Virtual Worlds Forum

ABC News has an interesting story on a virtual reality game that could be used by therapists to treat drug addicts, by having them walk through a virtual environment filled with temptations that in the real-world might lead them to relapse. "What we're trying to do is take people into a virtual crack-related neighbourhood or crack-related setting and have them experience cravings, just like they would in the real world," says Duke University professor Zach Rosenthal. You might be scoffing at the thought that anyone could virtually reproduce the very-physical cravings that drug addicts experience in the real world, but the application appears more nuanced than that - aiming to introduce patients to situations where they might experience cravings, and associate their resistance to a tone. Then, in the real world, when they get cravings in these kinds of situations, they can call a dedicated phone line to hear that tone, and hopefully resist. I don't have the medical training to judge how successful this might be, although ABC News does quote one addict who says the game has helped him to stay clean. Rosenthal aims to expand its use to other drugs in the future, and beyond to other forms of addiction. Duke University Virtual Reality and Crack Cocaine website (via ABC News)