Abstract
Although the therapeutic potential of virtual reality has been foreseen since over half a century ago, the lack of graphical processing power made it impossible to apply in medical therapeutic sciences until last decade; nowadays, the hardware required for virtual reality is even 100 times more affordable. A head-mounted display induces immersivity engulfing the subject’s eyesight perception in a stereoscopic manner. The same tool that may aid better self understanding and bonding can also trigger psychopathological mechanisms through which the user becomes alienated from the real world. As virtual reality became even more popular during SARS-COV2 pandemic, users worldwide have spent more time into a virtual world. Depersonalization/derealization syndrome can occur if virtual reality is abused. The greater the person’s involvement in virtual reality, the greater the chance of a lack of bodily self (depersonalization). Controllers that mimic hands could prevent the subject from acknowledging the real world as true – derealization. Virtual reality’s dissociative potential is related to individual psychological traits and prolonged exposure. Children are the most prone to develop behavioral changes. Adults may develop behavioral problems related to virtual reality gaming, gambling, pornography and also social networking through created avatars. Blue light wavelength could harm sleep architecture and circadian rhythm by disrupting melatonin, therefore making virtual reality exposure problematic after sunset. State of the art reveals that using virtual reality in a therapeutic manner, actually facilitates the fight against addictions with cue therapy intended to extinguish conditioned response. The exposure to a substance (nicotine, alcohol, or any other psychoactive recreational abuse potential substances) can trigger craving in a controlled environment, that is malleable in the hands of the therapist. Virtual reality can offer an exposure perspective that is both vivid enough to be a challenge, but also safe enough to ensure patient involvement and to amplify the therapeutic alliance.
Highlights
Virtual reality headsets are technological devices able to induce a sense of presence for the user within a virtual environment that is generated by a software interface throughout the graphical processing power of hardware equipment
Cambridge Dictionary defines virtual reality as a set of images and sounds that resemble an interactable environment for the user – including computer 2d generated environments, whereas the Oxford dictionary definition describes the technique in a more specific manner, that includes the head mounted display concept and the ability to interact with the virtual environment via dedicated equipment – “gloves fitted with sensors”, the latter being more specific
We are entangled in virtual networks but lack the very core of what has brought us to the very peak of the food chain – social interaction. It comes as no surprise, that the topic of virtual reality seems to elicit a growing interest in the scientific community, resulting in an increasing number of articles published in the National Library of Medicine Pubmed database, with reference to its applicability in medicine, from 739 publications where the keyword was " virtual reality" in December 2001, to 13,991 articles on 07 May 2021
Summary
Virtual reality headsets are technological devices able to induce a sense of presence for the user within a virtual environment that is generated by a software interface throughout the graphical processing power of hardware equipment. We are entangled in virtual networks but lack the very core of what has brought us to the very peak of the food chain – social interaction It comes as no surprise, that the topic of virtual reality seems to elicit a growing interest in the scientific community, resulting in an increasing number of articles published in the National Library of Medicine Pubmed database, with reference to its applicability in medicine, from 739 publications where the keyword was " virtual reality" in December 2001, to 13,991 articles on 07 May 2021.
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