Hark: A VR based interactive narrative game / meditation app hybrid to help manage digital addiction in young people

在幻灭、孤独、欺凌、神经多样性和家庭困难中挣扎的年轻人更有可能退回到数字世界的舒适中，在另一个被认为更安全的世界寻找逃避现实、联系、身份和成就感。这可能会导致数字成瘾，加剧心理健康问题，并导致糟糕的长期发展结果。这给公共卫生部门带来了一个两难境地：面对一个特别需要干预的人群，但通过目前的解决方案很难接触到这个群体。我们的目标是通过一种新型的VR应用程序接触到这个难以接触到的群体，以支持心理健康和福祉。我们建立了一个类似于芝麻街的模型，在那里，实验心理学家成功地提出了利用有吸引力的人物来向儿童介绍参考框架外的新概念的想法。我们将采用这个想法，但使用人物和深刻的原创幻想世界来接触更广泛的年轻观众。我们的项目_Hark_结合了VR互动叙事和作为向导的迷人生物的万神殿，向玩家介绍冥想和对话叙事。游戏的每个元素都是参照心理学理论和治疗模式开发的。其目的将是“利用数字媒体向善”，支持年轻人的幸福和社会情感发展，目标是从长远来看，改善心理健康结果。许多游戏和其他形式的数字媒体，如在线赌博和社交媒体，试图通过提供源源不断的刺激来最大化参与，而Hark的目标是在刺激、参与和冒险的时期与更长时间的恢复平静和宁静之间取得平衡。游戏的顺序是通过运用心理学和神经科学理论来设计的，以解释数字参与过程中情感、动机、行为和神经生物路径是如何相互作用的，从而最大限度地增加有益的可能性。目标是为一种新的、更健康、更具恢复性的数字媒体形式铺平道路。我们把这种方法称为“数字人体工程学”。

Young people who are struggling with disillusionment, loneliness, bullying, neurodiversity, and difficulties at home are more likely to retreat to the comfort of the digital realm, searching for escapism, connection, identity and fulfilment in another world that is perceived as safer.This can lead to digital addiction, exacerbating mental health problems and causing poor long term developmental outcomes. This presents the public health sector with a dilemma: facing a population in particular need of intervention, but one that is hard to reach via current solutions.We aim to access this hard-to reach group via a new kind of VR app to support mental health and wellbeing. We build on a similar model to Sesame Street, where experimental psychologists successfully pioneered the idea of using appealing characters to introduce children to new concepts outside their frame of reference. We will take the idea, but use characters and a deep original fantasy world to engage with a broader young audience.Our project _Hark_ combines a VR interactive narrative with a pantheon of enchanting creatures who act as guides, introducing the players to meditation and dialogical narratives. Each element of the game is developed with reference to psychological theory and therapeutic models. The aim will be to 'use digital media for good', supporting the wellbeing and socio-emotional development of younger people, with the goal of improving mental health outcomes in the longer-term.Whilst many games and other forms of digital media such as online gambling and social media seek to maximise engagement by providing a non-stop flood of stimulus, Hark aims to balance periods of stimulation, engagement, and adventure with longer stretches of blissfully restorative calm and tranquillity.The sequencing of gameplay is designed by using psychological and neuroscientific theory to account for an understanding of how emotional, motivational, behavioural and neurobiological pathways interface during digital engagement to maximise the beneficial possibilities. The goal is to pave the way for a new, healthier, more restorative form of digital media. We call this approach 'digital ergonomics'.