Design and Development of an Adaptive Multisensory Virtual Reality System for Emotional Self-Regulation

A pilot study aimed to assess the usability of an adaptive multisensory virtual reality (VR) system for emotional self-regulation is presented. The neurofeedback relies on electroencephalography (EEG) and is proposed to participants for strengthening the anxiety regulation capacity, by following the task to down-regulate the high-beta band measured in the parietal region of the scalp (i.e., Pz). With respect to a previous version of the system, the proposed solution guarantees: (i) a better specification of the measurand, namely the anxiety regulation, within the context of emotional regulation, (ii) the implementation of a 3D fully adaptive neurofeedback in virtual reality, and (iii) a multisensory feedback combining visual and acoustic channels. Standardized auditory stimuli and abstract geometric primitives following principles of neuroaesthetics are used in order to induce emotional states. The study was conducted on three male participants, and the preliminary results demonstrate the acceptability of the proposed design, identifying it as a promising system for emotional self-regulation.