Immersive Virtual Reality Applications for Mental Health Awareness: A Case Study Using 3d Narrative Boards

This paper presents the development and evaluation of an immersive virtual reality (VR) application designed to raise mental health awareness through 3D narrative boards. Utilizing Unreal Engine and 3D modeling software, we constructed realistic scenarios depicting the lived experiences of individuals facing depression. The system enables users to interact with immersive environments from a first-person perspective, with narrative elements guiding the user’s understanding of mental health challenges. A usability study was conducted involving target users who experienced the VR application and subsequently completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. The results demonstrated high usability, user engagement, and strong potential for fostering empathy and awareness regarding depression. This research highlights the advantages of integrating VR, 3D character animation, and interactive storytelling into educational tools for mental health. The findings underscore the effectiveness of applied computer and information science techniques in creating impactful health education resources. This approach provides a novel platform for future mental health campaigns and represents a significant step towards the digital transformation of public health education.

virtual reality, mental health, depression, 3D narrative boards, user engagement, empathy, applied computer science, system usability.

1. Outstanding video games that tackle mental health. (2024, January 25). MindOwl. https://mindowl.org/8-outstanding-video-games-that-tackle-mental-health/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Marzo, R. R., Ismail, Z., & Acharya, S. (2021). Depression and anxiety in Malaysian population during third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 12, 100868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cegh.2021.100868 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Depression. (n.d.). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/depression [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Dodd, M. (n.d.). 9 depression symptoms to look out for. Healthline. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/recognizing-symptoms [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Felman, A. (n.d.). Mental health: Definition, common disorders, early signs, and more. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154543 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Freeman, D., Reeve, S., Robinson, A., Ehlers, A., Clark, D. M., Spanlang, B., & Slater, M. (2017). Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders. Psychological Medicine, 47(14), 2393–2400. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329171700040X [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Goldman, L. (n.d.). Depression: What it is, symptoms, causes, treatment, and more. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8933 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. How to create awareness campaigns. (2024, June 3). The Halo Media Group. https://www.halo-media.com/awareness-campaigns/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Mental health. (2022, June 17). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Myers, D. (2023, October 3). Creating a standout awareness campaign: A complete guide. OneCause. https://www.onecause.com/blog/awareness-campaigns [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Pavlov, D. (2023, December 14). Virtual reality therapy: How VR can help with mental and physical health. SmartTek Solutions. https://smarttek.solutions/blog/virtual-reality-in-therapy/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Randler, C. (n.d.). Free will and determinism. PhilArchive. https://philarchive.org/archive/RANDAU [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Psychomotor symptoms of depression. (n.d.). Academia.edu. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. https://www.academia.edu/download/47258129/Psychomotor_symptoms_of_depression20160714-8317-15ovigc.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Signs of depression in the elderly. (2024, January 25). Care Corner Singapore. https://www.carecorner.org.sg/resource/signs-of-depression-in-the-elderly/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. StephanieHawn. (n.d.). unity-VR-industry: VR therapy in the mental health industry [GitHub repository]. GitHub. https://github.com/StephanieHawn/unity-vr-industry [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Bell, I. H., Nicholas, J., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Thompson, A., & Valmaggia, L. R. (2020). Virtual reality as a clinical tool in mental health research and practice. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(2), 169–177. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2020.22.2/lvalmaggia [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Iberdrola. (n.d.). Virtual reality, the technology of the future. Iberdrola. https://www.iberdrola.com/innovation/virtual-reality [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. What is virtual reality? (2022, August 3). TechTarget – WhatIs.com. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/virtual-reality [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Tay, C. X., Xie, H., & Sim, K. (2023). Effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality–based interventions in improving knowledge, attitudes, empathy, and stigma regarding people with mental illnesses: A scoping review. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 13(1), 112. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm13010112 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Zare-Bidaki, M., Shahrabi Farahani, N., Jahanbakhshi, M., & Khazaie, H. (2022). Evaluating the effects of experiencing virtual reality simulation of psychosis on mental illness stigma, empathy, and knowledge in medical students. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 910438. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.910438 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Tay, C. X., Li, H., Lee, S., & Sim, K. (2025). Effects of an immersive virtual reality intervention on empathy and attitudes toward people with psychotic disorders: Randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mental Health, 12(1), e66925. https://doi.org/10.2196/66925 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Marougkas, S., Zourmpakis, A. I., Pappas, A., & Papadakis, S. (2023). A systematic literature review on the application of learning theories in virtual reality environments. Electronics, 12(13), 2832. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12132832 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Ishigaki, S. A. K., Ismail, A. W., Halim, N. A. A., & Suaib, N. M. (2023, March). Voice commands with virtual assistant in mixed reality telepresence. In International Conference on Advanced Engineering, Technology and Applications (pp. 148-158). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Ishigaki, S. A. K., Ismail, A. W., Halim, N. A. A., & Salam, M. S. H. (2023, December). Alex: A Virtual Assistant for Natural Interaction in Mixed Reality Environment. In International Conference on Computing and Network Communications (pp. 609-620). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• What the Desert Fathers Teach Data Scientists: Ancient Ascetic Principles for Ethical Machine-Learning Practice
• Comparative Analysis of Some Machine Learning Algorithms for the Classification of Ransomware
• Comparative Performance Analysis of Some Priority Queue Variants in Dijkstra’s Algorithm
• Transfer Learning in Detecting E-Assessment Malpractice from a Proctored Video Recordings.
• Dual-Modal Detection of Parkinson’s Disease: A Clinical Framework and Deep Learning Approach Using NeuroParkNet