Sure, virtual reality looks like it would be awesome for videogames, movies, and live concerts, but it can also be used for medical purposes. For example earlier this year, Samsung suggested using virtual reality to help cure people of their fears, or at the very least help them confront it, and now researchers at Oxford University think that VR can also be used to treat patients with paranoia.
To put their idea to the test, they selected 30 subjects who are suffering from persecutory delusions, which is basically a very serious form of paranoia. They then strapped on a NVis SX111 headset onto these subjects and placed them in a variety of stressful social situations, but all within the safety of a controlled environment.
Half of the subjects were told to keep doing what they normally do to cope in these situations, which is why avoiding eye contact and social interactions completely. The other half were told to do the opposite, which is to actually approach the avatars placed in the scenarios and hold eye contact with them for as long as possible.
At the end of the half-hour session, it seems that at least half of the second group felt less distressed in the real world. The first group also reported some level of success, with a fifth of participants showing lower levels of paranoia. Of course whether or not this is simply a short-term treatment for paranoia remains to be seen, but for now it definitely shows some promise.
Filed in . Read more about Virtual Reality (VR).