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View Full Version : Pioneering Virtual Reality Pain Control


Lara
12-30-2006, 04:28 PM
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrpain/
Our logic for why VR will reduce pain is as follows. Pain perception has a strong psychological component. The same incoming pain signal can be interpreted as painful or not, depending on what the patient is thinking. Pain requires conscious attention. The essence of VR is the illusion users have of going inside the computer-generated environment. Being drawn into another world drains a lot of attentional resources, leaving less attention available to process pain signals. Conscious attention is like a spotlight. Usually it is focussed on the pain and woundcare. We are luring that spotlight into the virtual world. Rather than having pain as the focus of their attention, for many patients in VR, the wound care becomes more of an annoyance, distracting them from their primary goal of exploring the virtual world.

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrpain/SCIAMFin.pdf
Article
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AUGUST 2004

http://www.hitlabnz.org/route.php?r=home
"The Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) is a human-computer interface research centre hosted at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. The lab is a partner of the world-leading HIT Lab US based at the University of Washington in Seattle."

http://www.cybertherapy.info/

hotandcold
04-08-2008, 12:43 PM
Interesting , I believe this is probably why things like pot are supposed to help with pain too ie. it bypasses the usual mode of perception .

brainandspinalcord
07-14-2008, 02:14 PM
I wonder though how effective this would be, if the patient has to stay in VR in order to feel relief! It kind of negates the goal of helping people be able to function in their lives if we're just switching them over to virtual reality.

SunnyDay06
02-28-2009, 06:14 PM
This is very interesting. In one sense I see VR working and in another I think the member who said it nagets has a valid point. I do know first hand pain is not fun. Having neck and back pain wears a person like many other pain isssues people have to cope with. I hope there is something up and coming other than pills to help people cope.