Early Access Program

FireflyVR is seeking Early Access partners to provide input and feedback on the usability and curriculum content of The Sanctuary. If you or your institution may be interested participating, this page outlines the program and provides a contact form at the bottom.

What is The Sanctuary?

The Sanctuary is a Virtual Reality (VR) experience that provides tools to patients and clinicians that aid in boosting effectiveness of mental health therapies. The current focus is to prepare patients for effective ketamine therapy by using demonstrated methods to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

How does The Sanctuary prepare patients for ketamine therapy?

We take a multi-modal learning approach and well-established techniques to accommodate a broad audience. The following are the main ways we prepare the patient:

• • Deliver Important Information. A series of interactive videos gives practical information, scientific explanations, and in-depth insights into ketamine therapy and the preparation work they are practicing.
  • Teach Breathing Exercises. Diaphragmatic breathing is introduced as a tool to help manage stress and shift one’s mindset.
  • Practice Mindfulness Techniques. Mindfulness techniques that incorporate visualization and imagination are used to help prepare the patient’s mindset for ketamine therapy.
  • Set Intention. Setting intention is a cornerstone of achieving a positive, healing ketamine experience.
  • Provide a Positive Set and Setting. Throughout all activities, The Sanctuary provides a soothing and productive environment filled with activities that help prepare a person for a safe and positive ketamine treatment.

Why use virtual reality?

As virtual reality is becoming more accessible in households, it’s also more accessible in the digital health arena, where it drives innovation and improves patient outcomes. In The Sanctuary, virtual reality offers a safe, fully-immersed, multi-sensory, and distraction-free space to practice important preparatory techniques that benefit from focus. In other words, it can help provide an ideal set and setting as a patient prepares themselves for ketamine therapy.

Who can participate?

Clinicians, therapists, researchers, or any other mental healthcare providers that incorporate ketamine therapy into their practice that are interested in finding tools to help prepare patients and improve outcomes. More specifically, the current iteration of this curriculum is intended for use with a higher sub-anesthetic ketamine dosage, but can easily be adapted for use with lower dose treatments (or esketamine) given that most content is compatible.

What is expected of me?

We know your time is valuable, and there are no set expectations for this trial. This is a voluntary early access program that allows you to give the amount of feedback that’s right for you. 

We will send you a headset that will allow you to experience The Sanctuary. From there, we can discuss how deeply you want to assess the material. We will provide online forms as a convenient way to deliver feedback. The insights we gain from your participation will help shape it into a practical tool for you and a therapy enhancing experience for the patient.

What type of feedback will be helpful?

Any feedback –both positive and critical– will be extremely valuable. Generally speaking, these are the main areas that feedback will fall into:

• • Clinician Perspective Feedback. Feedback that will lead to effective practical use in a clinical setting.
  • Patient Experience Feedback. You know your patients better than anybody else, so helping us identify usability issues and potential barriers is critical to its effectiveness.
  • Content Critique. Our curriculum was developed with the collaboration of experts, but there’s always room for more and improved material. OR “but needs to be tested with end-users.”

Will my feedback make a difference?

YES! The Sanctuary is built to be changeable and modular, and we’re still in early testing stages. Your voice may significantly shape The Sanctuary’s practicality and effectiveness.

Are patients expected to be involved?

No. However, at your discretion, you may give select patients the option to try it so we can gather useability feedback. No PHI (protected health information) will be collected and feedback can be delivered with complete anonymity.

Do I need a VR headset of my own?

No, but if you do have one you might be able to use it if it makes the process easier.

Is there any science to support the use of The Sanctuary?

Yes. An analytical and scientific approach is of utmost importance to us, and collaboration with experts is our main strategy for building effective tools. We have incorporated well-established techniques into the Sanctuary that are widely paired with ketamine therapy, but transferring them to VR is new territory in digital health. That is why the next steps we are taking are to (1) ensure a practical and usable experience, and to (2) validate efficacy of The Sanctuary. This Early Access program is geared towards the latter–to ensure that we create a tool that clinicians will find practical and patients will find helpful.

PDF: Evidence based processes incorporated into The Sanctuary

What can I expect for the future of The Sanctuary?

Ketamine preparation is just the beginning for The Sanctuary. Long-term, FireflyVR plans to build out an extensive array of therapeutic adjuncts and modules to address many conditions and therapies – PTSD, addiction, and CBT to name just a few. But first, we need to get this one right.