Abstract

Research has documented the efficacy of clinical applications that leverage Virtual Reality (VR) for assessment and treatment purposes across a wide range of domains, including pain, phobias, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As the field of Clinical VR matures, it is important to review its origins and examine how these initial explorations have progressed, what gaps remain, and what opportunities the community can pursue. We do this by reflecting on our personal scientific journey against the backdrop of the field in general. In particular, this paper discusses how a clinical research program that was initially designed to deliver trauma-focused VR exposure therapy (VRET) for combat-related PTSD has been evolved to expand its impact and address a wider range of trauma sources. Such trauma sources include sexual trauma and the needs of first responders and healthcare professionals serving on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide an overview of the field and its general trends, discuss the genesis of our research agenda and its current status, and summarize upcoming opportunities, together with common challenges and lessons learned.

摘要

研究记录了利用虚拟现实 (VR) 进行广泛领域评估和治疗的临床应用的功效，包括疼痛、恐惧症和创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD)。随着临床 VR 领域的成熟，重要的是回顾其起源并检查这些初步探索的进展情况、仍然存在的差距以及社区可以追求的机会。我们通过在整个领域的背景下反思我们个人的科学旅程来做到这一点。特别是，本文讨论了最初旨在为与战斗相关的 PTSD 提供以创伤为中心的 VR 暴露疗法 (VRET) 的临床研究计划如何发展以扩大其影响并解决更广泛的创伤来源。此类创伤来源包括性创伤以及在 COVID-19 大流行前线服务的急救人员和医疗保健专业人员的需求。我们概述了该领域及其总体趋势，讨论了我们研究议程的起源及其现状，并总结了即将到来的机遇，以及共同的挑战和经验教训。