Virtual Reality, Rx

We’re way past the days of video games being considered a pastime for teenagers, or adults who still live in their parents’ basement. With the rise of popular streaming services like Twitch and YouTube, not only is gaming quickly becoming more accessible, it’s become a more commonplace and a reasonable form of entertainment, right up there with watching the next blockbuster movie.

In an interview with Market Watch, Asi Burak, game developer and co-author of Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World, contends that the cultural appeal and need for video games is about to go one step further. Soon, a bit of screen time with the latest Call of Duty title, may be just what the doctor orders.

When asked about the age-old debate of whether video games can really make us smarter, even the violent first person shooters, Burak holds firm in his reply, saying:

Often we think about learning in rather basic terms, that it’s very direct or literal. If we create a game that teaches skills or knowledge, this is going to be the outcome. Or that an action game like “Call of Duty” can only improve hand-eye coordination. The reality is more complex and interesting because of the interactivity of games and the plasticity of the brain. We’re only at the beginning of that exploration, but neuroscientists are now finding that certain action games can improve players’ ability to focus, to problem solve and to multitask.

Burak then dives deeper, going into detail about how games are not just good in the stride to improve focus and intelligence, but how there have even been attempts to make video games that improve medical conditions.

We’ve been seeing this slow-moving trend happening more so with VR technology. While 3D images have been the norm concerning X-Rays and MRIs, medical professionals have been using VR to find ways to explore patients’ internal organs and even prep for surgery.

In one such story, a surgeon used VR glasses to simulate the separation of conjoined twins, before actually performing the surgery. One of the surgeons involved in the separation, Dr. Anthony Azakie said the glasses “helped minimize the number of surprises that we were potentially dealing with.”

We’ve long known video games to serve as an “escape”, but for many people- trauma patients, the elderly, and those who suffer from anxiety or chronic pain- it’s becoming more than that. Some hospitals have actually started offering these patients VR headsets in an effort to control pain and significantly reduce anxiety. The full article is definitely worth a read, as it also lists the ways in which VR is useful for patients in rehab, trying to overcome mobility problems.

The power of VR, and of video games in general, has been largely understated for years, but we are slowly seeing that change. What’s interesting, though, is how VR has quietly been beneficial to the medical field, when it’s been so loudly dismissed by gamers who consider it an unnecessary medium in the midst of this console generation. Some have pointed to the price point of VR headsets and the fact games are lacking. I myself had a rough experience with both the PSVR and HTC Vive at E3 2017, due to extreme motion sickness. There are companies out there, though, dedicated to new locomotion technology that will hopefully quell VR sickness and make for smoother, more immersive experiences.