A new virtual reality therapy method has reportedly been unveiled by Mynd Immersive in partnership with VR Immersive. One that aims to help war veterans in finding closure for their decades-old trauma by creating a 'Virtual Vietnam.'
As per Fox News, by digitally returning veterans of the Vietnam War to locations they may have visited during the conflict, the new VR application helps the veterans process their trauma and find a "path to peace."
The newly developed technology is something that the men and women who served in Vietnam, according to Chris Brickler, CEO of Mynd Immersive, genuinely deserve. He goes on to say that "Virtual Vietnam: A Path to Peace" intends to foster healing, peace, and reconciliation by providing veterans with a secure and soothing space to experience the contemporary vibrancy of Vietnam.
The project immerses patients in various circumstances using clear, sharp, high-resolution spherical video, creating the illusion that they are in a distant location without traveling. The therapeutic tool is designed to resemble a big pair of sunglasses.
The CEO praised the advanced tech therapy, saying that because it is three-dimensional and gives participants the impression that they are there, many of these veterans who would otherwise be unable to return will be able to do so.
Content being put into the app would enable veterans to meditate on a beach in Vietnam or view other locations of the country that might bring about peace. According to Brickler, the intention is to demonstrate to veterans that their service was meaningful and that the war was not in vain rather than to compel them to return to the front lines.
Virtual Reality Therapy for Veterans
According to Mynd Immersive, it is used nationwide for about 100 long-term veteran care facilities. Mynd has been demonstrated to enhance mood, lessen feelings of loneliness, and strengthen the bond between older persons and their caretakers in a significant, multi-year study conducted with Stanford University.
On the other hand, VA Immersive has reportedly deployed over 3,000 VR headsets throughout more than 170 VA medical institutions and outpatient clinics in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The initiative collaborates on content development and device engineering that benefits the nation's veterans with industry, academia, and other government entities.
According to Dr. Skip Rizzo, a clinical psychologist, research director at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies for Medical Virtual Reality, and a founding member of Mynd's advisory board, immersion content has the potential to increase older adults' socialization with their caregivers significantly; this application represents a significant and decisive step forward in the emotional health and well-being of veterans and those who care for them.
VR Therapy Research
According to a 2021 New York Times report, VR treatment has been researched for a long time to treat a variety of conditions and diseases. Research on the technology dates back to the 1990s. It has been claimed that researchers have looked into the potential of treating anxiety disorders with virtual reality. The strategy has increasingly gained favor as headgear has become more affordable and technology has evolved.
JoAnn Difede, a psychology professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and one of the leading authorities on virtual reality therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), claims that the headset she used for her research with September 11th, 2001 survivors weighed ten pounds and cost $25,000. A headset these days usually costs under $300.
The three main problems that virtual reality therapy has been demonstrated to be effective in treating proved to be PTSD, anxiety, and phobias and have now become prevalent.
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