Psychedelic-assisted therapy shows promise for mental health treatment but faces regulatory, methodological and safety challenges. In this Comment, we propose using artificial intelligence and virtual reality to simulate similar experiences to those produced by traditional psychedelic compounds for use in psychedelic-assisted therapy modalities.
Psychedelics were explored for their potential in the mental health field. However, research was delayed by concerns over short-term side effects and long-term consequences of substance use. Technological advances enabled the development of Hallucinatory Visual Virtual Experiences (HVVEs), namely psychedelic experiences simulations in immersive virtual reality. This study investigated HVVEs'...