Relieving real pain in a virtual world
ITHACA, New York: We’ve all enjoyed losing ourselves in a good book, but what if the story could change our lived experience? It may sound like science fiction, yet Andrea Stevenson Won uses a similar concept to study how immersing people in virtual reality (VR) can treat real-life pain.
VR offers tantalising hope as a way to relieve the anguish of physical and mental stress. For those dealing with acute pain, it can form a distraction for the mind. And for those suffering from trauma, it helps relive triggering situations in a supported way.
Won, assistant professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, directs the Virtual Embodiment Lab, exploring how physical and social interactions in mediated environments affect people’s perceptions. “I’m interested in the idea that you can transform your movements – see yourself doing something other than what you’re actually doing in real life – and this could help relieve chronic and acute pain,” says Won.
Pilot studies in Won’s lab in collaboration with clinics at Stanford University have shown promising results. Her research on chronic pain has previously examined an uncommon form of chronic pain that typically develops after an injury.
The pain could potentially be addressed by giving patients what they would receive under normal conditions: visual feedback on their actions. Using VR, patients can see themselves moving in ways they can’t in real life, and their brains use that feedback to recreate their body image. According to Won, this “bogus” visual feedback can effectively change the way people with chronic conditions, such as neck pain, move. By tricking the brain with virtual experiences, the results could prompt lasting relief in the real world. — Cornell News