Virtual-Reality Therapy
From: Scientific American - 08/2004 - Vol. 291, No. 2, P. 58
By: Hunter G. Hoffman

Immersive virtual reality technology is being tapped for its therapeutic
value in such areas as pain management and overcoming phobias. Hunter G.
Hoffman of the University of Washington Human Interface Technology Laboratory
and David R. Patterson of the university's School of Medicine tested several
artificial 3D environments, such as SpiderWorld and SnowWorld, to demonstrate
their applications for pain control: SpiderWorld, originally developed to
help people deal with arachnophobia, presents a virtual kitchen with
interactive objects, while SnowWorld gives users the perspective of a person
flying over a snowy landscape with targets to shoot at. Both environments
relieved burn victims during the excruciating process of getting their wounds
cleaned by providing a distraction that took their minds off the pain and the
injuries, and psychologically reinforcing comfortable feelings through
elements such as SnowWorld's glacial terrain and absence of flame. Studies
have also shown that pain can be reduced even further by enhancing the
quality of the virtual reality system. Tests using functional magnetic
resonance imaging on people engaged in virtual reality imply that the
programs actually lower the amount of pain-related neural activity. Virtual
reality is also being employed for exposure therapy, in which patients are
introduced to objects and/or situations that trigger phobias so that they can
be treated. Patients using the SpiderWorld program wear a special glove that
accurately translates position and movement to a virtual hand as they reach
out to touch a virtual tarantula, while later sessions incorporate tactile
experience with an toy spider that patients can feel. Hoffman and Cornell
University's JoAnn Difede have also demonstrated how virtual reality could be
used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder by having patients immerse
themselves in realistic environments that recreate traumatic experiences,
such as the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11th. 

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