Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Virtual Worlds Dull Pain

my affiliations

Ian Bogost - videogame theory, criticism, design

about me

contact

Water Cooler Games

Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

You are reading an archived version of this article. The original URL was (loading...)

Virtual Worlds Dull Pain

by Ian Bogost February 25, 2004

categories: Game Design , Health & Medicine Games

The BBC reports that Dr. Hunter Hoffman of the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle is using "immersive virtual worlds" to treat pain in severe burn cases.

SnowWorld, for instance, takes users on an absorbing virtual journey through glaciers and ice caves whilst having to defend themselves from attack by polar bears and penguins.

In another example, Hoffman has created a 9/11 simulator meant to desensitize post-traumatic stress disorder patients.

The article calls the treatments "Virtual Analgesia" and "Virtual Exposure Therapy," respectively: a kind of focused, supersensory kind of meditation. In the past, I've been critical of virtual reality or augmented reality as a more "present" form of representation, but these examples do seem to indicate how explicit separation from the real world might enable a therapeutically useful focus of attention.

(thanks to Andrew)

Comments (4)

Here's another, related article, in the NYTimes, about therapeutic uses of VR.

andrew stern on February 26, 2004 12:40 AM

And more! Surgeons warming up with Super Monkey Ball!

andrew stern on February 26, 2004 4:08 AM

The SMB story is fantastic! I like the idea of using the game as a warm-up... it's not that the game has a direct correlation with surgery... it just provides a bit of orientation for precision work. In this case, measurable medical results aren't as important as that warm-up feeling. It's like a kind of anti-meditation.

Ian Bogost on February 26, 2004 4:32 AM

travel nurse hotel discounts hotels mallorca travel cruise ships travel travel sites travel sites travel hotel last minute travel travel hotel reservations travel agents hotel mallorca travel hotel reservations cruises travel cheap plane tickets travel travel nursing travel cheap hotels travel broadway tickets discount airline tickets travel air tickets cheap travel travel discount cruises las vegas hotel travel nfl tickets cruise reviews travel hotel mallorca travel hilton hotel cheap plane tickets travel discount cruise travel directions cheap tickets train travel travel travel nurse cruise cruise ships opryland hotel hotels airline discount tickets cheap ticket travel air travel travel princess cruises nfl tickets travel cheap cruises cheap ticket discount cruises hotels marriott hotels discount cruise travel hotels mallorca nfl tickets travel ticket master princess cruises cruise lines tickets penn state football tickets choice hotels travel cruises travel discount airline tickets carnival cruises cruise hotel california travel disney cruise hotel discounts travel last minute travel travel world series tickets airline ticket travel airplane tickets alaska cruise travel travel agents travel atlantic city hotels new york hotels travel carnival cruise lines sheraton hotels travel las vegas hotel tickets tickets travel sites cruise deals cruises ticket master travel hotels travel penn state football tickets cruise air travel travel cheap tickets hotel discounts hotel hotel hotels cheap ticket tickets cruise deals chicago hotels

chicago hotels on March 7, 2005 3:37 PM

About the book