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Virtual reality can, in its own imperfect ways, transport a user into distant experiences. With a headset on, an everyday person can get a brief glimpse of what it’s like to perform a surgery, tour the Louvre, or even make an arrest. One thing VR can’t yet do, however, is simulate the experience of eating lunch. But that could change thanks to a new “bio-integrated gustatory interface” device called “e-Taste.”……..Continue reading….
By: Mack DeGeurin
Source: Popular Science
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Critics:
Virtual reality is most commonly used in entertainment applications such as video games, 3D cinema, amusement park rides including dark rides and social virtual worlds. Consumer virtual reality headsets were first released by video game companies in the early-mid 1990s. Beginning in the 2010s, next-generation commercial tethered headsets were released by Oculus (Rift), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR), setting off a new wave of application development.
3D cinema has been used for sporting events, pornography, fine art, music videos and short films. Since 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have incorporated virtual reality to match visual effects with haptic feedback. VR not only fits the trend of the digital industry but also enhances the film’s visual effect. The film gives the audience more ways to interact through VR technology.
In social sciences and psychology, virtual reality offers a cost-effective tool to study and replicate interactions in a controlled environment. It can be used as a form of therapeutic intervention. For instance, there is the case of the virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), a form of exposure therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias.
A VR therapy has been designed to help people with psychosis and agoraphobia manage their avoidance of outside environments. In the therapy, the user wears a headset and a virtual character provides psychological advice and guides them as they explore simulated environments (such as a cafe or a busy street). NICE is assessing the therapy to see if it should be recommended on the NHS.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social VR has also been used as a mental-health tool in a form of self-administered, non-traditional cognitive behavioural therapy. Virtual reality programs are being used in the rehabilitation processes with elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This gives these elderly patients the opportunity to simulate real experiences that they would not otherwise be able to experience due to their current state.
17 recent studies with randomized controlled trials have shown that virtual reality applications are effective in treating cognitive deficits with neurological diagnoses. Loss of mobility in elderly patients can lead to a sense of loneliness and depression. Virtual reality is able to assist in making aging in place a lifeline to an outside world that they cannot easily navigate. Virtual reality allows exposure therapy to take place in a safe environment.
In medicine, simulated VR surgical environments were first developed in the 1990s. Under the supervision of experts, VR can provide effective and repeatable training at a low cost, allowing trainees to recognize and amend errors as they occur. Virtual reality has been used in physical rehabilitation since the 2000s. Despite numerous studies conducted, good quality evidence of its efficacy compared to other rehabilitation methods without sophisticated and expensive equipment is lacking for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
A 2018 review on the effectiveness of mirror therapy by virtual reality and robotics for any type of pathology concluded in a similar way. Another study was conducted that showed the potential for VR to promote mimicry and revealed the difference between non-autistic and autistic individuals in their response to a two-dimensional avatar. Virtual reality is most commonly used in entertainment applications such as video games, 3D cinema, amusement park rides including dark rides and social virtual worlds.
Consumer virtual reality headsets were first released by video game companies in the early-mid 1990s. Beginning in the 2010s, next-generation commercial tethered headsets were released by Oculus (Rift), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR), setting off a new wave of application development. 3D cinema has been used for sporting events, pornography, fine art, music videos and short films. Since 2015, roller coasters and theme parks have incorporated virtual reality to match visual effects with haptic feedback.
VR not only fits the trend of the digital industry but also enhances the film’s visual effect. The film gives the audience more ways to interact through VR technology. In social sciences and psychology, virtual reality offers a cost-effective tool to study and replicate interactions in a controlled environment. It can be used as a form of therapeutic intervention. For instance, there is the case of the virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET), a form of exposure therapy for treating anxiety disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias.
A VR therapy has been designed to help people with psychosis and agoraphobia manage their avoidance of outside environments. In the therapy, the user wears a headset and a virtual character provides psychological advice and guides them as they explore simulated environments (such as a cafe or a busy street). NICE is assessing the therapy to see if it should be recommended on the NHS.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social VR has also been used as a mental-health tool in a form of self-administered, non-traditional cognitive behavioural therapy. Virtual reality programs are being used in the rehabilitation processes with elderly individuals that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This gives these elderly patients the opportunity to simulate real experiences that they would not otherwise be able to experience due to their current state.
Virtual reality has been used in physical rehabilitation since the 2000s. Despite numerous studies conducted, good quality evidence of its efficacy compared to other rehabilitation methods without sophisticated and expensive equipment is lacking for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. A 2018 review on the effectiveness of mirror therapy by virtual reality and robotics for any type of pathology concluded in a similar way. Another study was conducted that showed the potential for VR to promote mimicry and revealed the difference between non-autistic and autistic individuals in their response to a two-dimensional avatar.
Based on data from research conducted from the University Hospitals Schleswig-Holstein and collaborators from other institutions, medical students and surgeons with years of experience, show marked performance boosts after practicing with LapSim VR technology.
Another recent study at North Carolina University of Chapel Hill has shown that developing VR and Augmented Reality (AR) systems have allowed surgeons to keep their eyes on a patient while accessing CT scans. This VR system allows for laparoscopic imaging integration, real-time skin layer visualization, and enhanced surgical precision capabilities.
These are both examples of how studies have shown surgeons can take advantage of additional virtual reality simulation practices, which can create incredible experiences, provide customized scenarios, and provide independent learning with haptic feedback. These VR systems need to be realistic enough for education tools alongside being able to measure performance of a surgeon.
Some potential future challenges of this technology would be enhancing complex scenarios alongside the realism aspects. These technologies would need to incorporate stress-inducing factors along with other realistic simulation ideas. Furthermore, there would be a need to have better AR integration to help the surgeon have better eyes-on precision guidance. Lastly, there would be a strong need to keep things cost-effective with an abundance of availability.
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