The first is called the Insight Project and it aims to break new ground in mental health. Earlier, back at Ninja Theory’s Cambridge studio, Antoniades revealed an embryonic work in progress: a virtual-reality version of a London flat. “The idea is to get as close to reality as possible, to create an environment that works the same way a real environment works and looks utterly, utterly real.” To do this, the team is in the process of painstakingly scanning real-world objects into this virtual apartment and then improving the tiniest details. The layout of the flat is based on Antoniades’ own apartment – he reasons that if it’s a space he knows intimately then he will better be able to judge whether the team has managed to perfect it. Into this cyber realm they are going to place a character that they intend to be the most realistic virtual human ever made, from skin to eyes to clothing. “It’s one area where I think we are world leaders,” he says.
Antoniades, who is tall and has an asymmetric haircut straight out of a video game, is a maestro at creating virtual worlds, but says that he is less at home in the real one. He describes himself as slightly autistic and although he hasn’t been officially diagnosed, he did try an autism test on an app made by Channel 4. For social interaction, he scored zero out of 20. “I definitely have those traits of deep focus, of not understanding how social interaction and groups work – I’ve just not been interested in that side of the world.” It is strange to hear him say this, as he comes across as confident and affable, but he is convinced he has room for improvement. He looks on these challenges less as shortcomings than as puzzles to crack. And having money, in a funny way, has made the puzzles harder. Take relationships. “I’m single. That’s another problem to solve. The thing is, I can’t go out with anyone now without them knowing I’m wealthy, so then the question becomes, ‘Oh, do they like me for me or do they like me for the fact that I’m wealthy?’”
When it comes to his new project, however, he talks with much more certainty. In three years, Antoniades believes, they will be at a stage where their virtual apartment set-up is indistinguishable from film – and a user will be able to step into it by donning a virtual-reality headset and exploring using gesture and voice control. “The thing we can do, that I think no else can credibly do, is make the virtual character [that you encounter in this digital world] interactive, make them actually respond to you, respond to your gaze, your actions.” It’s costing them millions – but what has it got to do with mental health?
The virtual character becomes your guide through this environment – a kind of proxy therapist. You, in turn, are wearing kit that captures biometric data, such as heart rate and eye movements. This allows the computer to represent your inner state – anxiety, say, or dread – in the virtual world. Perhaps it might be represented as an enemy. You then attempt to vanquish or appease this character using only your mind. In other words, you learn to overcome that undesirable mental state. That skill can in turn be used in the real world when you feel that state of mind coming on – or perhaps are alerted to it by a wearable device, such as a haptic wristband. There would also be a benefit to clinicians. The hope is that as more and more people go through the experience, it will help define a whole host of inner states in terms of their physical signatures. Psychiatrists could then use those signatures to diagnose more accurately what patients are feeling inside. Ninja Theory is collaborating on the project with Paul Fletcher, a psychiatrist and professor of health neuroscience at Cambridge University. Fletcher is calling it a “new kind of clinical science”.
The experience will also be given a game-like sense of progression. The team is still working out what form this will take, but Fletcher says that this is vital. “If a self-help book says that in order to [solve a mental health problem] you’ve got to train yourself, and it’s probably going to take a couple of hours a day, a lot of people will put the book down after a week. Whereas if you give someone a game and say, ‘You’re allowed two hours a day on this,’ they’ll say, ‘Well, can’t I have more?’ It’s an amazing training setting.”
To be effective, the virtual environment has to be wholly convincing, which is why a games company such as Ninja Theory, says Antoniades, is in prime position to deliver this new tool. Not only does the company have experience in virtual avatars, human-computer interfaces and data analytics, but what it's building could also be repurposed for a game in the more traditional sense. That means they can justify investing heavily in it. “We can spend millions of pounds on it and create the best assets, beyond anything researchers have ever seen.”