WP4 — Implementation of IPCs

Overview

WP4 is dedicated to the implementation and iterative development of three fully functional Immersive Prevention Centers (IPCs):
two designed for junior populations and one for senior users.
These centers will be built upon the core technologies defined in WP3, integrating adapted VR/MR exercises from SME partners, and following the scenarios and design principles established in WP2.
The resulting prototypes will undergo iterative testing and refinement to achieve sufficient quality for the evaluation phases in WP5 and WP6.

Objectives

The main objective of WP4 is to implement three working immersive prevention centers based on the technical foundations and design guidelines produced in WP2 and WP3.

Specifically, WP4 will:

1. Integrate adapted VR/MR exercises from SME partners (C2Care and DiverSSity) into the prevention centers, in alignment with the scenarios defined in WP2.2 and WP2.3.
2. Develop iteratively the three IPCs (two junior and one senior), ensuring continuous improvement through regular user testing.
3. Conduct repeated evaluations with patients and practitioners to reach an appropriate level of usability, stability, and clinical readiness.
4. Ensure that the resulting prototypes meet the quality requirements for the evaluation activities planned in WP5 and WP6.
5. Apply risk management procedures to guarantee technical feasibility and usability, leveraging the experience gained from prior prototypes to accelerate development.

Iterative development will be central to WP4: each prototype will evolve through cycles of user testing and refinement to achieve practical readiness for real-world evaluation.

Description of Work

The work is organized into four main tasks:

• Task 4.1 — Adaptation of existing VR/MR environments:
  Adapt the standalone VR/MR environments developed by C2Care and DiverSSity so they can be used within a Metaverse-based prevention center.
  This involves:

  • Making them multi-user environments,
  • Implementing roles (e.g., patient/practitioner),
  • Creating APIs to navigate between IPC main spaces and specific activities,
  • Incorporating mechanisms for data collection and IPC management.

• Tasks 4.2 and 4.3 — Development of Junior and Senior IPCs:
  Implement the junior IPCs (in Switzerland and Poland) and the senior IPC (in France) using the core technologies defined in WP3 and the scenarios from WP2.
  Each IPC will integrate the adapted activities from Task 4.1.
  The prototypes will evolve iteratively based on feedback from user testing (Task 4.4) until they are stable and suitable for formal evaluation.
  The Swiss and Polish junior IPCs will share a common foundation while accounting for national specificities.

• Task 4.4 — Iterative testing and refinement:
  Conduct regular prototype tests involving both junior and senior participants as well as practitioners.
  Collect and analyze usability and performance data, document results, and make informed decisions for prototype evolution.
  These activities will ensure continuous improvement and quality alignment with the project’s evaluation objectives.

Throughout WP4, risk management will be closely monitored to ensure progress toward the main objective:
to deliver high-quality prototypes that can be reliably used by practitioners and patients in subsequent evaluation phases.
The existence of an initial prototype already provides a valuable starting point for this iterative process.

Summary

WP4 delivers the operational Immersive Prevention Centers that constitute the core outcomes of the IPC4MH project.
Through iterative design, testing, and refinement, it ensures that the prevention centers are usable, clinically valid, and technically stable.
By combining adapted industrial VR/MR environments with rigorous user feedback, WP4 bridges design concepts and real-world clinical deployment, enabling evaluation and impact assessment in subsequent work packages.