This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical advice. Please contact a mental-health professional with any questions.

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“Tell me what you need, and I’ll create it.”

That’s SAS SOCIALDREAM President Thierry Gricourt’s reply, when asked what virtual-reality applications he can offer, for mental health.

For Thierry, innovation is about helping other human beings. Accordingly, his Lyon, France-based virtual-reality application, SOCIALDREAM, is listed on the company website as “aux services des plus fragiles”–at the service of those most fragile.

SOCIALDREAM’s 360-degree virtual-reality videos offer escape and well-being to patients with limited mobility. However, that’s only one aspect of the service.

In addition, SOCIALDREAM has videos for the general public, to aid in dealing with stress. These are customized to each individual user.

There’s also an immersive game for autistic children, to help them learn.

And–definitely going the extra mile–there’s another innovation: the hardware.

Called DreamSens, Thierry created this for easier accessibility. It’s a much lighter headset than standard models, and more user-friendly.

We had the pleasure of interviewing Thierry a few weeks ago. Though he does not speak English and our French is severely limited, he surmounted that obstacle by providing an interpreter! (Warm thanks, both to Thierry for his patience with our limitations, and to filmmaker Ariane Tourneur for doing the honors!)

Thierry shared the story of SOCIALDREAM, explained some of the applications and offered a timeline for the availability of the software and the DreamSens hardware in the United States.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Thierry first became interested in virtual reality, as an area in which he wanted to use his talents;

• The story of SOCIALDREAM;

• One of Thierry’s most memorable experiences from his early days creating SOCIALDREAM;

• How our translator, filmmaker Ariane Tourneau, first came on board with SOCIALDREAM:

• Thierry’s experiences working with clients and observing how VR created positive emotions:

• A closer look at the headset, DreamSens, which Thierry created to go along with his content;

• How a healthy adult can use SOCIALDREAM;

• A closer look at a program developed to help students with autism;

• Thierry’s creative process, as a filmmaker;

• How the real-time customizable element of SOCIALDREAM works, for individual users;

• How the project has helped Thierry to grow most, creatively;

• Thierry’s vision for SOCIALDREAM and DreamSens for the next five years.