Research. Read. Repeat.

Part 1.

Researching the topic we are interested in is a huge task. Looking for resources (mainly online for me for now) is a time-consuming process. It is easy to get lost amongst articles, books, conference papers, journals, videos, interviews and online libraries. At the same time, it is invaluable to have access to all that knowledge.

When I started my essay research, I wanted to find out more about using VR outside the entertainment industry. After several lectures mentioning experimental projects introducing VR to various fields related to people’s wellbeing and overcoming social obstacles, I wanted to find out more.

After registering with the Research Gate portal, where I had to create my own academic account and list all the fields and topics of my interest, I was able to browse and request publications I wanted to familiarize myself with.

Using VR in medical settings to improve patients’ fettle and to help them to endure the pain during the necessary procedures seemed truly intriguing. I have found several academic research on that topic. It came out that VR was mainly used amongst the patients with burns. As wound care can be extremely painful, VR appeared to be an appropriate tool to be used to distract the subjects from what was happening to their bodies in real life, through a relaxing virtual experience.

Some of the available studies explore the psychological impact of the pain people physically experience; they explain how the brain works and how the pain is created. In addition to this scientific approach, VR as a pain management tool was introduced to deal with pain via distraction. Simply put, the actual pain can be reduced or even blocked via distraction and positive experience, and that is how VR can bring relief to many suffering patients during the unpleasant procedures.

VR can help patients to calm down and relax, thanks to them being present inside the positive virtual experience, even when they physically are still in their injured and distressed bodies. Term used to describe that process is a distraction, however, it seems to be a simplification of the actual effect VR has on humans’ minds.

This stage of my research gave the beginning to the next one, more personal to me, which I will write about in my next blog entry.