VR: Citi44 and BAO Virtuelle have invented a virtual glove to enhance hypnosis

In Atlantic France, a team of psychotherapists and a company specialising in virtual reality partnered up in order to develop the “Virtual magic glove”. Objective: improve immersion while being hypnotised or while performing self-hypnosis.

Created in 2011 in Rezé (near Nantes), Citi44 promotes integrative therapy. This approach consists of combining different therapeutic techniques, and so the centre, therefore, brings together two psychiatrists, a psychotherapist, and two psychologists. They offer services such as listening and support, Ericksonian and therapeutic hypnosis, and brief therapies (solution-oriented, strategic, provocative, and narrative).

The therapeutic centre has recently worked alongside the company BAO Virtuelle, which was created in 2015 near Cholet, to invent an innovative VR solution for therapists. The company, whose name means “virtual toolbox”, provides hardware and software solutions to professionals who are looking to innovate. The project has been supported by Solutions&co and Bpifrance.

A hypnotic narrative co-created with a therapist

The “Virtual magic glove” is a duo of apps which work with a tablet and a VR headset. The solution allows the therapist to choose hypnotic metaphors and suggest sensorialities to the patient by activating visual effects on objects they can virtually grab. In a demonstration video of the tool, for example, we can see that the participant is virtually holding a candle with the visual effects suggesting that there is heat coming from it.

The Virtual magic glove stimulates creativity and enhances the virtual reality experience. Therapists can use it to improve hypnosis sessions and it can also be used to train self-hypnosis. Thanks to the possibility of personalising the scenes and adding effects, each session can be fully customised to meet the specific needs of each patient.