Photo: Christoph Böhm

The number of healthcare workers suffering from depression, anxiety and sleep disorders has risen sharply.

“With XR2esilience, we are targeting this. With immersive XR applications, we want to offer customised resilience training that adapts to individual needs.” – Vanessa Leung, head of the project team at St. Pölten UAS.

The EU project is led by the Medical University of Graz and implemented together with St. Pölten UAS and ten other partners from Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Croatia.

Digital biomarkers in healthcare

Leung's research investigates the use of multimodal data from sensor technologies – so-called digital biomarkers. These are objective, quantifiable physiological and behavioural data recorded and measured by digital devices.

“We can increasingly obtain data on stress, cognition and emotional state from digital devices worn on the body. We use this data specifically to personalise XR therapies and training.”

One of her central projects: EyeQTrack

Using VR-supported eye tracking, Vanessa measures stress levels to better understand and address mental strain.

Since 2021, she has led the Competency Team Digital Biomarkers for Wellbeing at the Interdisciplinary CDHSI - Center for Digital Health and Social Innovation (UAS St. Pölten).

Background

In 2016, Leung became Junior Research Group Leader of the Human Optics Lab at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, where she began developing eye-tracking applications for healthcare.

Vanessa Leung is an expert in digital health, wearable technologies and biomedical engineering – with a PhD in Applied Physics.

Copyright: XR2eslilience Team © Verena Reiter | Test with VR glasses © St. Pölten UAS / Yvonne Prinzellner