Avatar Therapy Helps Silence Voices in Schizophrenia

Article Excerpt: A computer-based avatar system that enables people with schizophrenia to control the voice of their hallucinations is being developed by researchers at UCL with support from the Wellcome Trust. The first stage in the therapy is for the patient to create a computer-based avatar, by choosing the face and voice of the entity they believe is talking to them. The system then synchronizes the avatar’s lips with its speech, enabling a therapist to speak to the patient through the avatar in real time. The therapist encourages the patient to oppose the voice and gradually teaches them to take control of their hallucinations. Every therapy session is recorded on mp3 so that the patient essentially has a therapist in their pocket which he or she can listen to at any time when experiencing delusions and other symptoms of schizophrenia.