Oxford University VR spinout raises $4.1 million to treat mental health issues
Virtual reality-based product to be launched by Oxford University will be able to treat mental health problems.
Due to the fast-changing circumstance in every aspect, lots and lots of people are reported as having psychological problems mostly Anxiety and Depression. With regard to this, recently in a fund-raising process, Oxford University has raised a total of $4.1 million dollars for developments of VR products to treat mental health problems.
Keeping health systems, economy and impact on patients under observation, the chief motive is to create a budget-friendly, user-centered and clinically accepted product that could deal with complex conditions such as psychosis and social anxiety, says Mr.Barnby Perk, CEO of Oxford VR. They aim for faster and effective treatment keeping pace with user experience as well. As stated by Mr. Perk, they are looking for alternatives to traditional treatment methods which are considerably cheap and he believes this can be made possible with Professor Daniel Freeman’s research and the Virtual Reality.
In the world where technology is replacing human efforts at an exponential rate, many startups have come up with concepts to deal with many health issues, and Oxford VR hereby is one of the biggest contributors from past 15 years.
People should actually be taking care of their mental health, as conditions around are making them worse. People with Anxiety and Depression are increasing at a tremendous rate and it quite easy to find people suffering from hypertension. This measure by Oxford could make notable changes by improving millions of lives.
A computer-generated character/image was used as an alternative for the therapist to guide users for their treatment session during acrophobic treatment, and it was noticed that their fear was reduced by an average of 68%. Creating a huge difference, eventually initiated the idea of dealing with an entire range of psychological problems with VR.
Another factor that makes this kind of treatment very crucial is the significant shrink in the treatment cost. People are reportedly spending huge amounts on therapies for mental peace.
Going to rehabs and therapy centers is one of the most common ways people deal with mental issues, this convention definitely needs an alternative which Oxford VR product can certainly be.
The various rounds of fundraising resulted in raising a total amount of $4.1 million, in which the latest round focused to finance an ambitious strategy of product development. The investments at various stages would help Oxford VR to form a team of highly skilled experts. The total amount $4.1 million was invested by various investors including OSI, University of Oxford, Force over mass, RT capital, and GT healthcare capital partners. UK’s Investment Accelerator scheme also invested on Oxford VR to develop a treatment for people with social anxiety.
Looking forward to developing VR platforms so that it could be used purposely is an innovative measure. VR tools and products can actually improve user experience, and exposure to such a new method of treatment will be effective for their psychological conditions in a positive way.
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