Recurrent negative thoughts can significantly disrupt daily life and contribute to negative emotional states. Facing, confronting, and noticing such thoughts without support can be challenging. To provide a playful setting and leverage the technical maturation of Virtual Reality (VR), our VR experience, Mind Mansion, places the user in an initially cluttered virtual apartment. Here we utilize established concepts from traditional therapy and metaphors identified in prior works to let users engage metaphorically with representations of thoughts, gradually sorting the space, fostering awareness of thoughts, and supporting mental self-care. The results of our user study (n = 30) reveal that Mind Mansion encourages the exploration of alternative perspectives, fosters acceptance, and potentially offers new coping mechanisms. Our findings suggest that this VR intervention can reduce negative affect and improve overall emotional awareness.

翻译：反复出现的负面思维会显著扰乱日常生活，并加剧负面情绪状态。在没有支持的情况下，面对、正视并觉察这些思维可能具有挑战性。为了营造趣味性环境并利用虚拟现实（VR）技术的日益成熟，我们的VR体验《心灵宅邸》将用户置于一个初始杂乱的虚拟公寓中。在此，我们借鉴传统疗法中已确立的概念及先前研究提出的隐喻，让用户通过隐喻方式与思维的具象化表征进行互动，逐步整理空间，培养对思维的觉察力，并支持心理自我关怀。我们的用户研究（n=30）结果表明，《心灵宅邸》鼓励探索替代视角、促进接纳态度，并可能提供新的应对机制。研究结论显示，这种VR干预措施能够降低负面情感，并提升整体情绪觉察能力。