Three-Dimensional Virtual Environments for Cybertherapy: A Psychosocial Approach to Effective Usability

The present study is to be considered in the framework of the VEPSY UPDATED project, whose main objective is to prove the technical and clinical viability of using virtual reality therapy (VRT) in clinical psychology by means of portable and shared VR systems. This contribution illustrates the attempt to elaborate a new psychosocial model of usability evaluation analysis, allowing general definitions in the context of the project, by considering areas of VR not yet completely explored from the usability point of view. The theoretical background is based upon an ethnometodological approach, a perspective that gives evidence of how people, in specific social situations, are able to solve complex tasks producing shared meanings and achieving their goals during the interactions, in order to make their actions understandable and successful.