A gamification expert, a child psychiatrist and an AI researcher meet at a restaurant. Sounds like the start of a joke, but it’s actually the beginning of AngstVRei: A long-term, BMFTR-funded innovation project. A VR game to help children with school anxiety overcome their fears through gamification and biofeedback following therapeutic principles. In this session, Marcos Delebé (Creative Director & Project Manager at Pfeffermind) and Stephan Kiefer (Arbeitsgruppenleiter Biomedizinische Daten und Bioethik at Fraunhofer Institute) explain how game design principles can make a difference in healthcare with insights from AI and research. They demonstrate why digital therapy isn’t a topic of tomorrow, but a reality today and how creativity can spark systemic change.