The impact of Deepfakes in virtual reality scenarios for mental health therapy

As part of the project, a working prototype was developed for an innovative therapeutic intervention that combines virtual reality (VR) with generative deepfakes. The aim was to strengthen self-compassion in cases of psychological stress by engaging users in an immersive dialogue with a childlike version of themselves. 

The project team developed a system that creates a realistic, emotionally reactive avatar based on a single childhood photo of the participant. Several user studies and co-design workshops with psychotherapists and patients showed that this approach generates a strong emotional response and can significantly increase self-compassion.

Two master’s theses were successfully completed at the Department of Psychology at UZH and the results were presented as a poster at the Mind XR Conference. The project was also presented to the public in a podcast and in the university magazine Zett (ZHdK). With regard to scientific publications, three articles are currently in the publication process. The first article deals with the co-design of a VR-based self-dialogue intervention with the aim of improving its impact on self-compassion and its applicability in practice (‘Co-designing a VR-based self-dialogue intervention to enhance its impact on self-compassion and its adoptability in applied settings’). A second study examines the specific effects of self-recognition and self-identification during multisensory self-dialogues on behavioural, self-reported and physiological markers of self-compassion (‘The respective effect of self-recognition and self-identification during multisensory self-dialogues on behavioural, self-reported and physiological markers of self-compassion’). In addition, a third article will detail the technical implementation of the system (‘Realistic digital replicas for mental health using generative AI and immersive VR’).

Third-party funding from the BIAL Foundation was successfully acquired to continue the project. In addition, the project was selected for the 2nd Founder Call to establish the technology as a marketable service for counselling and psychotherapy from 2026 onwards. Despite technical challenges and adjustments during the course of the project, a solid basis for clinical application and commercial exploitation was thus created.