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Design & Technology: Mediation by Digital Advents in Avatar Therapy

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Developments in Design Research and Practice II (Senses 2021)

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Design and Innovation ((SSDI,volume 31))

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Abstract

This research presents an analysis of Avatar Therapy, a method of treating auditory hallucinations for patients with schizophrenia through images that supposedly represent the voices that people with schizophrenia hear. The objective proposed here is to understand how the aesthetics of these images can successfully produce their therapeutic effect through design and technology tools. The study conceives the therapeutic process as an intersemiotic mediation and translation. In addition, it aims to analyze the processes of figuration and representation and the characteristics of the graphic software. It is an internal validity study with external validation capacity in its applicability and generalizability character. The research modality performed here fits (1) in the theoretical scope for aiming at fundamentals and structuring systems that can help in improvements for the development of Avatar Therapy; and (2) in the bibliographical scope for recovering the scientific knowledge of the followers of C. S. Peirce’s semiotics and applying it to the design of this therapy images.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by UNIDCOM under a Grant by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) No. UIDB/DES/00711/2020 attributed to UNIDCOM/IADE - Research Unit in Design and Communication, Lisbon, Portugal

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IADE, Universidade Europeia, Av. D. Carlos I 4, Lisbon, Portugal

    Rodrigo Morais

  2. UNIDCOM/IADE, Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação, Av. D. Carlos I 4, Lisbon, Portugal

    Rodrigo Morais

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  1. Rodrigo Morais
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Correspondence to Rodrigo Morais .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNIDCOM/IADE - Unidade de Investigação em Design e Comunicação, Universidade Europeia, IADE - Faculdade de Design, Tecnologia e Comunicação, Lisboa, Portugal

    Emilia Duarte

  2. Dipartimento ARCOD, Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy

    Annalisa Di Roma

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Morais, R. (2023). Design & Technology: Mediation by Digital Advents in Avatar Therapy. In: Duarte, E., Di Roma, A. (eds) Developments in Design Research and Practice II. Senses 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation , vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32280-8_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32280-8_28

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-32279-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-32280-8

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