How virtual reality will save lives
How VR is improving humanity in a future that is closer than you think.
You could say that 2016 has been a somewhat challenging year, but when it comes to Virtual Reality things are really looking up. Consumer products such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Google Daydream have been hitting the markets. These technologies, once restricted by cost to the fields of academia and the military, are making their way into people's homes, hands and heads across the world.
The potential of Virtual Reality is exponential, by which I mean the more that people use, develop and study it, the more we will be able to accomplish with it. These are extremely early days and it is a medium that is only going to improve.
There is currently a lot focus on the various creative and gaming applications VR can offer, many of which I am very excited about. This is not a post about that. I have been hugely interested in VR for a number of years, and in that time I, like others who share my enthusiasm, have come to a realisation:
Virtual Reality Will Save Lives
I am aware of the boldness of this statement, but from the countless hours I have put into reading about various amazing technologies along with listening to a variety of extremely informative PodCast such as The Voices of VR, I feel it is not an unrealistic one. There are already a number of companies taking advantage of VR with this goal in mind.
To save this post from being a full blown essay, I have highlighting areas in which the VR can save lives. Some are already in progress, others are theoretical but I believe these will exist in the future.
Training & Education
There are a large number of professions in which the quality of the training received can have a direct impact of people's lives.
- Training military medics for the battlefield with a realistic simulation allows the trainee to get a better experience of a true battle situation Read more here - VR warzone medic training
- Flight simulation is something that has been used effectively for many years already.
- Battlefield simulation, preparing soldiers for the intense environment of the warzone.
- Disaster planning and training for Oil Rigs and other hazardous industries. Read more here - Virtual Reality for the oil gas sector
- Teaching medical students and doctors procedures in an effective manner from a perspective that can improve insight and knowledge en mass. Read more here - How Samsung Gear VR is helping to train doctors to save patients lives
- Simulating drink driving to educate drives of the real risks and damage it can cause. Read more here - Drink drive game virtual reality experiment
- Providing first responders with virtual scenarios to deal with, such as large car accidents, where time is of the essence. This type of high stress training is not easily possible, especially if it is something like a crash on a motorway.
Medicine & Care
The ability to create any environment imaginable allows for simulations to be used for improving people's lives in both physical and psychological ways.
- Treating people with PTSD using exposure therapy. Similar approaches can also be used to treat phobias and anxiety disorders. Read more here - Bravemind: Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, Virtual Reality therapy treating the global mental health crisis
- Creating new data visualisations in a 3D environment that could help doctors gain a greater understanding of diseases and medicines by looking at existing data from a new perspective, which could ultimately lead to new cures/approaches to medicine.
- Capturing bone fractures in 3D, which provides a more accurate view of the bone structure and enables doctors to identify any life-threatening issues more easily.
- Providing patients with pain relief without the use of drugs.
Social
Another area of VR that I think will have the potential to save (or potentially improve) lives is by giving people the opportunity to increase their social interactions with others. When looking at someone with a HMD (Head Mounted Display) on it can be easy to think that that person is very isolated, the reality is often very different though. Programs such as AltSpaceVR are already enabling people from across the world to interact, as if they were in the same environment.
Whilst social VR is no means perfect yet, the ability to connect with other people whom you would never be able to meet usually can build friendships and communities that could not have existed before. How I think this relates to saving lives is when you take into consideration the large percentage of people in the world that suffer with mental health issues.
VR could bring about support networks that help people on a more personal level. There are already a number of charities that are looking at VR and 360 content to help provide support for people in need. Read more here - Empathy Machine, Three charities going immersive VR
A charity like the Samaritans for example could extend their support network into VR, where people in distress could enter a comforting, safe, virtual environment with someone who is trained to help. From here, they can make a connection with that person in a way that transcends the abilities of a phone call.
Virtual Reality is only going to get better and start impacting every industry we can think of, from architecture, automotive and space industries to education, entertainment and care. It will change the way we look at the world, especially when we are given the ability to fly around it from our homes. EarthVR.
If you are hungry for some more interesting articles on the topic of VR and how it will help humanity, why not take a look at the following.
