Virtual Reality News and Research

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Help with getting off the couch

It's only been a few weeks since you made that New Year's resolution to exercise more, but already you're finding reasons to skip days - maybe even weeks.

10 Jan 2008

Children with apoE4 gene show reduced cognitive function

Children who possess a gene known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease already show signs of reduced cognitive function, an Oregon Health & Science University study has found.

6 Nov 2007

Head and neck cancer may impair driving ability

A preliminary study suggests that patients with cancer in the head and neck region may have inferior performance in some driving skills compared with individuals without the disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

18 Sep 2007

Scientists induce out-of-body-like experiences

Using virtual reality goggles to mix up the sensory signals reaching the brain, scientists have induced out-of-body-like experiences in healthy people, suggesting a scientific explanation for a phenomenon often thought to be a figment of the imagination.

24 Aug 2007

Restless legs syndrome simulator

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) remains a common, yet often undiagnosed, neurological sensorimotor disorder, despite many years of research and increased disease recognition.

20 Jul 2007

Surgeons and robots linked via 4,000 mile Internet connection

Robotic surgery may be coming to your town. Robots that perform surgery can be driven by surgeons who no longer stand by the patient, but direct the operation from a computer console. In most cases the surgeon is seated at a console within the theatre, only a few metres away from the patient.

8 Jun 2007

Virtual Iraq provides better understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are using a virtual reality simulation called "Virtual Iraq" to better understand how symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develop.

17 May 2007

Virtual reality device helps multiple sclerosis patients walk

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists have created a virtual reality device that combines auditory and visual feedback to improve walking speed and stride length in patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease.

1 May 2007

Virtual Iraq to aid traumatised soldiers and military staff

The virtual Iraq simulation, developed at the University of Southern California (USC) but now being put into practice at Reading, is "fully-immersive" and designed as part of an exposure therapy programme which allows soldiers suffering post-traumatic stress disorder to relive and confront psychological trauma - and it has produced promising results for the first handful of patients treated.

1 Mar 2007

Video games sharpen vision

Video games that contain high levels of action, such as Unreal Tournament, can actually improve your vision.

6 Feb 2007

Virtual reality helps amputees

Academics from the University of Manchester School of Computer Science and School of Psychological Sciences have developed a virtual reality system, which gives the illusion that a person's amputated limb is still there.

From The University of Manchester 14 Nov 2006

Human factors/ergonomics professionals are improving health care

The latest issue of Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society contains a special section describing ways in which human factors/ergonomics professionals are improving health care.

10 May 2006

Virtual reality simulation technology improves carotid angiography skills

Cardiologists can learn to perform risky catheter procedures such as carotid angiography on a virtual patient simulator, rather than on real patients, according to a new study in the May 2, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 May 2006

Virtual reality to train brain and heart surgeons

Virtual reality simulation tools are already revolutionizing the way dentists are taught at Case Western Reserve University - and if M. Cenk Cavusoglu has his way, simulation technology at Case will also train the world's brain and heart surgeons.

9 Mar 2006

Humans ignore motion and other cues in favor of a fictional stable world

Would you notice if all the objects around you simultaneously moved farther away? In a virtual-reality laboratory in Oxford, researchers have obtained the puzzling finding that humans can be "blind" to changes like this.

23 Feb 2006

Simulator helps stroke patients learn to drive again

A high-fidelity simulator that allows people to practice driving on a computer-generated course can help stroke patients learn to drive again, researchers have found.

27 Sep 2005

Failure to block out inappropriate sensory stimulation activity in Alzheimer disease

Some people close their eyes when they listen to music, others wear earplugs when they read in noisy places. Both serve to block out inappropriate sensory stimulation, something that happens automatically when we concentrate.

21 Sep 2005

Bionic eyes from Stanford

Stanford physicists and eye doctors have teamed up to design a "bionic eye," of sorts. On Feb. 22 in the Journal of Neural Engineering, Daniel Palanker, Alexander Vankov and Phil Huie from the Department of Ophthalmology and the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory and Stephen Baccus from the Department of Neurobiology published a design of an optoelectronic retinal prosthesis system that can stimulate the retina with resolution corresponding to a visual acuity of 20/80

4 Apr 2005

Virtual reality games can help alleviate pain in children

Virtual reality games can help alleviate pain in children being treated for severe injuries, according to research published today in the Open Access, peer reviewed journal BMC Pediatrics.

2 Mar 2005

Virtual pain relief for children

Children who have the distraction of a virtual reality game while undergoing post-operative physiotherapy, report a significant decrease in their experience of pain, new research at the University of South Australia has found.

12 Jan 2005