Forbes Features ICT Virtual Reality Projects for Mental Health

Published: September 21, 2014
Category: News

In a Forbes column, Steven Kotler describes ICT’s virtual reality projects being as on the “bleeding edge”.
Kotler writes about Ellie, part of ICT’s DARPA-funded SimSensi project.
“Ellie is a diagnostic tool capable of reading 60 non-verbal cues a second—everything from eye-gaze to face tilt to voice tone—in the hopes of identifying the early warning signs of depressions and (part of the long term goal) stemming the rising tide of soldier suicide.
And early reports indicate that Ellie is both good at her job and that soldiers like talking to an AI-psychologist more than they like talking to a human psychologist (AI’s don’t judge).”
He also covers Bravemind, a VR-based protocol for the treatment of PTSD, developed by psychologist Skip Rizzo.
“It’s an impressive piece of tech. With soldiers returning from combat, already Rizzo’s protocol has proven itself more effective than traditional methods,” he wrote.