An augmented reality project exploring the relationship between wellbeing and place will provide insight into why some people in adverse circumstances don’t always access mental health services.
Hard place/Good place, led by UNSW Scientia Professor Jill Bennett as part of her Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship, will develop an archive of experiential stories with people from regional, rural and remote areas, exploring what it means to be in a ‘hard place’ or a ‘good place’.
The creative research project is coordinated by the Felt Experience & Empathy Lab [fEEL] at UNSW in partnership with Metro South Health (Brisbane) and Darling Downs Health. It is co-designed with people whose lives are affected by adversity, including the effects of climate change, drought, bushfire and flood and combines a 3D-immersive experience of a significant place with a personal narrative.
“In our work, we’ve noticed that people often – while talking about being stuck in a really difficult place – also talk about a good place for them: what it is they value about that place, why it feels safe, why they go there to regroup,” Prof. Bennett says.
“So, part of the project is identifying those [good] places and amplifying them and talking through how one finds and makes a place that is safe and a space of growth and imagination.”
Evoking connection through augmented experience
Augmented reality superimposes a computer-generated image on the user’s view so that virtual objects appear as three-dimensional when viewed on a phone or tablet. As a mental health tool, it offers unique insights into first-person perspectives, Prof. Bennett says.
“[In Hard place/Good place] a space unfolds through a narrated personal story, and the viewer experiences this by moving around and encountering different parts of the scene,” she says.
The project uses augmented reality to transform our understanding of the lived experience of trauma and distress, enabling a re-vision of intractable problems affecting this community, she says.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for people aged 15-44 in Australia, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. More than 50 per cent of people with mental illness do not access any treatment, according to research by the Black Dog Institute at UNSW.
There are concerning rates of suicides in regional, rural and remote areas, including southern Queensland, and there is an underlying issue of engagement, Prof. Bennett says.
“There’s a disconnect,” she says. “Whether we’re talking about why people don’t seek help or why mental …….