Virtual Reality Research Center, Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, USA.
Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 May 22;13(1):7915. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31038-4.
Severe pain is a widespread health problem in need of novel treatment approaches. In the current study we used real water to give virtual objects (i.e., animated virtual water) more realistic physical properties (wet liquid qualities). Healthy volunteers aged 18-34 participated in a within-subject randomized study comparing participants' worst pain during brief thermal stimuli with (1) No Immersive Virtual Reality (VR), versus (2) during VR + no tactile feedback versus (3) VR + real water (with tactile feedback from co-located real objects). Tactile feedback significantly decreased pain intensity (VR analgesia, p < 0.01), compared to VR with no tactile feedback, and compared to No VR (baseline). Tactile feedback made the virtual water feel significantly more real, increased participant's sense of presence, and both VR conditions were distracting (significantly reduced accuracy on an attention demanding task). As a non-pharmacologic analgesic, mixed reality reduced pain by 35% in the current study, comparable to the analgesia from a moderate dose of hydromorphone in previous published experimental studies. Tactile feedback also significantly increased avatar embodiment, the participants illusion of ownership of the virtual hands, which has potential to improve the effectiveness of avatar therapy for chronic pain in future studies. Mixed reality should be tested as treatment in pain patients.
严重疼痛是一个广泛存在的健康问题，需要新的治疗方法。在本研究中，我们使用真实的水为虚拟物体（即动画虚拟水）赋予更逼真的物理特性（湿液体特性）。年龄在 18-34 岁的健康志愿者参与了一项个体内随机研究，比较了参与者在短暂热刺激期间的最严重疼痛，分别为 (1) 无沉浸式虚拟现实 (VR)，(2) VR+无触觉反馈，以及 (3) VR+真实水（来自相邻真实物体的触觉反馈）。与 VR 无触觉反馈相比，触觉反馈显著降低了疼痛强度（VR 镇痛，p<0.01），与无 VR（基线）相比也是如此。触觉反馈使虚拟水感觉更加真实，增加了参与者的存在感，并且两种 VR 条件都分散了注意力（在需要注意力的任务上的准确性显著降低）。作为一种非药物镇痛方法，混合现实在本研究中使疼痛减轻了 35%，与以前发表的实验研究中中等剂量氢吗啡酮的镇痛效果相当。触觉反馈还显著增加了化身的体现感，即参与者对虚拟手的所有权的错觉，这有可能在未来的研究中提高化身疗法对慢性疼痛的有效性。混合现实应该在疼痛患者中进行治疗测试。
