abhijithajikumar Virtual reality is used as a tool for therapeutic interventions and mental health treatments. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
The advent of the latest technological innovations like virtual reality has transformed the medical industry. Many are of the perception that this technology has large scale implications in both mental and physical therapies. Despite some marginal concerns associated with this newer technology, I contend that virtual reality would undoubtedly continue to deliver tangible results in healthcare in the coming years.
Critics of VR technology point to the fact that it is still in its early stages of development and hence requires more research before its induction to the medical field. Due to its relative newness, there are no present qualification standards set in any nation for VR technologies and the therapists who might be controlling the sessions from far off places. Not only there are concerns about the competence of the operators but also on the security of health data that is transferred and recorded online. This is particularly true as VR technology providers could even sell the patient information for money.
Nonetheless, the incorporation of virtual reality into healthcare has delivered irrefutable results over the past few years. In conventional physical therapies, the treatment often includes strenuous exercises and repetitive movements which would make the patient drain their energy as well as their motivation. VR gamifies these high intensity workouts into small tasks for the patient in virtual environments that stimulate their motor or cognitive skills for physical and metal rehabilitation respectively. For instance, it was observed in survivors of war who were shown soothing visuals in VR when dressing their wounds, that their stress and anxiety levels dropped significantly.
In conclusion, medical therapies are in a transformational phase with virtual reality. In my perspective, although there are risks associated in this development due to its relative newness, virtual reality is a promising technology and has the potential to revolutionize the medical sector.
