For many people, the arrival of the first wave of consumer-grade virtual reality headsets means realizing their decade-old dreams of transporting into digital worlds. Although the entertainment attributes of virtual reality are undoubtedly their most attractive asset, their use extends well beyond that single role.

Putting a virtual reality headset on does something magical to the human brain. In most cases, the mind of a user is convinced of their digital surroundings, providing distraction from the real world. This convincing departure has become a major topic among researchers who foresee revolutionary therapeutic uses for virtual-reality technology.

Recently, Valve brought an HTC Vive to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Children with severe medical conditions including cancer were able to experience virtual reality for the first time. As Valve was hoping for, these children enjoyed their time playing games like Tilt Brush, but there was more to it than that. As described by one of the children who used the headset, the pain from his condition reduced drastically during use. Not only did he remark how his level of pain decreased dramatically while using the headset, but the lingering effects of the therapy continued after leaving the virtual reality environment.

This result is becoming increasingly common as researchers test virtual reality in a number of scenarios. It's become a major topic of discussion, with professionals like Certified Child Life Specialist J.J. Bouchard devoting their full-time into the study of virtual reality's medical potential. As explained by Bouchard, virtual reality experiences allow patients to visit exotic and extraordinary places that provide respite from hospital environments that many children and adults end up spending weeks, months, or even years at. It's a virtual departure that has shown tremendously positive results, both in the levels of joy expressed by users and associated pain relief.

Now that virtual reality headsets have been on the market for nearly a month, a large quantity of new reports have found their way online. Many of these reports focus on the mental therapy offered by virtual reality experiences, such as one in a written post by Reddit user feoen who found himself confronting social anxiety in virtual reality. Feoen explained:



So I noticed this "Echo" room that indicated there were 30 people inside. I jack in, and I am immediately hit with social anxiety.

"Why am I panicking?" I think. "This is just a video game, I'm standing in my room with a headset on." No, I am standing in a room with 30 people talking to each other. There's men, there's women, there's music with a beat pumping out of a TV in the corner near the ceiling. People are standing together in all different corners of the room having full conversations with each other.

I wanted to flee. The social anxiety, the fear of their judgments of me, was immediate. My every day experience of handling social anxiety was recreated, feeling for feeling, in VR. The psychological consequences of interacting with others was elicited through a completely electronic medium. This is groundbreaking. People were talking, and I actively did not want to go up and interrupt people's conversations since that would be rude. I was applying real life logic and social norms to a virtual environment. This added a component to VR that single-player experiences have yet to tap into.



Feoen then explained that he's a clinical psychologist by trade and sees huge potential for virtual reality to treat others:

This could easily become the norm for exposure techniques in psychotherapy for overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder. I am a clinical psychologist IRL well familiarized with cognitive behavioral techniques, and this is an almost ideal middle ground between imaginal and in-vivo exposure techniques for different forms of anxiety. (and yes, we psychologists experience anxiety too; "research" is "me-search" after all) I could easily envision the stereotypical "nerdy shut in" who has high anxiety as learning how to manage his or her own anxiety by practicing social skills in a virtual environment like this.

The reports continue with Reddit user kezown, who has been battling arthritis due to years of working behind a desk.



I'm a game developer so I spend a lot of time in front of a computer and TV. I have those fancy Herman Aeron chairs at work and home to make sure that I'm sitting correctly, but over the years I have unfortunately developed arthritis in my lower back (at the tender age of 33). I have tried all sorts of things to try ease the pain like daily stretches and going to the gym 5 days a week, even the occasional spliff, but none of them have helped.

kezown then explained how the roomscale experience of HTC Vive has him moving around on a daily basis, stretching his back muscles while enjoying his time.



Over the last few days I have spent many hours in roomscale, playing games like Audioshield and Space Pirate Trailer really give you a great workout (especially Space Pirate Trailer, what a great game). The main thing is that It's got me on my feet, being active. On a typical day I would come home and play CounterStrike or watch TV series with my girlfriend and then go to bed. But now I'm leaping around and dodging bullets (sorry neighbours), and it's really helped ease my arthritis pain. I am extremely happy with my purchase as it has improved my livelihood and I hope you all are too once HTC ship your Vives and you get a chance to play these amazing games.

As demonstrated by these reports, virtual reality is multifaceted and offers several types of therapy. Being able to convince the mind that it is somewhere else helps with treatment of pain in some individuals. Within the context of a virtual reality environment, users can face and treat their phobias, such as fear of heights or social anxiety. Additionally, motion-oriented virtual reality has shown itself to be great exercise capable of providing therapy for individuals suffering from joint and back pain.

The most exciting element of all this is that testing is only in early stages. There are certain to be uses for virtual reality that are currently undiscovered. As word gets around and these success stories become greater in number, and headsets become more refined, it is likely that there will be more research and funding invested in virtual reality therapy.