Virtual reality is generally associated with entertainment and especially with games. But it is so much more than just a new gaming technique, it can be a great benefit for the society as a whole. It often gets a negative image of a technique which creates isolated people and dangerous situations because people do not pay attention to the outside world. But I think that it is so much more than just a new entertainment technique. It can definitely benefit people in other ways than just joy and excitement. This blog will demonstrate three different ways in which virtual reality is going to benefit the way of living of different groups of the society, and because of that the society as a whole.
Virtual reality can be used by social anxiety disorders. The technical university of Delft in cooperation with the University of Amsterdam designed special trainings with virtual reality to help people with a social anxiety, like for instance agoraphobia. The phobias will be trained with help of a virtual situation. The patients can get used to the situation in a controlled environment and take little steps at the time by training their social fears. This can improve their lives in foremost manners because they feel less isolated and they can participate again in the society.
Virtual reality can also be used by processing of a traumatic experience, like sexual abuse, a robbing or by a post-traumatic stress syndrome for soldiers. In their therapy they can go back to the situation where they experienced the trauma, the so called exposure therapy. By reconstructing the situation, traumas can be processed, which is already widely done but Virtual reality can be of great use to make it really visual.
The Dutch government is also using it within preventive detention centres, so called TBS klinieken. Very aggressive convicts which are not safe for themselves and society can be trained to cope with their aggressive behaviour, by using virtual reality. Convicts who stay in such closed environment do not experience the real world and that makes it difficult to practise real world complex situations but Virtual reality can actually provide this ‘real world’. The therapist can measure how those patients react in those situations and track their improvements.
Unfortunately, there are also some hitches at the virtual reality. The glasses are getting more affordable in a fast phase but making the virtual environment is still very costly and time consuming. Another downside of this way of therapy and training is that you have to be careful how far you go with the reality, the users are mostly vulnerable people who should be treated very carefully. If the wrong method is used people can be more scared of shocked if they have a phobia or trauma. But if it is used right by trained professionals I think that it will greatly benefit our society and especially the individuals who are now excluded from it.
Let me know what your opinion is. Do you think that virtual reality is positive for the society or do you think that it is a threat?
https://decorrespondent.nl/2562/gaat-virtual-reality-ons-betere-mensen-maken/262656240-64da7127
http://www.ggznieuws.nl/home/virtual-reality-geeft-unieke-inkijk-patienten-en-angsten/
http://nos.nl/artikel/2138918-van-je-angststoornis-af-dankzij-virtual-reality.html
Dear Suzanna, thank you for your blog. I agree with you that virtual reality can be very valuable, if used correctly. Hence, maybe research should be done first on ‘healthy’ people (if they have not done so already) to see how it could potentially affect them, before using it on people with a mental illness or anxiety. I do think virtual reality can indeed offer great benefits for people who are shielded of society/reality, as to make their transition back into society easier.