Gaze-contingent music reward therapy

Abstract

A computerized method for treating a psychopathological condition, the method comprising using at least one hardware processor for presenting to a patient on a computer display at least one visual media and at least audio media; receiving from an eye tracker a gaze direction of at least one eye of the patient; computing a display location of the gaze direction; and when a distance from the gaze location to a target location of the visual media is greater than a threshold value, pausing the audio media for a period of time.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computerized method for treating a psychopathological condition, the method comprising using at least one hardware processor for:
 presenting, using an audio playback device, at least audio media to a patient;   receiving, from an eye tracker, a gaze direction of at least one eye of the patient;   computing a difference angle between a target direction and the gaze direction; and   pausing the audio media for a period of time, based, at least in part, on said computing.   
     
     
         2 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the presenting further comprises presenting a visual media to a patient on a display. 
     
     
         3 . The computerized method of  claim 2 , wherein the visual media is at least one from a video, a digital video file, and at least one digital image. 
     
     
         4 . The computerized method of  claim 2 , wherein the visual media comprises images of faces. 
     
     
         5 . The computerized method of  claim 4 , wherein at least some of the images of faces depict neutral expressions, and at least some of the images of faces are threatening expressions, and the psychopathological condition is a social anxiety disorder. 
     
     
         6 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the psychopathological condition is at least one of a social anxiety disorder, an anxiety disorder, a mood disorder, a post-traumatic stress disorder, an eating disorder, a borderline personality disorder, an autism spectrum disorder, a substance-related disorder, psychotic disorder, and an addictive disorder. 
     
     
         7 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the audio media is at least one of a music track, a digital music file, a lecture track, a digital lecture file, an audio book, and a digital audio book. 
     
     
         8 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the period of time is between 0.1 second and 10 seconds. 
     
     
         9 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein subsequent to the pausing, the audio media is at least in part rewound. 
     
     
         10 . A computerized system for treating a psychopathological condition, the computerized system comprising:
 an eye tracker;   at least one hardware processor; and   a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by said at least one hardware processor to:   (i) present to a patient at least audio media;   (ii) receive, from the eye tracker, a gaze direction of at least one eye of the patient;   (iii) compute a difference angle between a target direction and the gaze direction; and   (iv) pause the audio media for a period of time based, at least in part, on said computing.   
     
     
         11 . The computerized system of  claim 10 , further comprising a display for presenting images to said patient, and wherein the program code is further configured to present to said patient, on the display, at least one visual media. 
     
     
         12 . The computerized system of  claim 11 , wherein the visual media is at least one from a video, a digital video file, and at least one digital image. 
     
     
         13 . The computerized system of  claim 11 , wherein the visual media comprises images of faces. 
     
     
         14 . The computerized system of  claim 13 , wherein at least some of the images of faces are neutral expressions, and at least some of the images of faces are threatening expressions, and the psychopathological condition is a social anxiety disorder. 
     
     
         15 . The computerized system of  claim 10 , wherein the psychopathological condition is at least one of a social anxiety disorder, an anxiety disorder, a mood disorder, a post-traumatic stress disorder, an eating disorder, a borderline personality disorder, an autism spectrum disorder, a substance-related disorder, and an addictive disorder. 
     
     
         16 . The computerized system of  claim 10 , wherein the audio media is at least one of a music track, a digital music file, a lecture track, a digital lecture file, an audio book, and a digital audio book. 
     
     
         17 . The computerized system of  claim 10 , wherein the period of time is between 0.1 second and 10 seconds. 
     
     
         18 . The computerized system of  claim 10 , wherein subsequent to the pausing, the audio media is at least in part rewound. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for treating a psychopathological condition, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by at least one hardware processor to:
 present to a patient at least audio media;   receive, from an eye tracker, a gaze direction of at least one eye of the patient;   compute a difference angle between a target direction and the gaze direction; and   pause the audio media for a period of time based, at least in part, on said computing.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the program code is further configured to present to said patient, on a display, at least one visual media.