Virtual reality games to help assess mental skills in children and youth
Executive functions are the mental skills that help us focus, remember instructions, control impulses, and multitask. Children and youth with brain-based disorders like ADHD often have difficulties with executive functions. These difficulties can affect their school work, friendships, and everyday life. Our research team is developing virtual reality (VR) games to accurately assess executive functions in fun and engaging ways.
VR-FOCUS Research Team Members.
One of the first steps in this process is to learn how children across different ages perform in these games. The goal of the VR-FOCUS Norming Study is to do exactly that by asking up to 2,000 children and youth across Toronto and Montreal to play our VR games. Our hope is that the data we collect can be used to develop VR tools that better identify when a child is having difficulties with executive functions so that they can receive the help they need.
Principal Investigators
- Jennifer Crosbie, PhD, C. Psych. (SickKids / University of Toronto)
- Miriam Beauchamp, PhD (CHU Sainte-Justine / Université de Montréal)
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A research assistant testing out our VR games and gear in the lab.
Come play some VR games!
We’re inviting children and youth in the Greater Toronto Area to take part in a virtual reality study — no hospital visit needed. To be eligible, you must:
- Be aged 6–17
- Be available for a single 15–20 minute session
- Be willing to play two short, five-minute VR games
- Fill out a few brief online questionnaires (or have a parent do so)
Find us Sunday, May 31 at the Royal Ontario Museum, 10:00 AM–5:30 PM (check back for new dates)
For more information, contact:
Alex Chan,
Clinical Research Project Coordinator
Email: vrfocus.study@sickkids.ca
This study is funded by CQDM, Brain Canada, CHILDBRIGHT, CIHR, and the SickKids Foundation.
