, improving wellbeing and empowering them to deliver optimal patient care.
Feasibility study for using a VR video game for children and younger people’s depression rehabilitation
Project lead: Ascentys Ltd
Our ground-breaking VR-based video game provides an inexpensive, easy-to-use digital therapy for children’s depression, as a potentially vastly more effective alternative to existing gold standard treatments.
Holographic telepsychiatry: a novel medium, device and platform for improved therapeutic outcomes
Project lead: Holo-Log Ltd
Holo-log’s revolutionary holographic streaming platform offers a profoundly enriched communication medium for telepsychiatry, delivering a more effective therapeutic solution tailored to young people.
LifePathXR
Project lead: Human Studio Ltd
LifePathXR is a VR tool for creating a version of people’s life story that aims to improve their mental health and share with others.
Project Zenith: an XR application to prevent long-term, medication-based treatment for patients with autism spectrum disorder
Project lead: SyncVR Medical UK Ltd
Cognitive behavioural therapy-based VR treatment for waitlisted autistic patients, developed in collaboration between SyncVR Medical and Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Safe Space Labs: an immersive platform that empowers young people with mental health conditions and helps them thrive in social situations
Project lead: Safe Space Labs Ltd
An artificial intelligence-driven digital health and education immersive platform, utilising AR, that empowers young people with social communication challenges, fostering confidence and independence.
Tatvika: an immersive VR platform for digital therapeutics and cognitive training
Project lead: Inclusys Ltd
Tatvika transforms elderly care by merging neuroscience and VR technology, fostering enhanced cognitive function, physical mobility and social interaction in an engaging virtual landscape.
THRIVE-FND: therapeutic hypnosis via restorative immersive virtual environments for FND
Project lead: Nudge Reality
Utilising state-of-the-art XR technology, and combining VR with therapeutic hypnotherapy, to address the anxiety and depression often associated with FND.
VR: pioneering advances in addiction recovery
Project lead: Life Process Program Ltd
A groundbreaking suite of VR experiences, designed to enhance the effectiveness of an established online addiction recovery programme.
VR for personalised anxiety management using biometric data and algorithmic design and model manipulation
Project lead: Awen Emotions Ltd
Awen uses the immersive power of VR and the scientifically proven benefit of feeling awe, to create radical digital experiences that empower all young people to overcome anxiety and stress by achieving calm and confidence.
FREEDOM XR: MR treatment for adults with symptoms of ADHD
Project lead: Neurotech Ltd
An application utilising immersive MR digital treatments to support adults with ADHD and those on waiting lists for assessment.
Top image: Credit: SeventyFour, iStock, Getty Images Plus via Getty Images