About Us [EN]

I. INTRODUCTION

The Platform for Robotics/Robotherapy and Virtual Reality Enhanced Therapy – The PsyTech-MATRIX PLATFORM – is the state of the art research, academic, and services infrastructure of the International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health at the Babes-Bolyai University, Romania. It is a part of the “Star-Gate Psy” Project of the Insititute to seek out new technologies to improve and develop human mind and human potential. It is also the research infrastructure of the Robotherapy and Virtual Reality Therapy Program (Program director: Dr. Daniel David) in the Departament of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Babeş-Bolyai University.

II. ORGANISATION OF THE MATRIX PLATFORM

Director of the Matrix Platform:

• Professor, Ph.D., Daniel David (UBB)

Scientific Council of the Matrix Platform:

• Professor, Ph.D., Aurora Szentagotai (UBB)
• Associate professor, Ph.D., Anca Dobrean (UBB)
• Research fellow, Ph.D., David Opriş (UBB)

Scientific secretarial of the Matrix Platform:

• Dr. Silviu Matu, (UBB) (academic/educational, clinical, and research activities/collaborations) and Carmen Coteţ, MA (UBB) (external visits)

Members (UBB) of the Matrix Platform:

• Senior assistant professor, Ph.D., Ioana CRISTEA
• Senior assistant professor, Ph.D., Mădălina Sucală (UBB)
• Senior assistant professor, Ph.D., Simona ŞTEFAN
• Asistant professor, MA, Bianca MACAVEI
• Expert/Chief psychologist, Cristina DOMUŢ
• Ph.D. students:
  • Drd. Roxana Cardos
  • Drd. Carmen Cotet
  • Drd. Alexandra Negut
  • Drd. Ioana Podină
  • Drd. Cristina Costescu
  • Drd. Radu Soflau

Other (temporary) members of the Matrix Platform:

• The Matrix Platform is thought to be an international setting for researchers from all over the world interested to discuss frontier research and applications in the field. When running projects on the Matrix Platform they get the position of “visiting scientists”. Up to now, several top researchers from Belgium, France, Romania, Spain, USA implemented various research projects on the Matrix Platform.

III. STRUCURE OF THE MATRIX PLATFORM

The Matrix Platform incorporates a Center for Robotics/Robotherapy and Virtual Reality Enhanced Therapy, which has five top Laboratories, all equiped with the latest technology, supported mainly by the national and international grants of Professor, Ph.D., Daniel David:
(1) “Stress Control” Lab. (set up based on the collaboration with Virtually Better, USA);
(2) “Virtual Classrom” Lab. (set up based on the collaboration with Institute for Creative Technology, USA);
(3) “Pain Control” Lab. (set up based on the collaboration with Imprintit, USA);
(4) “Data” Lab. – Robot-based and Online/Computer-based Therapy (for Robotherapy we have a strategic collaboration with Dr. Bram Vanderborght from Vrije University: see also here);
(5) “Star Trek –Holodeck” Lab. (set up in collaboration with Eon Reality, USA).

The most complex component is Star Trek –Holodeck Laboratory (briefly described as follows)

Laboratory endowment:
Stage I
Financial support: National Agency for Scientific Research (ANCS) – Contract number 68CP/I/ 2007 (“Capacităţi” Program, Module I)
Equipments: CAVE type virtual reality system, Flexible Eon Reality ICube (four walls, active stereo projection, native resolution 1400X1050); for further details seehttp://www.eonreality.com. Equipment for olfactory stimulation in VR (EnviroScent-ScentPalette). Integrated Biopac system for psychophysiological measurements (MP 150).
Stage II
Financial support: National Agency for Scientific Research (ANCS); Contract number 188CP/I/ 2008 (“Capacităţi” Program, Module I)
Equipments: EON Holopodium tele-presence device and some of the equipments necessary for the 5th wall upgrade of EON Reality ICube (active stereo projector, ICube graphic server, new tracking system and EON ICube software update for the 5th wall).

Access requirements: For research – based on a collaboration agreement, by (a) co-financing, (b) direct payment of the time spent in the laboratory; (c) no fee (in case of a consortium in which we are partners/coordinators). For clinical services – based on a collaboration agreement: (a) no fee for the “Babes-Bolyai – PsyTech Psychological Clinic” and (b) by the payment of a negotiable percent from for the fee of the psychological services.

Services offered: (a) research; (b) clinical services (“Babes-Bolyai – PsyTech Psychological Clinic”)

The activitities of the PsyTech-MATRIX Platform are integrated with our Platform for the Advanced Imagining – fMRI/EEG -in Clinical Cognitive Sciences, to generate new frontier research, and with our “Babes-Bolyai – PsyTech” Psychological Clinic, to generate innovative psychological services.

IV. SCIENTIFIC OUTPUT

For the scientific output of the Matrix Platform check here

V. CONTACT

The PsyTech-MATRIX Platform is directed by Professor Daniel David. Those interested in our ongoing projects and/or in collaborating with us for research, academic, or services purposes, please contact Dr. David, by e-mail: daniel.david@ubbcluj.ro, mail: Professor, Ph.D., Daniel David, Babeş-Bolyai University, Republicii St. No. 37, 400015, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, or phone: + 40742037147.

VI. NEWS – International Comments and Release Press:

• EON Reality Supports Leading Innovation in Psychotherapy at the BBU University in Romania

IRVINE, CA — 01/08/10 — EON Reality, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, supports the Babes-Bolyai University (BBU), in Cluj-Napoca, Romania with an immersive EON Icube environment for a virtual reality therapy project. Babes-Bolyai University is the largest university in Romania, one of the most influential in Eastern and Central Europe, and it was ranked on the first place in research among the Romanian Universities in 2009 by the National Council for Scientific Research in Higher Education.

An advanced research platform developed at the Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy in Romania, is innovating psychotherapy with virtual reality technology. The PsyTech-MATRIX Platform is the first one in Romania and one of the most advanced systems in the world, building on “state of the art technology” and combining significant psychotherapeutic methods.

Professor Daniel David, a specialist on virtual reality therapy at the BBU, is the director of the ambitious “Star-Gate Psy” project. He has been conducting treatment and research for various symptoms such as anxiety, phobias, depression, and ADHD. “Virtual reality therapy has a lot of advantages in respect to control, safety, precise measurements, time reducing, and sometimes even cost-effectiveness, compared to traditional psychotherapy methods. Virtual techniques can be incorporated in any know form of psychotherapy, from cognitive-behavioral to psychodynamic and humanistic-existential,” said Daniel David.

“An immersive virtual reality environment is as close as it can be to a real environment. It allows us to get accurate results and control the information that the client receives in a natural setting. In a marginal performance, this type of treatment is very helpful as it facilitates us to look into more complex processes, integration and understanding of psychotherapy processes. Moreover, target behaviors and cognitions will rise in virtual environments, and we can work on that,” stated David Opris, one of the research team members.

A full installation of the Icube interactive 3D system, supplied by EON Reality, has taken place in the new building called AVALON (Advanced Virtual Application Laboratories of Napocensis), as a part of the “Star-Gate Psy” project, based on a grant from the Romanian National Authority for Research Government.

For further information:

Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy / International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health — http://www.psychotherapy.ro

Babes-Bolyai University — http://www.ubbcluj.ro

EON Reality — www.eonreality.com

For more information contact:
Brita Kjallstrom
Email Contact
(949) 460-2000 ext 224

• Virtual Reality Therapy Innovates ADHD treatment

Innovative Virtual Reality therapy promises great success for treatment and rehabilitation of ADHD symptom.

By applying techniques used in cognitive behaviour therapy into an immersive virtual environment, researchers at the Babes-Bolyai University, in Romania has developed a program that promises great success for ADHD treatment.

Professor Daniel David, a specialist on virtual reality therapy at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Babes-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, has together with a team of researchers developed a new concept for  a “Virtual Classroom Intervention” system for ADHD.

Previously, the “Virtual Classroom” systems for ADHD were mainly focused on assessment rather than interventions. It is the first program for ADHD treatment that allows clinicians to use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) techniques in an immersive, dynamic 3D environment where interaction, behavioural tracking and performance recording is possible.

An initial testing implemented by researchers David Opris, Raluca Anton, & Anca Dobrean, involving eight boys diagnosed with ADHD (6-12 years of age) and 10 non diagnosed boys, suggested that the “Virtual Classroom Intervention” system provides a cost-effective and time reducing tool for attention performance measurements and treatment, beyond the existing traditional methods.

“The ability to implement the CBT techniques designed for a real classroom in a virtual one, combined with the possibility of improved control, safety, measurements, time reducing, makes this application a very innovative one”, Professor Daniel David says. “One of the main advantages of this new program is that the procedure is highly accurate and requires a significantly shorter time compared to using a traditional approach”, David Opris adds.

The “Virtual Classroom Intervention” system for ADHD” is a collaboration project between the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, San Diego, California, USA, Digital Mediaworks, Canada and theDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy / International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Healthat the Babes-Bolyai University, Romania.

• Holopodium at the Babes-Bolyai University

News Releases:

Advanced VR Treatment: Increased Implementation of High End EON Reality 3D Technology in Psychological Treatment and Therapy at the UBB University in Romania

IRVINE, Calif., November 15, 2010 – EON Reality, the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider, recently installed a new VR solution for treatment and therapy at the Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Earlier this year the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy/International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health by the “Babes-Bolyai – PsyTech” Psychological Clinic and “International Institute for Coaching” implemented an immersive 4 wall Virtual Reality solution, the EON Icube, for their R&D. The university runs several clinical studies on their “Robotherapy and Virtual Reality Psychotherapy Platform” related to pain control, time perception, ADHD and various phobias.

Now the clinic expands their VR therapy R&D equipment with the implementation of a 5th EON Icube wall solution and the immersive 3D presentation surface, the EON Holopodium. Professor Daniel David at the UBB University thinks that having a five active wall will increase the presence and immersion in psychological-oriented virtual environments, which are important for the University’s psychotherapy research and practice (including psychological assessment).
“We really think – and there are preliminary data supporting this belief – that the implementation of virtual reality in evidence-based and/or evidence-oriented psychotherapeutic protocols is the way to go, and that it will move the field of psychotherapy to another level of efficacy and acceptability, especially in younger populations,” said Professor Daniel David.

The new Holopodium equipment will be tested in rational-emotive and cognitive-behavioral group therapy and for training in psychotherapy.  “We hope – and we will test this – that the “tele-presence” it can generate is stronger than that generated by the classical videoconference system, and this is important for both therapy and training in psychotherapy.”

A pioneer in VR treatment, Professor Daniel David, believes we will see an increased implementation of high end large scale VR technology for psychology R&D treatment and therapy; “We strongly believe this and we will push the field forward offering our support and consultation for other major Romanian institutes and clinics to develop this line of research and practice. We are interested to establish an international network to support the movement at the international level,” said Professor Daniel David.