Atlanta parent’s loss sparks virtual reality therapy
A total of 20,162 U.S. infants died in 2023. It’s a reminder of the countless parents, siblings and friends forever changed by profound, blindsiding loss every year. For one Atlanta-area parent, that unimaginable grief became a mission. Determined to make a difference, he’s tethering the bereaved into a welcoming virtual reality.
Lei Zhang, an assistant professor of game development at Kennesaw State University, researches how artificial intelligence-enhanced virtual reality can support mental health. As a member of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Quality of Life, Grief and Bereavement Support steering council, he also works directly with parents facing loss through bereavement services and mentorship.
Now, he’s channeling both his expertise and his experience into designing a new kind of program that brings group therapy into a virtual space. Why? He’s spent years grieving himself.
Inspired through loss
It was six years ago when his daughter Lexie was born. Less than a year later, tragedy struck.
“She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 8 months old,” Zhang said. “That was very devastating news for the whole family.”
At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, they learned the cancer was very aggressive, and her prognosis was poor. After chemotherapy treatment, Lexie showed signs of remission. It was time for a bone-marrow transplant, but there was a problem. The hospital didn’t have a full donor. Zhang, only half a match, became their best option.
“They did the procedure, but unfortunately, my daughter just relapsed,” he said. “The disease came back.”
They kept trying, including applying for some experimental treatments, but nothing worked. In 2020, Lexie died from cancer — a loss Zhang calls the darkest moment of his life.
Grief therapy soon followed, with inspiration for his next research project not far behind.
Group therapy in virtual reality
Zhang was disappointed with his telehealth therapy experience, something COVID-19 made a modern standard. His solution? Bring group therapy into the digital world in a whole new way.
His new research project is a virtual reality-based group therapy program. It’s not a replacement for traditional grief therapy but rather a new way for grieving parents to experience it.
The system creates real-time virtual avatars of each user, mirroring their movements and facial expressions. An AI then turns their shared messages into text-to-image visuals for a more engaging experience. Facial tracking tech empowers the avatars with more lifelike expressions, too, a possible game changer for emotional conversations in the virtual space.
According to the American Psychological Association, following the lengthy in-home quarantines of the pandemic, telehealth therapy “is here to stay.” In 2023, around 89% of psychologists used it. About 78% of fully remote psychologists and 92% of those partially remote told the association in a survey that they plan to keep using it.
In Zhang’s experience, though, telehealth group therapy can sometimes feel impersonal and isolating.
After losing Lexie, Zhang and his wife joined bereavement support groups, which he described as a positive experience overall. In 2020, however, many of the support group events were turning virtual.
“I didn’t feel very excited about that,” he said. “Because suddenly we — the parents — were broken into small groups for discussion.
“Basically, they share their experiences, but in a lot of cases, the parents just turn their cameras off,” he said. “Sometimes you feel that you’re just talking to yourself. You can’t see other people’s faces. Can’t see their reactions, emotions.”
For Zhang, it just wasn’t as engaging. His virtual reality experience is designed to change that.
“We feel that it can provide a more personalized experience, which is very important for therapy,” he said.
A future tool for the community
The project is still in its early stages, but Zhang is optimistic. Once the system is ready, the next step is testing. This is when parents will be able to try the virtual reality experience for the first time.
Right now, the program is focused primarily on parents who have lost a child due to cancer and want to participate in meaning-centered grief therapy. In the future, Zhang hopes to expand to accommodate more forms of grief.
“Everyone in their life has lost someone,” he said.
About the Author
Hunter Boyce is a writer, digital producer and journalist home grown from a Burke County farm. Throughout his career, Hunter has gone on to write sports, entertainment, political and local breaking news for a variety of outlets.
