Fibromyalgia Project expansion

Fibromyalgia project began in mid-2024, developing a mobile app for the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya that allows people to experience virtual reality using cardboard VR headsets.

This experience was based on mindfulness, breathing, relaxation, and attention training sessions. Two distinct virtual environments were designed, set in a forest and on a beach.

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic and complex condition that causes widespread pain, profound fatigue, and a variety of other accompanying symptoms. It primarily affects the body’s soft tissues and causes joint pain or swelling. The mechanisms by which it occurs are not fully understood, so abnormalities in laboratory tests or imaging studies that allow for a diagnosis are not readily apparent.

The experience was very well received by those affected by this disease, and those responsible for the UOC decided to expand it given the complex symptoms and specificities that precede it.

New experience Fibro VR+

In this new experience, we have incorporated two new scenarios, in addition to educational sessions on fibromyalgia, so the experience is structured with the following parts:

• Mindfulness, breathing, and relaxation space – In this space, we have two environments designed to promote emotional well-being: a forest and a beach, where we can perform different exercises, such as paying attention to breathing, body scans, paying attention to sounds, diaphragmatic breathing, etc.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy and emotion management space – This setting recreates an environment where you can work on maladaptive thoughts, such as feeling incapable of doing something or feeling worthless, and encourage healthier coping strategies. Maladaptive thoughts can be recurrent due to fibromyalgia or in patients with chronic pain. The user will be able to converse with a patient who has also suffered from this chronic pain for years.

• Space for Family Members – Empathy and Personification – This scenario recreates the daily life of a person with fibromyalgia, fostering understanding and empathy, where simple actions for healthy people can be difficult for them. Simply putting on shoes or going outside can be much more complicated for them than it seems.

• Fibromyalgia Educational Sessions – A total of 12 sessions with educational content on fibromyalgia are included:
  • Session 1: Fibromyalgia: Complexity and Stigma
  • Session 2: Fibrowalk Therapy: Active Coping
  • Session 3: Pain and Neuroscience
  • Session 4: Understanding Pain and Accepting the Illness
  • Session 5: Safety Contexts and Understanding the Illness
  • Session 6: Fibrofog and Dysfunctional Thoughts
  • Session 7: Alternative Therapies
  • Session 8: Physical Factors: Baseline Level and the Fear-Avoidance Cycle
  • Session 9: Spiritual, Social, and Cognitive Factors
  • Session 10: Emotional Factor
  • Session 11: Mindfulness, Problem-Solving, and Sleep Patterns
  • Session 12: Guidelines for Family Members

You can download this app for free on Google Play here, but it is for private use, so if you are interested in using it, please contact Rubén Nieto (rnietol@uoc.edu), principal investigator of this UOC project.

At Immersium Studio, we’re very pleased with the results of this experience, as it was particularly difficult to add the educational sessions, which, due to their rather lengthy videos, couldn’t be added directly to the app. This app will provide valuable resources to people suffering from fibromyalgia and help them better manage their symptoms, while also helping their families better understand this complex disease.

At Immersium Studio we are experts in Immersive Learning. Contact us to discover the immersive solution that best suits your needs.

info@immersiumstudio.com