An associate professor at the University of Houston has recently released a study showing the therapeutic applications of virtual reality for treating addictions. Participants included about 40 self-professed alcoholics who were not currently in treatment. Each person was hooked up to a custom VR rig consisting of a standard HMD (presumably with head-tracking and in stereo 3d) in addition to a vibrating chair and some sort of “smell-o-vision” device. This device can spray scents into the air, such as the smell of cigarette smoke or certain alcoholic beverages. What the professor, Patrick Bordnick, found was that patients addictions could be triggered by the virtual environment in such a way that the addicts could practice controlling their urges.

“What we found was that the VR environments were real enough that their cravings were intensified. So, now we can develop coping skills, practice them in those very realistic environments until those skills are working tools for them to use in real life,” Bordnick said.

An interesting angle on this research would to see how this effect could be used on the opposite side of the spectrum. For example, what if beer companies could advertise in say a Second Life bar? “Click here to get a six pack delivered in 30 minutes”! I believe Pizza-Hut did a similar promotion in WoW, so its definitely a possibility. Could big alcohol and tobacco companies use this to get people to stay hooked, or better yet, have they been doing this the whole time? I don’t know about you, but every time I’m watching a movie and an actor sparks up a cigarette, I almost always get the urge to light one up in tandem. Not to mention how this could affect government-sponsored “rehabilitation” if used in the wrong ways ala A Clockwork Orange.

link: Virtual World Therapeautic For Addicts [ScienceDaily]

Tags: Virtual Reality //