Virtual Reality Beyond the Holodeck
If you’re a fan of television’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” then you’ve seen virtual reality (VR) at work in the episodes that featured the holodeck. In the series, the holodeck was used mostly to entertain the Starfleet crew. While the holodeck is still science fiction, a goggles-based form of virtual reality has been around for some time and now is being used to treat pain.
Some people may be surprised that the therapeutic value of VR has been researched for more than 20 years. There have been at least 120 papers written about how virtual reality may reduce pain.