THE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 

Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree 

MASTER OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 

on Thursday, July 6th, 2023 

10:00 am – 11:00 am (EST) 

in the {location} TBD 

will be held the 

THESIS DEFENSE 

for 

Lan Gao 

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES OF UTILIZING SENSING TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT 
REMOTE PSYCHOTHERAPY 

Advisor: 

Dr. Leila Aflatoony, School of Industrial Design 

Committee: 

Prof. Wendell Wilson, School of Industrial Design 

Prof. Timothy Purdy, School of Industrial Design 

Faculty and students are invited to attend this presentation. 

Abstract: 250 words 

Remote psychotherapy has been growing rapidly. Despite its increasing prevalence, it presents challenges such as privacy concerns, technological familiarity, and interaction blockers. Most significantly, it often compromises the therapeutic alliance—a key factor in effective psychotherapy—due to a lack of non-verbal cues and a perceived distance between client and therapist. 

This research aims to address these challenges through the integration of sensor tracking systems, which offer potential to improve online interactions and support a stronger therapeutic alliance. We begins by exploring the opportunities and challenges of deploying sensor tracking systems in remote psychotherapy, through qualitative analysis of interviews, card-sorting activities, and co-design sessions with 9 clients and 10 therapists. We subsequently propose a sensor-based remote psychotherapy platform, informed by the findings from these activities. Finally, we ran an user testing sessions conducted with 7 clients and 3 therapists to evaluate the feasibility of our proposal. This work offers insights into the deployment of sensor tracking systems in remote psychotherapy, presenting valuable directions for enhancing the therapeutic alliance and overall experience for both clients and therapists.