Opioids, or narcotic painkillers, serve as our primary method for alleviating physical distress. They also happen to be a leading cause of death due to their addictive nature. AppliedVR hopes to introduce a safer alternative: virtual reality gaming. They utilize the existing Samsung Gear VR for the hardware, but provides specialized software that offers up a distracting experience that fosters greater pain ignorance.
In essence, patients play a game they cannot lose that involves lobbing balls at bears simply by looking at them (Bear Blast) or throwing food out to hungry animals (Feeding… more
Source: Boring (Yet Mesmerizing) VR Experiences Could Calm Anxiety & Reduce Pain
