Public Funding for Mindwave Ventures Limited

"It is widely known that people with mental health difficulties experience discrimination, disadvantage and prejudice in our society. However, recently there is an increasing understanding of the importance of changing this status quo. Our vision is to help change attitudes towards people with mental illness with the use of cutting edge technology. Our project aims to use the medium of virtual reality (VR) to improve empathy and attitudes towards people suffering from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is one of the most prevalent serious mental illnesses, with around 1 in 200 of the UK population affected by this condition at some point in their lives. Although it is a condition that typically affects younger adults. The most common symptoms are hearing voices and paranoia. It can be difficult for patients to fully convey their experiences through words alone. Through research, it has been shown that improved empathy towards patients can increase the level of care and improve communication between patients and medical staff. Psychotic symptoms can be recognised at an earlier stage if clinicians have experienced symptoms for themselves. Therefore, this VR tool will be rolled out in an educational setting. In the VR simulation, participants will experience symptoms of schizophrenia. For example, the user will hear voices whilst they carry out tasks in VR. We aim to make the experience as immersive and realistic as possible in order to convey an honest representation of psychosis."

The Mobile EMA&I project will assess the commercial viability and technical practicalities of developing a unique technology platform for use in mental health applications. The focus is on assessing the means by which mobile & wearable devices can be utilised to gather data from an Ecological Momentary Assessment (or ‘EMA’) and then provide instantaneous individualised interventions (an Ecological Momentary Intervention or ‘EMI’) to patients with a range of mental health conditions. The aim is to be able to ascertain how such an application can best be developed and commercially exploited. If this project is successful, our goal is to ultimately develop a platform that can be used to significantly improve the effectiveness and timeliness of therapeutic interventions for a wide range of mental health conditions; improving patient healthcare whilst also significantly reducing the resource requirement and economic impact on the NHS.