CREW

Soulhacker lecture

Calendar

10:00-11:00 online

What role can art and VR play in the treatment and cure of psychiatric patients?

This is the premise of the transversal research project Soulhacker and the subject of the lecture by neuropsychiatrist Dr. Georges Otte and CREW artists Eric Joris and Isjtar.

The rate of success rate in treating depression through conventional methods is very low. Moreover, physicians and health care providers see a dramatic increase in the number of patients with psychiatric disorders - due to the prevailing pandemic. Artists and scientists have joined forces to develop a new method with the use of VR, in which the empowerment of the patient is central.

Together with teachers and students of the RITCS., the artists of CREW are developing virtual environments in which neurologists and psychologists (represented by Brai3n, Dr. Georges Otte, Dr. Dirk De Ridder and Dr. Sven Vanneste) will guide and treat patients with various psychopathologies. Soulhacker will contribute to VR environments in which vital elements will be dynamically provided to empower patients to work on their own healing process.
The years of expertise of CREW in creating VR environments in which the human imagination is activated, drives the project to a new level of experience. Soulhacker shows that art and science can complement and reinforce each other. In times of crisis like these, a project like Soulhacker offers new insights and solutions that will hopefully be easy to use in the future.

Course of the lecture:
Neuropsychiatrist Dr. Georges Otte explains how VR can be used to treat depression. Next, Isjtar and Eric Joris of CREW will explain how they use their long distance tracking area and 3D environments in this project and how they intend to use the technology developed within the Horizon 2020 research project PRESENT in the future.
Following the lecture, Dr Otte will give a short demonstration in an immersive VR Setup. "

Georges Otte is a researcher and was for many years head physician at the Psychiatric Centre Dr. Guislain in Ghent. He is sometimes called the Oliver Sacks of Belgium. He has been a great advocate of the research and deployment of VR in treatment practices for many years.
Artists Eric Joris and Isjtar are respectively artistic director and developer at CREW.