Paulo Veloso Gomes is MSc in Information Management and has an Advanced Studies Diploma in Social and Medical Sciences and Scientific Documentation. Researcher in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory affiliated with the School of Health of the Polytechnic of Porto and the Faculty of Psychology and Education Science of the University of Porto. Experienced Professor in the School of Health of the Polytechnic of Porto, with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Strong education professional skilled in Computer Science, Health Communication, Health Literacy, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Web Creation Contents, Knowledge Management, Information Management, Information Systems and Digital Media Art.

 The use of Biofeedback Virtual Reality Environments in Mental Health Therapies - Self-regulation Behaviours and Empathy Construction

The quality of life of a person with mental illness can be compromised by the difficulty in carrying out their daily tasks and by the social stigma of their condition.

Virtual Reality immersive environments creates sensations that generate involuntary emotions, these emotions result from an involuntary interpretation process and translate what the participant feels during exposer. These environments, in which the participant can be placed himself in another's position and feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, can be used to induce emotional changes that allows him to incorporate sensations and feelings that generate empathy, understanding and solidarity.

Interaction in virtual reality environments may not be just limited to the participant's conscious actions. The use of biofeedback mechanisms to measure the user’s emotions and reaction to stimuli during exposure can be used as an element of real time interaction between the participant and the system, based on participants involuntary reaction.

Neurofeedback allows the user of virtual reality systems to change the environment with his thought. By measuring the participant's brain waves is it possible to create a an adaptative virtual world that reacts to the user emotions to influence different states of mind. This innovative capability of virtual reality systems can be applied in environments for self-regulation training.