As VR’s influence continues to be felt across all industries, its rise to prominence in healthcare could be seen by many as a foregone conclusion. After all, medical and scientific fields have long been fans of the latest, greatest computing technologies, especially for working with advanced sets of data.
Virtual Reality has two particular applications in healthcare: treatment and training.
In the context of treatment, Virtual Reality is being used to relieve pain, to assist in treatments for Parkinson’s, and even to help people work through anxiety and PTSD. Virtual Reality is particularly effective for psychologists who want to have an easier time guiding their patients through guided imagery.
In the context of training, Virtual Reality has often been seen as a way to train surgeons through applications like Osso VR, and certain places have even gone as far as to make full VR training centers.
One particularly great example is the Western University of Health Sciences, which opened a Virtual Reality Learning Center for medical students from all kinds of different programs. The facility, through the implementation of an Oculus Rift, a Virtual Dissection Table and zSpace displays, allows students of veterinary medicine, dentistry, nursing and more to have a hands-on learning experience through the implementation of VR.
Outside of treatment and training, VR has also been the source of stories about people taking care of themselves. The most popular example of this is Job Stauffer, a developer working for Telltale Games, who lost over 50 pounds through a regimen of Soundboxing. While this still needs to be supplemented with proper dieting, intensive VR games can serve as a perfectly adequate form of exercise to encourage weight loss and muscle development.
When it comes to VR and personal health, it turns out there’s plenty to discuss. Virtual Reality, in general, is having great, wide-reaching effects across all industries- how else do you think we were able to get away with naming our site VR World?
Comment below and let us know: what’s your take on this?
