Aesthetics Meets Oncology: A Participatory Design Project to Speed Up Time Passage in Chemotherapy Through Virtual Reality

Abstract

Virtual images are often conceptualized as fascinating and powerful but also possibly harmful. In this article, we introduce the theoretical framework and the first operational steps of a research project, TIMELAPSE, which deploys virtual images in their therapeutic potential. TIMELAPSE aims at developing, testing, and launching a virtual reality (VR) application to speed up time passage perception during chemotherapy. TIMELAPSE adopts a strongly user-centered methodology, involving from its early stages the invaluable standpoint of the cancer patients. In this article, we present and discuss the results of the project’s first participatory design lab with the patients. In addition to informing further stages of TIMELAPSE, these results provide more general suggestions concerning the therapeutic usage of images. Specifically, they underline the importance of visually appealing stimuli; they remark the need to assess carefully technological accessibility; and they suggest the relevance of using images as gateway to the domain of play.