Trauma-Informed Spaces
Understand the principles of trauma-informed care, and how they can be integrated into physical spaces, through an immersive virtual reality experience.
In the Trauma-Informed Spaces app, you can explore a virtual human services clinic from the perspective of a client seeking care.
You will experience how environmental factors — including lighting, signage, seating and accessibility — affect your clients and learn how changes can improve their experiences and treatment outcomes. Whether you are a social worker, doctor, nurse, teacher or another professional working in health care or human services, Trauma-Informed Spaces will help you improve the quality of care for your clients.
Download Trauma-Informed Spaces
The Trauma-Informed Spaces app is available in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
When you install the app and run it for the first time, be sure to give the app permission to use your camera. The app uses your camera to track where you are looking inside the simulation and will not function properly without access. It does not record any video or audio. If you missed this step, simply go into your device settings and view the app permissions to change this setting.
Once you have the app running, slip your phone into a cardboard headset and place it on your head. Find the "look here" circle on your screen and stare at it. When you are focused on the circle, it will turn blue and a timer will appear to take you into the simulation.
The simulation starts with a description of our virtual agency and a recap of the trauma-informed principles you should consider while exploring the virtual environment. You will see the text on screen and hear our narrator, TI-Friendly, throughout this portion. You can replay or close the introduction by focusing on any of the circles.
Move around
To move around the agency, focus on the yellow and white semicircles on the floor in different areas of the agency. The semicircles for areas you have not visited will be yellow; once you visit an area, the semicircle will turn white to indicate you have viewed it. You can always return to view an area again.
View different levels of trauma-informed care
As you explore each interaction point, you can view the three different levels of trauma-informed design: low, medium and high. To do this, focus your gaze on any of the three options. The level you are currently viewing will be highlighted in yellow.
Explore the virtual agency
After viewing the first interaction point, the door will open and you will be able to navigate through and explore other areas of the agency. Take your time listening to the narration to learn more about how trauma-informed principles can be integrated into different parts of an agency’s physical environment. You can revisit each interaction point as many times as you like.
Once you have visited every interaction point you will receive a message congratulating you on completing the simulation. At that point, you can exit the simulation or continue to review the content.
Step inside the VR clinic
Learn how your front desk area can set the tone to welcome clients, as well as how your seating choices can affect client experiences.
Provide feedback
Thank you for your interest in this project! If you have used Trauma-Informed Spaces on any platform, we would love to hear about your experience. Your feedback will allow us to improve future versions and address any issues our users encounter.