Developing an Avatar in Virtual Reality for Mental Health Treatment

Abstract

This paper explores the development of a naturalistic avatar as a digital representation of a person in VR, with the potential for utilization in mental health treatment. The avatar is created based on an image, incorporating intricate facial expressions, synchronized lip movements, and lifelike body gestures. The immersive VR setup utilizes the Oculus Rift headset and Unity's game engine for seamless integration. In the future, our goal is to use the avatar to represent an Indigenous healer in a virtual farm designed based on Indigenous culture, investigating the opportunities it may have in addressing mental health issues among Indigenous youth.