Clinical Virtual Reality: Emerging Opportunities for Psychiatry.

Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for the development of innovative clinical research, assessment, and intervention tools. VR-based testing, training, teaching, and treatment approaches that would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver with traditional methods are now being developed that take advantage of the assets that are available with VR technology. As research evidence continues to indicate clinical efficacy, VR applications are being increasingly regarded as providing innovative options for targeting the cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments that result from various clinical health conditions.

Is clinical virtual reality ready for primetime?

Objective: Since the mid-1990s, a significant scientific literature has evolved regarding the outcomes from the use of what we now refer to as clinical virtual reality (VR). This use of VR simulation technology has produced encouraging results when applied to address cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments across a wide range of clinical health conditions. This article addresses the question, "Is clinical VR ready for primetime?"

Method: After a brief description of the various forms of VR technology, we discuss the trajectory of clinical VR over the last 20 years and summarize the basic assets that VR offers for creating clinical applications.

Using technology to overcome the language barrier: the Cognitive Assessment for Aphasia App.

Purpose: We developed and explored the feasibility and user acceptance of the Cognitive Assessment for Aphasia App: a non-immersive virtual reality cognitive assessment for stroke survivors, designed to be inclusive of individuals with aphasia.

Methods: Participants were assessed on a battery of pen-and-paper cognitive tests and the Cognitive Assessment for Aphasia App. Feasibility was explored by quantifying missing data for test completion, determining user acceptance for the app by measuring participants' preferred testing method, enjoyment and perceived task difficulty and time-taken to complete the test.

Virtual reality rehabilitation of spatial abilities after brain damage.

Current rehabilitation of navigation and spatial orientation ability after brain damage is generally focused on training within the rehabilitation hospital or the patient's home as part of common physio- and occupational therapy sessions. To further promote generalization of gained abilities and to quantify functional improvements, this project aims at developing a Virtual Reality (VR) application that can be used for training and assessment of spatial orientation and navigation skills in brain-damaged patients. The training is administered after the standard hospital rehabilitation training is completed.