The wish of London researchers to make virtual reality a therapeutic tool is on the way to becoming a reality. The University College of London had extolled in February 2016 the potential of the helmets of virtual reality (VR) to treat depression, following a conclusive experiment on fifteen patients. It remained to concretize these first tests by developing specific programs. It is now almost done since a Lithuanian company has just received European funding to develop mental health applications for virtual reality glasses. These would be designed in collaboration with universities.
“With virtual reality, you can create audiovisual therapies for phobics, in a secure environment,” Algirdas Stonys, CEO of software designer Telesoftas, told AFP, speaking at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). ) on the closing day of the event on Thursday, March 2 in Barcelona.
Of many phobias could be overcome with the help of virtual reality. It would suffice to gradually expose the patient to his own fears by immersing him in an environment that refers to them. For example, someone who is afraid to fly would find themselves in a plane when taking off or landing. A person who fears snakes would come face to face with these creatures he fears.
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The virtual reality sessions would be part of a therapeutic course supervised and accompanied by a trained psychotherapist. A Spanish company already offers turnkey applications to psychotherapists who can then download them to VR headsets and then select the specific environment adapted to each patient.
Several American start-ups are currently working on the development of other programs which could ultimately treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress, or even addictions like tobacco or alcohol.
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