Augmented reality and mental health:
To help differentiate my idea to other products out there, I thought I could incorporate a modern concept and work it into a useful service for my target audience. I was inspired last semester by augmented reality, as I thought it was really interesting and cool, it was very engaging. I thought this could be really interesting to incorporate into mental health as, it would become more interactive. Augmented Reality is a live/direct view of a physical world environment whose elements are supplemented by the computer generated sensory input.
I started off my research looking to see if there are any other products that use AR, this is when I came across a company called App Saagara. They have created a range of apps that help to make the user healthier mentally and physically. They have an app called Relax: For Stress and Anxiety. This focuses on different types of breathing in a more visual way. However, it just focuses on breathing which does limit this product. Their main app that uses AR bring yoga to life. The phone scans a picture/poster and a 3D animation appears in 360⁰ and talks you through different steps. This could be a really interesting feature to add to my product, as it will become more captivating and more of a distraction, which is what the user will need when using this app.
AG is a way to help gamify mental health as the user will be interacting with the real world, which could be useful for them as the techniques they will learn can easily be applied to real life, helping them to feel more comfortable. From other research, I found out that Virtual Reality would be better if I was focusing more on PTSD, as it can recall treatment of memories, and use vivo exposure. Vivo exposure is used to help reduce the fear associated with the triggers.
Applying AG to my product it could be useful QR (quick response) codes, as this is just uploading an image then associating it with a 3D mode. The code acts as a hyperlink to the data and other responses. The image is shown directly on the code. There are two types of tracking; marker-less tracking, this is when you point your phone at each picture and it will have some kind of recognition to try and identify it. Marker based tracking, is normally used with two dimension barcodes.
If I was to carry this on and apply it within my project, then I will need to develop skills in 3D modelling and desktop programming. C2K is a code developer that will help me code. The AG that I would use is marker based applications that will overlay an image with content.
2/2/17:
From researching and applying this to my target market, I think this may not be useful for them, as this could take some time for them to get the information and help they want. They wanted help as soon as they can get it, as it is in the state of panic is when they are looking for some help. This means that I will mainly focus on interface design and thinking of ways they can organise themselves quickly to get what they want. Also, I want to make this app widely available as I can, which means by having AG then it might not be accessible on all devices.
Bibliography:
http://www.saagara.com/apps/breathing/relax
https://www.div12.org/psychological-treatments/
http://www.livescience.com/34843-augmented-reality.html