Virtual world to help kids overcome trauma – The Times of India

Doctors in a domed laboratory in Canada are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colorful avatars using toy-like medical gadgets.Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice. Three-dimensional images of a child’s bedroom at home could make him forget he is in a hospital.”You could take a child suffering from burns and put him in a polar environment, crossing the threshold of reality , to dull his pain,” said Patrick Dube, who is leading a team of medics from Montreal’s Sainte-Justine hospital and software engineers at the Society for Arts and Technology . “We know that cognitive illusions have an effect on the perception of pain,” he said. At the Satosphere, in an 18-meter-wide dome, the team has set up a hospital room, or ” living lab” , to try out new treatment ideas.
Via timesofindia.indiatimes.com