VR Snow Game Functions As Pain Management

eldavojohn writes "Burn victims — especially soldiers from war — have been proven to deal with therapy and pain better when immersed in a calm, cold virtual world. The game Snow World lets players hit targets with snowballs in a winter wonderland. The results of the study show unarguably that victims handle treatment and healing much better when their mind, eyes & ears are occupied — mind over matter, indeed."

Comments

Snow necessary?

[s.bots]

I wonder if the snowy setting really makes that much of a difference, or if the main thing is that the mind is occupied with something other than pain. No mention in TFA of other test VR games.

Re:Snow necessary?

[JeanBaptiste]

I would think a calm peaceful setting would be better than fighting Onyxia in Molten Core

Re:Snow necessary?

[Ethanol-fueled]

So Fight Club was right all along? I can't wait until all the Iraq war veterans get together and stick it to the man before they demolish the credit system.

Re:Snow necessary?

[TubeSteak]

I wonder if the snowy setting really makes that much of a difference, or if the main thing is that the mind is occupied with something other than pain. No mention in TFA of other test VR games.

http://www.chsd.org/11490.cfm

When [lead researcher Dr. Anu Patel] began her study on 4- to 12-year-olds in February, she thought Game Boy might reduce anxiety as much as a standard tranquilizer, midazolam, often given before surgery. But the video game worked better _ a bonus, she said, because many parents oppose tranquilizing their children.

Re:Snow necessary?

[flyingsquid]

All I can say is, I've been way, WAY into politics as of late, because I thought for a second this said, 'VR Snow Game Functions as Palin Management'...

"I know it's pretty extreme, John, but she's become a danger to the party. The only way we can keep her under control is to immerse her in this virtual Alaska. Now she spends six, eight hours a day in there, snowshoeing, chasing after moose, shooting polar bears, clubbing seals. She's been much more calm and manageable since we started using the simulation."

Re:Snow necessary?

[Gerafix]

I think you mean Ragnaros as Onyxia is in her lair in Dustwallow Marsh, not the Molten Core. /Pedantic What they didn't know about this study though is how it makes them extremely violent. I met one of the participants and we talked for a while. We were walking down Polar Bear Lane and he started smashing all the snow men on top of peoples igloos (I'm Canadian). He said it was because of Snow World.

Pff.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Ok, I realize that "mind over matter" is just a trivial cliche at this point and that tossing in trivial cliches is an accepted writing strategy. That said, it is pointless to the point of misleading in this context. "Mind focusing on stuff that isn't OHGODTHEPAIN over mind focusing on OHGODTHEPAIN" is more like it. There isn't some magic Cartesian mind out there, twiddling your atoms if you play the right video games. Experiencing pain is something the brain does, playing video games is also something it does. Interestingly enough, if it is busy doing the latter, it doesn't do as much of the former. Good to know, and an interesting discovery; but the dualism nonsense is irrelevant at best.

Healthy Gaming

[Anonymous Coward]

More news on health and exercise related video games here:

http://www.healthygaming.com/blog/

Re:Video games should be illegal.

[ZekoMal]

Dunno, maybe we should draw the line on PC people; considering 'racist zombies' is the new highlight of overboard freakouts over video games.

Feel good movies don't let them interact, people can only help so much before visiting hours are over, and if they can't move, they're restricted to their beds. Given that, should they spend the painful time alone just being in pain, or should they be allowed to play a game?

After all, after fighting in that very real war, they should be allowed to relax and do what they want (within reason, obviously).

Biochemical basis makes sense

[spaceman375]

When you convince the brain that it is in a cold environment, it adjusts the bodily response, right down to the genetic level. The response to a cold environment will definitly aid the healing process.

Re:Biochemical basis makes sense

[icegreentea]

It's not just that. It's something to focus on. I've recently spent 6 weeks in a below knee cast (broken ankle). When the itch just got unbearable, I would go play the piano, or whip out my cellphone and go play Tetris. Just by doing something that required my focus and attention let me ignore the itch long enough till it went away. Similarly (ironically in a way?) you can have the same approach to dealing with really cold stuff (like ice bathing your ankle). If you have something that you're familiar with and can get your mind into, getting over the initial painful stage (before the numbing kicks in) of an ice bath (or just general icing) becomes so much easier.

Re:Biochemical basis makes sense

[PolygamousRanchKid]

When I was 6 years old, I jumped out of a tree-house into a pile of leaves, and broke my ankle, and had that same type of cast. The doctor told my mother and I horror stories about a patient who tried to relieve the itching with a coat hanger, and ended up with 50 stitches. He made it a walking-cast, and told my mother to let me go out and play, and then I would forget about any itching.

So my mother let me out, looked out the window, and couldn't see me. She called for me, and I answered, "I'm up here, Mom!"

Yes, I had climbed yet another tree. With my leg in a cast.

I still don't know why Darwin hasn't got me yet.

Controls

[Anonymous Coward]

Watching the video of the game itself it's obviously being controlled by the player. What's not obvious from watching the player is HOW. What's the control system in here? Eye tracking?

Re:Controls

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's the mouse that he's clicking which is attached to the computer.

Re:Video games should be illegal.

[kbrasee]

We should draw a line and prohibit incoherent posts like this one.

Old news, Slashdot (and ArsTechnica)

[Anonymous Coward]

I read in *2004* a Scientific American article about "virtual snow therapy" for burn victims developed by Univ. of Washington. Sorry I can't find the full article online but here's SciAm website's preview: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=virtual-reality-therapy (fee required for registration)

Time warp?

[Centurion5]

Must be a slow news cycle. "Snow World" and its use in burn therapy was covered in WIRED over 7 years ago? See: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2001/03/42084

Re:Time warp?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not just that, but the pictures in the article are in black-and-white. Just how old IS this story?

VR Snow Game Functions as Pain

[Anonymous Coward]

I was a little disappointed when I found out there was a "Management" in the title.

Key features available?

[SupremoMan]

Can you write your name with virtual pee in the snow? Because if you can't, it will not be hard to distinguish it from real world, thus negating immersion.

Crash? :)

[gknoy]

God help those poor soldiers when the games start to crash. (:

Mind over matter?

[JavaRob]

Isn't that just "mind over mind"?

WoTLK Snow Game

[Anonymous Coward]

Just ship 'em all to Northrend.

nice

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe we should draw the line on PC people .cheap dvd

Fixed.

[jacobw]

Unfortunately, these researchers don't seem to understand that videogame studies are only going to draw attention if they blame video games for something horrible. "Video Games Help Soldiers Cope With Pain"? That won't do at all!

Hmmm...

Parents are being warned about the desensitizing effects of a new video game that one observer described as "a snowball massacre from hell." Chillingly, the game is already popular among trained killers.

There we go. Much better!