Psious: virtual reality against anxiety disorders

He human brain It is one of the most complex systems that exist, but over time new technologies are emerging that allow studying its operation and effectively intervening in it. Among these innovative proposals are those that have to do with the use of virtual reality, that is, the design and modeling of fictional environments that we can explore through electronic devices placed in our eyes, ears, etc

Interview with Xavier Palomer, CEO of Psious

Today we interview Xavier Palomer, CEO and co-founder of psious, an ambitious project born in Barcelona that aims to bring virtual reality sessions closer to clinical intervention.

What is Psious and how was the initial idea of ​​undertaking this project born?

Psious Toolsuite is the first online platform specifically created for mental health. It is an app designed by psychologists for psychologists that uses virtual reality and 3D technology to treat anxiety disorders.

The project was started by Dani Roig, the other founder, and me. We met in the physics department. Dani was afraid of flying and looking for a therapy to cure herself, the idea came up. We wanted to improve cognitive behavioral therapies with something more effective than imagination or in vivo. Today we can say that we are achieving it.

The project was born in Barcelona, ​​where the effects of the economic crisis are still being felt. To what extent is it difficult for you to move the project forward from here? How have you experienced the process of seeking financing?

The financing search process, not only in Spain, but in Europe was very difficult or almost impossible to obtain financing. We get little at enormous cost. We had to go to the US to look for investors and, fortunately, we did. A Silicon Valley (San Francisco) fund, Rothenburg Ventures, saw potential in our app and invested. Other funds invested in the financing round, including CaixaHolding, which is part of La Caixa. The process of seeking financing was very hard and we have had to fight against many adversities, but the result has been worth every effort and minute invested.

It has been very difficult for us to start in Spain, to introduce technology into a market such as psychology. We are creating a network of virtual reality experts to learn and improve on this technology applied to the treatment of anxiety disorders, with which we have treated more than 1000 patients.

Phobias and anxiety disorders have been researched for a long time using resources such as virtual reality. Why has it been used so little in clinical intervention?

Think that Virtual Reality is a technology that until today only a few used due to its high cost. 20 years of studies show that VR works in the field of mental health, but it has not been until now that we have been able to bring it to the consultations at an affordable cost. One of the goals of Psious is to democratize VR for treatments and, honestly, little by little we are achieving it. As of today, we can say that more than 500 mental health professionals already use this technology in their consultation and that more than 1000 patients have already been successfully treated and that we have been in the market

Psious has received several national and international awards. How are you doing in the market?

The awards are just the icing on the cake for good results and hard work from our team. The truth is that we are doing well. We are growing very fast. In Spain we can say that we have practically no competition where we have some 350 mental health professionals. In the US it is a little more difficult to enter since there people prefer to treat themselves with medicines to save money and time, it is another culture and it is always a little more complicated. We have more than 100 in America, and in the rest of the world more than 50. Every day we have a new client, in a very short time we have risen very quickly.

Some patients may be wary of such new treatments and based on the use of unfamiliar technology. How would you convince them? What advantages do virtual reality-based treatments offer over other forms of psychotherapy?

Surprisingly it is quite the opposite. The first thing that is transmitted to them by seeing the Virtual Reality glasses is motivation, curiosity, laughter, emotion... There are data that confirm that using this tool the patient has an easier time starting a therapy than with imagination or in vivo. The fact of having the therapist makes patients feel safe. Although their brain makes them believe at times that they are in another place, they know that in reality they are safe and protected. They are only exposed to a certain dose of anxiety, always modulated and controlled by the psychologist. Patients are motivated when it comes to being treated because most want to solve possible problems that do not allow them a full life.

Virtual Reality cognitive behavioral therapy is more realistic and therefore more effective than Imagination therapy (many people do not have enough imaginative capacity to be treated). On the other hand, VR is safer than in vivo exposure (actual exposure) which is impractical for recurrent use. With Psious Toolsuite the therapist can control the patient's vitals through biofeedback and control your anxiety levels at all times in order to have more precision in the treatment and ensure your well-being.

What kind of training do the people who are directly involved in the design and modeling of the virtual environments used in Psious have?

The design of the environments is carried out by psychologists, Virtual Reality designers create them and computer engineers upload them to the platform.

Today, how many "ambiences" or "scenarios" does the Psious catalog have? At what rate do you plan to create new options?

Taking into account that for each specific phobia or exercise there is more than one environment, right now we have a catalog of more than 30.

We are going at a very good pace. Our production department is growing. Right now we just released the first social phobia environment.

What are the next objectives to achieve in the short and medium term?

In the short term, we want to continue growing in Spain, increasing the number of expert psychologists who treat using virtual reality and the number of patients treated with this technology. We want to position virtual reality as one of the most used tools in psychology and for this we need the collaboration of psychologists and professionals in the sector. In the medium-short term we want to extend the product to the entire American continent, from north to south, where we already have several professionals using us and we generate a lot of interest.

In terms of product, we are continually developing new virtual reality environments. A few days ago we launched environments to treat social phobia or train and practice social skills.