While the vision of everyone wandering around with VR headsets interacting in the Metaverse hasn’t come to fruition, it doesn’t mean there aren’t real world applications that can help improve quality of life – and AUT is at the cutting edge.
Earlier this year, in collaboration with the Mason Clinic, AUT hosted an immersive three-day workshop entitled "Developing Virtual Reality (VR)Therapeutic Potential in Forensic Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Services in Aotearoa – New Zealand”. As well as AUT and Mason Clinic staff, the event included leading international experts from Lund University and Region Kronoberg Forensic Psychiatry Service in Sweden.
“It was a privilege for us to host our Swedish colleagues,” says AUT Nursing Professor Brian McKenna. “Their expertise and generosity sparked a strong interest in introducing VR into our practice, and we cannot thank them enough for that.”
During the workshop attendees visited a secure inpatient unit and had an opportunity to connect with tāngata whai i te ora (people seeking wellness) and staff who had expressed interest in hearing more about innovation and advancement using VR. There were also discussions on the emerging evidence base of VR in forensic mental health, including technology such as VRrelax, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Mixed Reality.
These tools allow users to immerse themselves in realistic 360-degree scenes - such as a beach or forest - which can assist in reducing anxiety and aggression. They are also customisable to be culturally meaningful places.
Another example is CLeVR, which delivers VR-CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), with users able to engage in real-time therapist-guided interactions or role-plays within common-place virtual environments, such as a café or park.
According to Professor McKenna workshop participants identified many possible applications for psychological interventions, including social skills training, drug refusal skills practice, and aggression management protocols. And the VR interest isn’t just theoretical.
“In terms of the future, we have started work with Professor Stephen Reay and Dr Ivana Nakarada-Kordic from the Faculty of Arts and Design to start embedding the technology into the Mason Clinic,” says Professor McKenna. “However, given the secure nature of these services, the introduction of VR needs to be stepped, gradual and associated with rigorous evaluation.”
Meanwhile Senior Lecturer in Rehabilitation and Health Psychologist Dr Debbie Bean is continuing work on the use of VR as a way of dealing with CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome).
“CRPS is a really challenging to treat pain condition that usually affects a person's hand or foot,” says Dr Bean. “There's fascinating neuroscience associated with the condition and one of the interesting things is that people often misperceive how their limb looks. And we know the visual appearance of the limb is associated with their pain experience.”
Dr Bean says that people with CRPS can dislike or even have a sense of disgust about their limb and often perceive it as looking different to other limbs.
“That sense of disgust can lead them to completely avoid using the limb, so being able to engage with, look at and use their limb is a really important step in their rehabilitation,” Dr Bean says.
"What we've done is used VR to build software that allows users to go into a virtual space and see two virtual hands in front of them. They can then alter the way their hands look.
"We are testing it with the fifth person at the moment and we’ve had really positive feedback from users.” The next step is working with a postdoctoral researcher to program more complex games for people to engage with in VR, which she hopes will lead to even greater success.
“There's not much that gives people respite from the pain of CRPS. Pain killers are not effective.
“Four out of five who have used the system have reported pain relief just from looking at the changed appearance of their limb. They have also reported an increased sense of ownership of their own limb after they take the headset off as well.”
