VR Snow Game Functions As Pain Management 27
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."
Snow necessary? (Score:5, Interesting)
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? (Score:4, Funny)
I would think a calm peaceful setting would be better than fighting Onyxia in Molten Core
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Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Snow necessary? (Score:4, Informative)
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 [chsd.org]
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.
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"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.
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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 wh
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Pff. (Score:1)
Healthy Gaming (Score:1, Insightful)
More news on health and exercise related video games here:
http://www.healthygaming.com/blog/ [healthygaming.com]
Biochemical basis makes sense (Score:1, Insightful)
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 (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Biochemical basis makes sense (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Time warp? (Score:2, Interesting)
Key features available? (Score:2, Funny)
Crash? :) (Score:2)
God help those poor soldiers when the games start to crash. (:
Mind over matter? (Score:2)
Isn't that just "mind over mind"?
Fixed. (Score:2)
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!