UCF RESTORES® Proprietary VR Technology Tool
At UCF RESTORES, one of our core approaches to treatment is exposure therapy, enhanced using fully immersive virtual reality (VR) technology. By guiding our patients to face very specific elements of their traumatic memory – including sights, smells and sounds – we are able to help them process that memory, put their trauma in its place and regain control of their daily lives.
While VR has always played a role in our approach, UCF RESTORES is now breaking new ground with the development of our own, proprietary VR technology tool with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. Once this tool is in hand, we will be able to dynamically recreate scenarios that are specific to each patient’s unique experience.
Furthermore, when this project is complete, we will be able to share our technology with trained therapists across the nation. At UCF RESTORES, though we have been humbled to serve so many, we understand that not everyone can come to Central Florida for treatment. In sharing our work with others, we hope to open the door to posttraumatic healing for countless individuals that may not have had access to our treatment otherwise.
In 2019, our team was thrilled to complete and deliver a comprehensive prototype of the proprietary VR tool, which we have continued to build out into a fully developed system that we trust will serve as a “game-changer” for immersive exposure therapy treatment.
Beginning in late 2020, with continued federal funding, UCF RESTORES will launch clinical trials to test the efficacy of the VR system and develop intensive training materials for licensed clinicians seeking to incorporate this tool into their own exposure therapy treatment programs.