There is now overwhelming scientific evidence* that using virtual reality (VR) can reduce stress, anxiety, fear and even pain. VR as a range of immersive, interactive 360 degree tours and games, is now being used as a successful intervention in a range of fields from treating veterans with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to pre and post operative interventions for children facing surgery or a medical procedure.
With one in four people being affected by some form of mental or neurological disorder at some point in their lives* it’s good News that there is now strong scientific evidence that using virtual reality (VR) can help reduce stress, anxiety, fear and even pain.
VR as a range of immersive, interactive 360 degree tours and games, is now being used as a successful intervention in a range of fields from claustrophobia, treating veterans with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to pre and postoperative interventions for children facing surgery or a medical procedure. Ocean 3D will be creating a new set of interactive 3D tours for the NHS RCHT childrens team in Truro in 2020, for the MRI unit and childrens’ operating theatres/ wards.
Dayne R Camara and Richard E Hicks of Bond University, Australia in their paper* concluded that “the current study demonstrated VR to be an effective tool to help reduce state anxiety levels and it did this while controlling for depression. VR decreased state anxiety levels significantly, and significantly more so than participants in the reading condition….improving individuals’ daily life and wellbeing.” They went on to say “More studies are needed on the use of VR in wider populations but there is strong evidence in the reported study showing the potential value in its use. VR methodology looks set to make a highly significant contribution to increased positive mental health.
A paper published in The American Society of Anesthesiologists also stated that “Innovative virtual reality technologies hold promise in reducing children’s anxiety and pain before and after medical procedures and surgery”. In the UK, Ocean 3D is already working with The National Autistic Society**, The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust,(RCHT) The Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust at the Sowenna unit who are some of the leaders in implementing this technology in the UK.
However, it is not just patients with natural anxiety and those with more serious and complex conditions who are benefitting from Ocean 3Ds’ interactive VR tours, schoolchildren and students are now too with with the leading multi-award winning Weston College employing Ocean 3D to create and annotate over twenty individual tours of their ‘Beacon Status’ college as part of their commitment to accessibility and mental well-being of their students. ‘Leading Edge’ Mounts Bay Academy in West Cornwall have also commissioned Ocean 3D to create a series of tours which are currently being annotated by the colleges’ own team. We have also crested tours for Gloucester and Cornwall Colleges.
Anxiety takes many forms along with formal and often more serious mental health conditions such as PTSD and autism. A fact not lost on the aviation and transport industry who are waking up to the very real-world benefits of providing virtual reality ‘digital twin’ to help passengers with travel-anxiety and those with physical or mental health conditions, plan ahead and locate key areas and information with the minimum of stress.
Just ask any parent who’s driven for any distance with children on the way to a holiday just how important it is to be able to quickly find baby-changing facilities in a busy airport, the location of lifts, check-in desks, departure gates, toilets or even the nearest coffee shop or bar! The ability to plan ahead is important for everyone. Easy to access, low-cost (free to the end user) interactive Virtual Reality such as the tours Ocean 3D creates, can be viewed on smartphones, tablets and desktops. Accessible everywhere with WiFi or 4/5G and, can be downloaded for offline use too***.
With a typical Ocean 3D tour costing around the same price as your morning coffee to create, annotate and host, accessibility is and should be accessible to everyone.
Chris Wood
Director
Ocean 3D Ltd
+44 (0)1736 339405
*References:
“One in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives” source: World Health Organisation
Application of Virtual Reality Technology in College Students’ Mental Health Education http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1087/6/062056/pdf
Claustrophobia Game: Design and Development of a New Virtual Reality Game for Treatment of Claustrophobia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6293643/
Research Finds Virtual Reality Can Help Treat Anxiety https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/urban-survival/201903/research-finds-virtual-reality-can-help-treat-anxiety
Virtual Reality for Anxiety Reduction Demonstrated by Quantitative EEG: A Pilot Study https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01280/full
Using virtual reality to reduce state anxiety and stress in University Students: An experiment https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330751240_USING_VIRTUAL_REALITY_TO_REDUCE_STATE_ANXIETY_AND_STRESS_IN_UNIVERSITY_STUDENTS_AN_EXPERIMENT
Studies show potential of virtual reality to reduce children’s anxiety, pain https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181024131504.htm
**Ocean 3D is the only VR creation company to hold the National Autistic Society ‘Autism Friendly’ award and has been commissioned by the Cornwall branch to create a number of interactive immersive tours as a test-case to help reduce anxiety in people with autism by journey, destination and transition planning.
***Currently only supported on Apple products (iPhone, iPad etc.) requires the download of a free App by our technology supplier Matterport, the ‘Matterport Showcase‘