Abstract
The collaboration between our two scientific institutions is significant contributing to VR research into several fields of clinical application. Concerning the important issue of side-effects, future studies will clarify whether the encouraging results obtained in the recent past, that demonstrate few side-effects, in patients with neurological diseases can be confirmed, and whether specific recommendations for the use of immersive VR in selected clinical populations can be made. Recent collaborative studies on the application of non-immersive VR to improve clinical testing of spatial memory provided evidence of good replicability of results in both healthy and neurologically affected groups. The development of retraining applications for spatial memory impairments and future studies aimed at assessing the impact of ambulatory disability on spatial cognitive abilities will be based on these findings. Finally, a newly approved transnational project will lead our groups into the field of the assistive technology to improve working skills and opportunities for employment of people with mental disabilities who seek employment.
Highlights
Though it has been promoted as a revolutionary tool, VR has not yet entered clinical practice and changed the methods of cognitive testing and rehabilitation
These findings are consistent with those reporting that immersive VR causes symptoms incompatible with the continuation of the experience in 5 to 30% of users (Stanney et al, 1998)
Regan and Price’s data (1993) seem to fit that criterion, They reported higher overall ratings of nausea both on the Malaise Questionnaire (MQ) and on the SSQ which were administered to a larger sample (n.150) of healthy volunteers
Summary
Though it has been promoted as a revolutionary tool, VR has not yet entered clinical practice and changed the methods of cognitive testing and rehabilitation. Before any test session all participants were given a carefully explanation of the aims of the research, the potential risks of immersive VR and the way in which they would interact with the virtual environment (VE). They were asked to navigate a VE structured as a series of 32 decagonal rooms connected by corridors. Participants who reported any side-effects during or after the practice trial were reassured about the benign nature of the symptoms and allowed to re-examine their decision to participate They were not encouraged to continue the session in spite of symptoms and could withdraw at any time. Additional: 486 DX 33 workstation with 2 video boards for simultaneous image acquisition during the sessions from the VE and a VHS camera
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