Bibliography
Bhattacharjee, Y. (2020, January). A World of Pain. National Geographic.
Reading a deep-dive article about pain studies in the January 2020 issue of National Geographic, I noticed two instances describing how virtual reality (VR) was used to counteract pain successfully.
In the first, a patient is awake during surgery. A picture shows the person on a gurney with a surgeon hovered over him. Metal probes are sticking out of the man’s midsection. His face is covered with a VR headset. The note next to the picture describes how the patient plays a VR game called SnowWorld. The note further explains that during the procedure “he had one stabilizing pin removed from his pelvis” (Bhattacharjee, 2020, p. 49) with and another without the VR. The study “suggests VR could decrease the need for general anesthesia, reducing risk and cost”.
In the other example, a chronic pain sufferer “watches a mesmerizing motion of jellyfish on a virtual reality headset” (Bhattacharjee, 2020, p. 61). This approach was said to help regulate “body responses to pain, improving mood, and reducing anxiety”.
VR displays at different media conferences I’ve attended for decades now, have been all about transporting a user into other worlds, be they natural like viewing ocean creatures or man-made like a video game. That’s been the base intent all along. I might argue it is likely that VR creators did not consider the pain-reduction potential of this particular technology. Mood modification is a part of the approach of most media. For example, music can pump up or relax the listener. Movies can evoke fear, excitement, sadness, or romance. Media as a form of escapism has a long history, but escaping pain might be a new take on the specific tech of VR.
Bhattacharjee, Y. (2020, January). A World of Pain. National Geographic.
Reading a deep-dive article about pain studies in the January 2020 issue of National Geographic, I noticed two instances describing how virtual reality (VR) was used to counteract pain successfully.
In the first, a patient is awake during surgery. A picture shows the person on a gurney with a surgeon hovered over him. Metal probes are sticking out of the man’s midsection. His face is covered with a VR headset. The note next to the picture describes how the patient plays a VR game called SnowWorld. The note further explains that during the procedure “he had one stabilizing pin removed from his pelvis” (Bhattacharjee, 2020, p. 49) with and another without the VR. The study “suggests VR could decrease the need for general anesthesia, reducing risk and cost”.
In the other example, a chronic pain sufferer “watches a mesmerizing motion of jellyfish on a virtual reality headset” (Bhattacharjee, 2020, p. 61). This approach was said to help regulate “body responses to pain, improving mood, and reducing anxiety”.
VR displays at different media conferences I’ve attended for decades now, have been all about transporting a user into other worlds, be they natural like viewing ocean creatures or man-made like a video game. That’s been the base intent all along. I might argue it is likely that VR creators did not consider the pain-reduction potential of this particular technology. Mood modification is a part of the approach of most media. For example, music can pump up or relax the listener. Movies can evoke fear, excitement, sadness, or romance. Media as a form of escapism has a long history, but escaping pain might be a new take on the specific tech of VR.
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