In uno studio pubblicato sul giornale "Environment & Behaviour" un team di ricercatori dell'Università di Plymouth, Exter e Birmingham ha dimostrato l'effetto dell'applicazione di scenari di realtà virtuale durante procedure chirurgiche in odontoiatria quali estrazioni dentali. E' stato dimostrato che sottoponendo i pazienti ad uno scenario immersivo virtuale di spiaggia con suoni di fondo a rappresentare i rumori del mare e delle onde hanno contribuito a diminuire stress e ansia durante la procedura chirurgica.
In a study published in the journal Environment & Behaviour, a team of researchers at the Universities of Plymouth, Exeter and Birmingham worked with Torrington Dental Practice in Devon to find out whether experiences like these could improve the patient's experience during routine dental procedures, such as fillings and tooth extractions.
Patients, who had agreed to take part in the study were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: a) standard care (i.e. normal practice), b) a virtual walk around Wembury beach in Devon (using a headset and handheld controller), or c) a walk around an anonymous virtual reality city. Results found that those who 'walked' around Wembury were less anxious, experienced less pain, and had more positive recollections of their treatment a week later, than those in the standard care condition. These benefits were not found for those who walked around the virtual city.
The authors of the research stress that the type of virtual reality environment the patient visits is important. Virtual Wembury was created by Professor Bob Stone and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, and the fact that only patients who visited Wembury...leggi l'articolo