Flow States, Virtual Reality and Time Perception with Dr. Federico Alvarez

Recently one of the VIRTUALTIMES researchers, Federico Alvarez, participated in “Psychology 360,” a podcast led by Simon Weissenberger. In their conversation, they discussed video games, perception of time, fluidity, boredom, among other topics.

Federico Alvarez is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, which seeks to develop a virtual reality application to diagnose and treat psychopathologies through the manipulation of time perception.

Federico is a video game player, who is fascinated by the world of video games, a world where a person can take the leading role and not simply be a spectator. This was what informed his passion for research.

In the podcast, they also talk about time structures in video games, what characteristics video games should have to get some reaction in terms of time manipulation. What have been the findings so far? Do normal video games work better than video games with virtual reality? They even question whether a condition, such as depression, can be treated by generating an addiction to video games.

Don’t miss this interesting conversation. You can listen to it through this link: Psychology 360.