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Therapists use Virtual Reality for Veterans

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the games-that-heal dept.

ahoehn writes "NPR is reporting that researchers from the University of Southern California along with the Office of Naval Research are simulating combat situations which cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for theraputic purposes. Their immersive virtual reality technique seems to consist of the game Full Spectrum Warrior, headphones, and a set of VR goggles. From the article: 'The object is to help veterans come to terms with what they've experienced in places like Iraq and Afghanistan by immersing vets in the sights and sounds of those theaters of battle.' One can only assume that soon someone be reforming carjackers by letting them play the GTA."

3 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Isn't this a little backwards? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd think that this technology would be more useful as a training tool, to help new soldiers learn what to expect in combat. Also, couldn't this be used as a physological filter, to identify those most likely to come down with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the first place?

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  2. Done Be by icypyr0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    One can only assume that soon someone be reforming carjackers by letting them play the GTA.

    Obviously, this should've been "soon someone done be reforming". Pft.. these posters need to learn English.

  3. Cheap Shot by kwilliamyoungatl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One can only assume that soon someone be reforming carjackers by letting them play the GTA.
    This is a cheap shop that vividly reveals the author's ignorance.
    In the first place, there is an enormous moral difference between carjacking and attempting to kill and capture, for example terrorists in Afganistan.
    Moreover, PTSS is a *real* issue. People going to war see unpleasant things, and dealing with that may be difficult. The intention is not to get them to feel bad about what they did, but to adjust to life where getting shot at is not an issue.

    Scuttlemonkey should be ashamed.