By Jeff Kelley 

For VCU’s Nicholas D. Thomson, who is bringing virtual reality to the mental health toolkit for youths, the second half of 2025 has been a period of high-profile expansion for his research – and his reach. 

Thomson, Ph.D, is a psychologist in Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine and the director of research for the Injury and Violence Prevention Program at VCU Health. In recent months, he received a $3 million federal grant to lead a large study on how VR can prevent violence among high-risk youth. He also published a study that his Impact VR program, which teaches social-emotional learning skills, has been shown to reduce conduct problems, aggression and other antisocial behavior.  

And to extend his audience, Thomson now has a big-name partner: the telecommunications giant T-Mobile. Thomson’s VCU-born startup, Arche XR, has joined forces with T-Mobile for Education to bring the immersive VR programming into more schools and youth settings. 

“Research shows VR is a solution to the mental health crisis that students actually want. Imagine a teenager being excited to improve their mental health,” Thomson said. “That’s the potential we have here: Getting youth the necessary mental health care in a way that’s engaging, stigma-free and efficient. It has the power to make a real difference.” 

Demand for youth mental health care has risen sharply in recent years. Arche XR’s suite of tools is designed with evidence-based research and proven treatment methods to target social-emotional learning; anxiety and depression; bullying; violence; gun safety; substance and alcohol use; and trauma resiliency. Wearing VR headsets, students are exposed to a variety of games and interactive educational sessions in virtual environments. 

Nicholas D. Thomson, Ph.D., delivers VR headsets to the Richmond Police Department. The department is using the Arche XR program as part of its own youth-violence prevention programming. (Contributed image)In the new partnership, T-Mobile provides the connective tissue: high-speed 5G access, infrastructure support and distribution to bring VCU’s tech into schools and youth-serving organizations. The pilot phase includes sponsored access for select school districts, with expansion planned nationwide. 

“This partnership isn’t about pairing a large corporation with a startup for the sake of collaboration — it’s about alignment of purpose,” said Kiesha King, Ed.D., who leads education strategy at T-Mobile. “Connectivity amplifies the power of immersive technology, and immersive technology, in turn, deepens the human impact of connectivity. Together, they create a model that extends far beyond the classroom and into the heart of community well-being.” 

Thomson has provided Arche XR’s interventions to the Richmond Police Department, which is using the program as part of its own youth-violence prevention programming. He said there are over a dozen additional localities and school districts signed up to use his software. 

His collaboration with T-Mobile is designed to make proven therapies accessible to youths at a large scale, especially in school districts where resources are stretched thin. 

Importantly, Thomson’s programs operate without an internet connection, allowing schools and communities to use them in rural or low-connectivity areas. Offline capability also makes the programs deployable in response to large-scale traumatic events, such as natural disasters or incidents of mass violence, when access to traditional mental health services may be limited. 

The linkage to T-Mobile’s network allows Arche XR to push software updates to schools, introduce new interventions and collect real-time outcome data. Such data is crucial to help administrators assess impact and sustain funding. 

The model requires no setup or specialized staffing, Thomson said. It uses commercially available VR headsets, and just one can serve around 1,000 students annually, with sessions lasting anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. 

“For just a few dollars per student, schools can bring the latest evidence-based mental health programming directly to their students,” Thomson said. “Traditional interventions become costly when we wait for problems to escalate, so our approach is proactive, cost-effective and designed to make a measurable difference in improving youth well-being.” 

A screenshot from one of the Arche XR programs. (Arche XR)Before the T-Mobile partnership could become official, Thomson worked with the VCU TechTransfer and Ventures team in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. They provided copyright protection on his technology and helped form the licensing agreement with the telecommunications provider.  

“Seeing a faculty-led startup partner with a company like T-Mobile shows how intellectual property developed at VCU can scale nationally, reaching students in need while maintaining the integrity of the science behind it,” said Brent Fagg, assistant director for innovation at TechTransfer and Ventures. 

T-Mobile’s King added that the partnership will benefit more than individual students. 

“When you combine purpose with connectivity, the impact extends far beyond the classroom,” she said. “This partnership empowers schools and communities to strengthen resilience and well-being through proactive, technology-enabled support.” 

VCU Health team members are uniquely positioned to work to break the cycle of violence in our community. Learn more about the Injury and Violence Prevention Program.

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