Co-design of a virtual reality (VR) café intervention

Who can take part?

We want to design a virtual reality café with people from the following groups:

1. People living in or around Bristol aged 18-25 who have experience of a current or previous eating disorder; and
2. People living in or around Bristol aged 16 or 17 who have experience of a previous eating disorder.

We are particularly keen to hear from males, individuals aged 16 or 17 who consider themselves recovered from an eating disorder, and people who have experienced eating disorders such as BED, bulimia, ARFID and OSFED. You don’t need to have received an eating disorder diagnosis to take part.

We are hoping to talk to people from a range of ages, ethnicities, genders, and with experience of different kinds of eating disorders, so please note that even if you are eligible we might not ask you to take part in this work. We will email you to let you know if this is the case.

What is the purpose of the research?

We know that virtual reality (VR) can help treat mental health problems like anxiety. Some studies suggest it might be helpful for people with eating disorders, too. Our research suggests that people with eating disorders think it might be a helpful part of their treatment to be able to go to a virtual reality café where they could try out things they find challenging in real-life cafés, such as choosing from a menu or ordering food.

We carried out a recent study gathering detailed ideas from people with experience of an eating disorder, parents/carers, and clinicians about what the café should be like, and the kinds of activities people with eating disorders might want to do in the café as part of treatment. Now, a company called Virtual Bodyworks is creating the virtual reality café and making the tasks. We want to work together with people with current or recent experience of an eating disorder at each stage of the creative process.

The study will involve taking part in a range of co-design activities - you will be invited to participate in each activity separately and can choose which of them you would like to help with. You can take part in as many or as few co-design activities as you like. Activities will include:

• Providing comments or feedback on screenshots of the planned VR café design that are sent to you by email (including café backgrounds; images of avatars to use in the café; images of menus with and without calories).
  
• Providing comments or feedback on written scripts of café conversations, including conversations involving ordering food and drinks, and speaking to an acquaintance in the café.
  
• Trying out the VR scenarios using a VR headset at the University of Bristol and telling us your thoughts and feedback.

For each hour of time you participate, we will send you a £20 Love2Shop voucher to say thank you. We can also pay reasonable transport costs from within the Bristol area if you wish to try out the VR scenarios in person.

How can someone take part?

To find out more about the study and to register your interest in taking part, please visit https://bit.ly/VRcafe.

If you have any questions about the study, please get in touch with us at vr-eatingdisorders-project@bristol.ac.uk.