American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting:Technology originally built for computer games is being used to help treat US soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The same virtual reality systems can be used to treat other psychological conditions and even allow you to lead a wholly separate life in an artificial computer world.
Existing virtual reality games provide entertainment, but these systems can also be used in the treatment of mental conditions, Prof Skip Rizzo of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles told a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Francisco.
Virtual reality worlds are suitable "for a wide range of clinical conditions", Prof Rizzo said. They are being tested as a way to reduce pain in children receiving chemotherapy, supplying an engaging game that distracts them.
There are uses in physiotherapy and in stroke patients and Prof Rizzo is also beginning to treat US soldiers returning from Iraq suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "There is a lot of potential in these virtual reality environments," he said.
Patients with phobias, anxiety and even fear of flying are often treated using "exposure therapy" where the person is asked to visualise the thing causing the anxiety. While it causes anxiousness, repeated exposure causes the anxiety to decline, Prof Rizzo explained.
His research group created a "virtual Iraq" where soldiers with PTSD can gradually be exposed to the upsetting stimuli that caused their disorder.
"We put a person in a virtual Iraq. But in this virtual world we have a systematic and controlled environment." The person wears virtual reality goggles allowing them to see in all directions in the virtual world. Sounds, vibration and even smells can be included to add to the reality of the experience.
Exposure starts very slowly with for example the person finding themselves on a road in the desert. Then they might stand next to, or ride in, a troop carrier and move into a built-up area. The person experiences real anxiety at every step but with repeated exposure the level of anxiety gradually falls, Prof Rizzo said.
Four patients have successfully been treated in this way, the first a 21-year-old female soldier. Four to five soldiers have dropped out of the programme but others are receiving virtual reality treatments at 10 centres, Prof Rizzo added.
He believes virtual reality games could also help rehabilitate a person after a stroke. Doing repeated physiotherapy movements can be tedious, but if associated with a virtual reality world where the movements took on a purpose then these exercises would become easier to do.
The ability for anyone to transport themselves into an artificial virtual world has already arrived with a system called "Second Life", a three-dimensional online digital world. Within that world you can buy property, interact with millions of other "residents" of the world and even fly like a super hero. The person is represented in this virtual world by an avatar, an internet user's representation of themselves, explained John Lester of Linden Lab, the company that is developing Second Life. Mr Lester said it could give people a safe and controllable outlet.