Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TIMELAPSE (TIMELAPSE. A VR application for speeding up time passage during chemotherapy)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-06-01 do 2025-11-30
Chemotherapy can involve lengthy treatment sessions, lasting up to several hours. Such a duration, spent in medicalized settings, can induce in patients a monopolizing focus on their pathology, which leads to a substantial decrease in their mental well-being.
One way to alleviate the impact of long chemotherapy sessions would be accelerating subjective time passage as perceived by the patients, therefore making the treatment seemingly end more quickly.
Stemming from the ERC Advanced Grant AN-ICON, the TIMELAPSE project proposed to prototype, test, and prepare for market uptake a virtual reality (VR) application that would accelerate subjective time passage during chemotherapy.
The idea, whose singular aspects were the object of previous scientific evidence, had not been implemented comprehensively. TIMELAPSE filled this R&D gap with innovative methods and targets, adopting a participatory and patient-centered design approach to innovatively incorporate in the conception of the VR application the irreplaceable perspective of its end-users: cancer patients.
To ensure appropriate methodological tools, TIMELAPSE relied on a strongly interdisciplinary collaboration between three partners: a core research group with expertise in aesthetics, media studies, and cognitive sciences (University of Milan); an industrial partner expert in VR applications for healthcare (Khora); and a clinical partner with substantial expertise in cancer treatment (Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori).
This partnership was crucial: integrating social sciences and humanities into a medical project made it possible to incorporate aspects that are often overlooked in healthcare innovation, such as philosophical perspectives on lived experience and qualitative empirical research, alongside clinical and technological expertise, thereby informing concrete design choices and implementation constraints for the VR application.
On this basis, TIMELAPSE aimed to create an evidence-based and sophisticated technological solution that would nonetheless remain cost-effective and affordable. Such a solution is expected not only to promote cancer patients' mental well-being, but also - in turn - to encourage and increase adherence to the treatment.
One way to alleviate the impact of long chemotherapy sessions would be accelerating subjective time passage as perceived by the patients, therefore making the treatment seemingly end more quickly.
Stemming from the ERC Advanced Grant AN-ICON, the TIMELAPSE project proposed to prototype, test, and prepare for market uptake a virtual reality (VR) application that would accelerate subjective time passage during chemotherapy.
The idea, whose singular aspects were the object of previous scientific evidence, had not been implemented comprehensively. TIMELAPSE filled this R&D gap with innovative methods and targets, adopting a participatory and patient-centered design approach to innovatively incorporate in the conception of the VR application the irreplaceable perspective of its end-users: cancer patients.
To ensure appropriate methodological tools, TIMELAPSE relied on a strongly interdisciplinary collaboration between three partners: a core research group with expertise in aesthetics, media studies, and cognitive sciences (University of Milan); an industrial partner expert in VR applications for healthcare (Khora); and a clinical partner with substantial expertise in cancer treatment (Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori).
This partnership was crucial: integrating social sciences and humanities into a medical project made it possible to incorporate aspects that are often overlooked in healthcare innovation, such as philosophical perspectives on lived experience and qualitative empirical research, alongside clinical and technological expertise, thereby informing concrete design choices and implementation constraints for the VR application.
On this basis, TIMELAPSE aimed to create an evidence-based and sophisticated technological solution that would nonetheless remain cost-effective and affordable. Such a solution is expected not only to promote cancer patients' mental well-being, but also - in turn - to encourage and increase adherence to the treatment.
The project developed through five subsequent phases: 1. Theoretical elaboration; 2. Participatory design; 3. Production; 4. Assessment; 5. Pre-commercialization.
Work started by consolidating the theoretical framework related to accelerating subjective time passage in immersive environments: during Phase 1, the research team from the University of Milan reviewed the relevant literature and translated key concepts (including conditions associated with “flow”) into concrete, testable design hypotheses for VR content and user experience.
In Phase 2, these hypotheses were refined through participatory design activities: patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals participated in workshops and qualitative interviews, offering valuable insights to help define an immersive experience that would meet their requirements in a chemotherapy setting. This phase produced evidence-based design guidelines converging on calm, nature-like environments; low cognitive load; simple and intuitive interaction; one-handed use; and a flexible degree of engagement.
Building on these guidelines, in Phase 3, the work moved to implementation with the production of the functional prototype “Track of Time” by the Khora team. The VR experience was conceived as a calm journey on a vintage train – a contemplative-first experience with optional interaction and designed for practical use during treatment (minimal setup, limited movement, and accessibility on a standalone headset).
In Phase 4, the prototype was assessed by the research team together with the San Gerardo clinical staff in the real chemotherapy setting with a mixed-method clinical trial, including quantitative and qualitative measures, as well as field observation. An initial 12-patient pilot confirmed the prototype tolerability and informed final refinements. The trial proper involved an additional 30 patients, each invited to experience chemotherapy both with and without VR.
Descriptive results indicate strong tolerability and acceptance of “Track of Time” (over 85% of the sample reported no typical VR-related symptoms; over 90% enjoyed the experience). In addition, most participants reported reduced time monitoring and faster perceived time during VR.
These findings supported the project’s overall objective to move from prototyping and validation towards initial market readiness during its final phase. As a first pre-commercial step, the VR application was publicly showcased through an initial launch in both a scientific context and a public setting. In parallel, pre-commercialisation work consolidated the prototype’s packaging and defined a dual uptake pathway: a primary B2B route, based on licensing to oncology departments/chemotherapy centres, and a secondary B2C route, enabling direct distribution for patients with personal headsets. Together, these steps translated the validated proof of concept into a structured basis for further tests and subsequent pre-commercial and commercial activities.
Work started by consolidating the theoretical framework related to accelerating subjective time passage in immersive environments: during Phase 1, the research team from the University of Milan reviewed the relevant literature and translated key concepts (including conditions associated with “flow”) into concrete, testable design hypotheses for VR content and user experience.
In Phase 2, these hypotheses were refined through participatory design activities: patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals participated in workshops and qualitative interviews, offering valuable insights to help define an immersive experience that would meet their requirements in a chemotherapy setting. This phase produced evidence-based design guidelines converging on calm, nature-like environments; low cognitive load; simple and intuitive interaction; one-handed use; and a flexible degree of engagement.
Building on these guidelines, in Phase 3, the work moved to implementation with the production of the functional prototype “Track of Time” by the Khora team. The VR experience was conceived as a calm journey on a vintage train – a contemplative-first experience with optional interaction and designed for practical use during treatment (minimal setup, limited movement, and accessibility on a standalone headset).
In Phase 4, the prototype was assessed by the research team together with the San Gerardo clinical staff in the real chemotherapy setting with a mixed-method clinical trial, including quantitative and qualitative measures, as well as field observation. An initial 12-patient pilot confirmed the prototype tolerability and informed final refinements. The trial proper involved an additional 30 patients, each invited to experience chemotherapy both with and without VR.
Descriptive results indicate strong tolerability and acceptance of “Track of Time” (over 85% of the sample reported no typical VR-related symptoms; over 90% enjoyed the experience). In addition, most participants reported reduced time monitoring and faster perceived time during VR.
These findings supported the project’s overall objective to move from prototyping and validation towards initial market readiness during its final phase. As a first pre-commercial step, the VR application was publicly showcased through an initial launch in both a scientific context and a public setting. In parallel, pre-commercialisation work consolidated the prototype’s packaging and defined a dual uptake pathway: a primary B2B route, based on licensing to oncology departments/chemotherapy centres, and a secondary B2C route, enabling direct distribution for patients with personal headsets. Together, these steps translated the validated proof of concept into a structured basis for further tests and subsequent pre-commercial and commercial activities.
TIMELAPSE went beyond the state of the art by bridging philosophical research on subjective time with healthcare practice, showing how insights on flow and time perception could be operationalised into a patient-centred VR solution for chemotherapy.
The project’s key result was the VR application “Track of Time” designed by keeping in mind the patients’ strong preference for contemplative experiences and accessible interaction (including one-hand use), which proved to be suitable to enhance subjective time passage during treatment.
Beyond the product itself, TIMELAPSE delivered a transferable design method with scientific, technological, and economic value: a participatory approach informed by philosophical theory and leading to a set of user-centered design guidelines. This method translated the preferences and constraints of patients, caregivers and clinical staff into actionable VR requirements for healthcare contexts.
The project provided further scientific advance in the research on subjective time by adding context and population-specific insight into how digital media can induce flow-related conditions and modulate subjective time passage in patients undergoing chemotherapy. By doing so, it also demonstrated that evidence from convenience samples must be confronted with practice when the goal is application in healthcare.
In terms of societal impact, TIMELAPSE supported a non-pharmacological and cost-effective pathway to improve the psychological experience of chemotherapy, with the prospect of supporting adherence and reducing inefficiencies linked to treatment interruption. The solution was conceived as scalable, with costs per use expected to decrease with repeated adoption.
To ensure further uptake and success after the end of the action, key needs now include additional resources and dedicated personnel to refine the technical features of the prototype and extend clinical validation to larger and more diverse samples; and practical implementation work to facilitate deployment in real clinical workflows and sustain market-facing development and partnerships.
The project’s key result was the VR application “Track of Time” designed by keeping in mind the patients’ strong preference for contemplative experiences and accessible interaction (including one-hand use), which proved to be suitable to enhance subjective time passage during treatment.
Beyond the product itself, TIMELAPSE delivered a transferable design method with scientific, technological, and economic value: a participatory approach informed by philosophical theory and leading to a set of user-centered design guidelines. This method translated the preferences and constraints of patients, caregivers and clinical staff into actionable VR requirements for healthcare contexts.
The project provided further scientific advance in the research on subjective time by adding context and population-specific insight into how digital media can induce flow-related conditions and modulate subjective time passage in patients undergoing chemotherapy. By doing so, it also demonstrated that evidence from convenience samples must be confronted with practice when the goal is application in healthcare.
In terms of societal impact, TIMELAPSE supported a non-pharmacological and cost-effective pathway to improve the psychological experience of chemotherapy, with the prospect of supporting adherence and reducing inefficiencies linked to treatment interruption. The solution was conceived as scalable, with costs per use expected to decrease with repeated adoption.
To ensure further uptake and success after the end of the action, key needs now include additional resources and dedicated personnel to refine the technical features of the prototype and extend clinical validation to larger and more diverse samples; and practical implementation work to facilitate deployment in real clinical workflows and sustain market-facing development and partnerships.