HCII PhD Thesis Defense: Anna Fang
When
-
Where
GHC 6501
Description
Thesis Title: Virtual Simulation for Mental Health
Date & Time: November 3rd at 3:00 pm
Location: Gates Hillman Center 6501
Zoom: https://cmu.zoom.us/j/94815097247
Committee:
Haiyi Zhu (Chair), Carnegie Mellon University
Robert E. Kraut, Carnegie Mellon University
Mayank Goel, Carnegie Mellon University
Munmun De Choudhury, Georgia Tech
Diyi Yang, Stanford University
Abstract:
Poorly designed interventions or those deployed without adequate safeguards can harm the communities they aim to serve, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and leaving individuals unsupported. This is especially the case for the mental health context, where there is a growing trend of relying on technological interventions due to their accessibility and ability to deliver large-scale support. However, the mental health context is also particularly sensitive to change and risks of failure are dire – at their worst, failures in mental health interventions can result in lasting negative outcomes for individuals and tragic losses as people fall through the cracks. Thus, enabling safe ways to experiment in the mental health context is vital to allow both individuals and communities to engage with new interventions without risk of their real-world consequences.
Virtual simulation – which uses virtual environments to replicate real-world interactions, processes, and behaviors – offers a promising opportunity for enabling safe, controlled experimentation with its ability to accurately replicate social situations, fears, stressors, and the potential outcomes. My dissertation explores how simulation approaches can support emerging mental health processes and experimentation for both (1) large-scale communities and (2) individuals. In the first part of this dissertation, in partnership with the world's largest online peer support platform, I showcase the application of agent-based simulation to create a sandbox for online mental health communities to safely experiment with new algorithmic mechanisms while avoiding endangering existing vulnerable users. In the second part of this dissertation, I demonstrate how social simulation through embodied interaction and large language models provides individuals a low-risk, controlled space to effectively learn and practice new coping techniques for real-world stressors, supporting skill transfer without risk of real-world consequence. Throughout this work, I demonstrate this use of virtual simulation systems for well-being through a grounded human-centered approach, where system design is guided by both quantitative and qualitative empirical understanding of current real-world needs and challenges. By leveraging simulation to create environments where mental health strategies can be safely tested and practiced, this work aims to open new possibilities for designing scalable, user-centered systems that are effective and safe.