The Oculus Rift virtual reality helmet is helping researchers reinvent therapy through exposure
Albert "Skip" Rizzo of the University of Southern California began researching the use of virtual reality (VR) as a psychological therapy in 1993. Since then, dozens of studies, including his studies, have shown that the immersion technique is useful for a variety of problems, from post-traumatic syndrome to anxieties and phobias to addictions. But a lack of useful hardware in clinics has left virtual reality out of the reach of therapists. The requirements for a virtual reality helmet seem simple: a fast response screen with high resolution, a wide enough field of vision that the patient believes he is somewhere else, and a reasonable price. But it was difficult to find such a product. Says Rizzo: "I've had 20 years of frustration."
But in 2013, virtual reality came to the forefront of the consumer market thanks to a prototype of a wearable monitor known as the Oculus Rift. The device's inventor, Palmer Lackey, wanted to create a platform for impressive video games, but developers in many fields, medicine, aviation, and tourism, are now sailing their imaginations with the possibilities. The distribution of the helmet expanded so much that in September 2014 the developing company, now owned by Facebook, held a developer conference.
The helmet, which should be widely used in 2015, consists mainly of ready-made components that can be obtained at retail, such as smartphone screens. A multi-axis motion sensor allows the monitor to refresh the image in real time with the movements of the mask wearer. But the highlight is the price: about $350 (the cheapest lab systems cost $20,000).
Rizzo is one of the first in line. His research focuses on combat trauma. In a study he did in 2010, he placed patients in controlled environments simulating trauma, including a simulation of a battlefield, so that they could deal with and process emotions that these situations evoked in them. In 16 of the 20 subjects, the intensity of the symptoms decreased after ten treatments with Rizzo's "home" virtual reality helmet. Symptoms include mood swings and depression. They remained at their reduced level even during the entire three-month follow-up period. In August 2014, the Oculus company began to supply masks in an almost finished version to researchers. That way, Rizzo will be able to try his method using this device as well. Some use Oculus Rift therapy to treat anxiety and phobias. In a study dealing with claustrophobia, the results of which have not yet been published, Fernando M. Ternogol, a psychologist and one of the founders of the virtual reality company PsyTech, led patients into a virtual closet. According to them the exposure was almost complete, a response that the psychological data measured by Taranogol confirmed its truth. He hopes to launch his system close to the launch of the Oculus Rift. However, such treatments are not intended for self-treatment by the owners of the devices. Their use offers therapists a tool to use in their treatment sessions in clinics, after similar devices have been "stuck" in laboratories for several decades.
The article was published with the permission of Scientific American Israel
12 תגובות
This thing has been on the market for a while... about a year ago in some pub, some guy with a kit walked up to him and demanded 15 NIS for about 5 minutes of using a program that simulates you in a dilapidated carriage on some kind of roller coaster, when they showed me what I looked like from the side, it was just funny..
The feeling is completely real even though the graphics are not very realistic, after a little orientation in the virtual space you just "get into it".
In short, cool.
This thing has endless applications (for example, the topic of dealing with fear of heights comes to mind, creating a simulation in which the helmet wearer sees himself walking on a narrow pole 80 meters above a busy street, I get chills just thinking about it :-))
This could be a mechanism for learning, the school students could involve additional senses in the learning process. Maybe this way dyslexics, which are common due to the multi-sensory nature of life (smartphones), would not have existed.
A
Please be precise. A skeptic and a pessimist are different things. I'm a skeptic, I'm not a pessimist.
Sometimes a skeptic stirs up controversy because he attacks conventions, but a skeptic is irritating for other reasons.
A skeptic, you're a slob
safkan
The polio vaccine is a quick and cheap solution that does not contribute to the pharmaceutical companies' revenues, yet the companies develop them... not all of them are as evil as you describe them. Please, stop pushing your agendas here, it doesn't contribute anything - except for my annoying comments...
Ori
The price of the system in Israel will be five times the original price. Taxes, various ticks that raise the price for the consumer, etc. But it's good to hear and hope that one day there will be a cheap system. As far as I'm concerned, as long as there are no interesting XNUMXD movies in quantities - it's a waste of money. Medical uses - maybe, but not sure (maybe the developers are looking for investments so they promise it has medical uses).
Regardless of the invention here. It's quite annoying that they haven't yet developed a device for insomnia that is based on creating changes in brain waves by stimulating audio-visual senses. The use of sleeping pills is a dangerous use because usually drugs seem to cause addiction (which makes the drug companies happy). Don't put your hopes up in the pharmaceutical industry (for them, an effective and cheap solution to a medical problem causes a loss of revenue, so they won't invest).
Ori
In the second video, the reactions seem exaggerated and staged. The explanation for this video is also that it is a deliberate selection (what is usually called in the field of clips distributed on the internet called compilation).
Ori
The image is of a computer game, not of the real world. As a game it's great, but, in my opinion, it's a bit misleading to call it virtual reality. The meaning of the phrase in English - virtual reality - is "almost realistic", and this is not the case. I absolutely do not rule out this system, it is really cheap, but the uses are somewhat limited. I come from the aviation simulation world, where the requirements are much higher, hence the high prices.
Miracles according to what I see in the previous video, and in this one for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INDKNA7kXoo
The feeling is super convincing... and also the price according to what you read here is worth every pocket (and the technology is only getting better and better)
To create a convincing image, a large number of problems need to be solved, which is why professional helmets are so expensive. The field of vision should be wide, because we receive a lot of information at the edges of the field of vision. The resolution should be high enough, and our eye has a very high resolution. The focus is important, and you have to take into account the fact that most people have a different focus in each eye. Regarding the position sensors - here you need a very short response time, high accuracy, and sometimes sensors for all 6 axes. And there is more…
And of course it should be reliable, easy and convenient.
This thing looks really amazing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEds92tY9QQ