System and method of a virtual sand tray

1. A computer-implemented method for studying an internal state of a patient, comprising:

generating a virtual environment comprising a background skybox and a texture-mapped wireframe base layer that graphically represents a sand tray comprising a base layer;

providing one or more texture-mapped wireframe object models to be placed in the virtual environment, wherein or more object models in a first group are associated with a positive-orientation, one or more object models in a second group are associated with a negative-orientation, one or more object models in a third group are associated with one or more emotional states;

providing one or more tools to manipulate the virtual environment and the one or more object models by altering animations, behaviors, and interactions between one or more object models and the virtual environment, wherein at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as constructive behaviors and at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as destructive behaviors;

recording, in a computer database, an order of the placement of one or more selected object models in the virtual environment, an amount of time associated with selecting a particular object model of the one or more selected object models, and an association of the one or more selected object models, wherein the association comprises one or more of the positive-orientation, the negative-orientation, and the one or more emotional states;

recording, in the computer database, the classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment;

analyzing, with an analyzer coupled with the computer database, the recorded association of the one or more object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment;

automatically correlating, by use of analyzer-performed pattern recognition of the recorded order of the placement of one or more selected object models and the recorded classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment, an internal state of a patient to with the recorded association of the one or more selected object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment; and

generating, with the analyzer, an analysis comprising a summary of the one or more selected object models and the correlated internal state of the patient.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more tools comprises a shovel and the shovel manipulates the base layer by adding layers to and removing layers from the base layer and wherein removing a predetermined number of layers from the base layer reveals an underlying surface.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the virtual environment background skybox further comprises one or more user-selectable options for the skybox, and one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface, wherein correlating an internal state of a patient is based, at least in part, on a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface and a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the skybox.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

customizing one or more object models at least partially based on one or more model-specific customizations;

when one or more object models are human figure-object models, customizing the one or more human figure-object models by selecting one or more facial expressions, the selected facial expression of the human figure-object models being associated with an emotion;

recording, in the computer database, the emotion associated with the selected facial expressions; and

generating, with the analyzer, an analysis of the patient, wherein the analysis comprises a summary of the recorded emotions associated with the selected facial expressions.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

removing one or more human-figure object models using an explosion visualization; and

when the one or more human-figure object models removed by the explosion visualization represent one or more persons who are known to the patient, recording in the computer database a negative connotation between the patient and the one or more persons.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

identifying one or more fears or emotional triggering events of a patient; and

manipulating the virtual environment and the one or more object models to cause a user to confront particular fears or deal with a particular emotional triggering event.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction for studying an internal state of a patient that when executed by a computer is configured to:

generate a virtual environment comprising a background skybox and a texture-mapped wireframe base layer that graphically represents a sand tray comprising a base layer;

provide one or more texture-mapped wireframe object models to be placed in the virtual environment, wherein or more object models in a first group are associated with a positive-orientation, one or more object models in a second group are associated with a negative-orientation, one or more object models in a third group are associated with one or more emotional states;

provide one or more tools to manipulate the virtual environment and the one or more object models by altering animations, behaviors, and interactions between one or more object models and the virtual environment, wherein at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as constructive behaviors and at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as destructive behaviors;

record, in a computer database, an order of the placement of one or more selected object models in the virtual environment, an amount of time associated with selecting a particular object model of the one or more selected object models, and an association of the one or more selected object models, wherein the association comprises one or more of the positive-orientation, the negative-orientation, and the one or more emotional states;

record, in the computer database the classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment;

analyze, with an analyzer coupled with the computer database, the recorded association of the one or more object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment;

automatically correlate, by use of analyzer-performed pattern recognition of the recorded order of the placement of one or more selected object models and the recorded classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment, an internal state of a patient with the recorded association of the one or more object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment; and

generate, with the analyzer, an analysis comprising a summary of the one or more selected object models and the correlated internal state of the patient.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the one or more tools comprises a shovel and the shovel manipulates the base layer by adding layers to and removing layers from the base layer and wherein removing a predetermined number of layers from the base layer reveals an underlying surface.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction of claim 8 , wherein the virtual environment background skybox further comprises one or more user-selectable options for the skybox, and one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface, wherein correlate an internal state of a patient is based, at least in part, on a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface and a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the skybox.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction of claim 9 , the instructions when executed are further configured to:

customize one or more object models at least partially based on one or more model-specific customizations;

when one or more object models are human figure-object models, customize the one or more human figure-object models by selecting one or more facial expressions, the selected facial expression of the human figure-object models being associated with an emotion;

record, in the computer database, the emotion associated with the selected facial expressions; and

generate, with the analyzer, an analysis of the patient, wherein the analysis comprises a summary of the recorded emotions associated with the selected facial expressions.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction of claim 10 , the instructions when executed are further configured to:

remove one or more human-figure object models using an explosion visualization; and

when the one or more human-figure object models removed by the explosion visualization represent one or more persons who are known to the patient, record in the computer database a negative connotation between the patient and the one or more persons.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer executable instruction of claim 11 , the instructions when executed are further configured to:

identify one or more fears or emotional triggering events of a patient; and

manipulate the virtual environment and the one or more object models to cause a user to confront particular fears or deal with a particular emotional triggering event.

13. A system for generating a report for an internal state of a patient, comprising:

a computer comprising an analyzer coupled with a database and configured to:

generate a virtual environment comprising a background skybox and a texture-mapped wireframe base layer that graphically represents a sand tray comprising a base layer;

provide one or more texture-mapped wireframe object models to be placed in the virtual environment, wherein or more object models in a first group are associated with a positive-orientation, one or more object models in a second group are associated with a negative-orientation, one or more object models in a third group are associated with one or more emotional states;

provide one or more tools to manipulate the virtual environment and the one or more object models by altering animations, behaviors, and interactions between one or more object models and the virtual environment, wherein at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as constructive behaviors and at least some manipulations of the virtual environment are classified as destructive behaviors;

record, in the database, an order of the placement of one or more selected object models in the virtual environment, an amount of time associated with selecting a particular object model of the one or more selected object models, and an association of the one or more selected object models, wherein the association comprises one or more of the positive-orientation, the negative-orientation, and the one or more emotional states;

record, in the database, the classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment;

analyze, with the analyzer, the recorded association of the one or more object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment;

automatically correlate, by use of analyzer-performed pattern recognition of the recorded order of the placement of one or more selected object models and the recorded classification of the manipulations of the virtual environment, an internal state of a patient with the association of the one or more object models and the recorded classification of the manipulation of the virtual environment; and

generate, with the analyzer, an analysis comprising a summary of the one or more selected object models and the correlated internal state of the patient.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the one or more tools comprises a shovel and the shovel manipulates the base layer by adding layers to and removing layers from the base layer and wherein removing a predetermined number of layers from the base layer reveals an underlying surface.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the virtual environment background skybox further comprises one or more user-selectable options for the skybox, and one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface, wherein correlate an internal state of a patient is based, at least in part, on a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the underlying surface and a selection from the one or more user-selectable options for the skybox.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computer is further configured to:

customize one or more object models at least partially based on one or more model-specific customizations;

when one or more object models are human figure-object models, customize the one or more human figure-object models by selecting one or more facial expressions, the selected facial expression of the human figure-object models being associated with an emotion;

record, in the database the emotion associated with the selected facial expressions; and

generate, with the analyzer, an analysis of the patient, wherein the analysis comprises a summary of the recorded emotions associated with the selected facial expressions.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computer is further configured to:

remove one or more human-figure object models using an explosion visualization; and

when the one or more human-figure object models removed by the explosion visualization represent one or more persons who are known to the patient, record in the database a negative connotation between the patient and the one or more persons.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the computer is further configured to:

identify one or more fears or emotional triggering events of a patient; and

manipulate the virtual environment and the one or more object models to cause a user to confront particular fears or deal with a particular emotional triggering event.