Because the nature of chronic pain is complex, pharmacological analgesics are often not enough to achieve an ideal treatment plan. Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have emerged within medical research in recent years for treating acute pain, and proved to be an effective strategy based on pain distraction. This paper describes a VR system designed for chronic pain patients. The system incorporates biofeedback sensors, an immersive virtual environment, and stereoscopic sound titled the "Virtual Meditative Walk" (VMW). It was designed to enable chronic pain patients to learn Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a form of meditation. By providing real-time visual and sonic feedback, VMW enables patients to learn how to manage their pain. A proof-of-concept user study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the VR system with chronic pain patients in clinical settings. Results show that the VMW was more effective in reducing perceived pain compared to the non-VR control condition.
Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve various health related aspects of patient lifestyles including the reduction of depressive relapse in those who suffer from depression [4] and reduction of perceived pain in chronic pain patients [3]. Mindfulness meditation has also been shown to reduce stress and encourage relaxation [10] which is naturally beneficial for many demographics, including those with low life satisfaction [1]. This paper outlines an attempt to translate learning outcomes of mindfulness practice with gamification into educational software. The software provides immersive virtual environments and guided meditation tracks to catalyze mindfulness learning practices. It also supports electroencephalography (EEG) data collection to monitor the affective states of participants, which allows the software to provide visual feedback in real-time. Its design is heavily influenced by gamification strategies and contemporary game design practices in order to encourage persistent training behaviors in participants over longer periods of time.
Persuasive health systems such as wearable trackers and mobile applications can facilitate self-reflection on one's physical activity. The gamification approach incorporates game design elements with persuasive systems to encourage more physical activity. However, some investigations have shown that using gamification to promote physical activity could have contradictory effects. To explore the conflicted findings in more detail, we designed and studied FitPet -an interactive virtual pet-keeping mobile game focused on encouraging physical activity. In a six-week field study, its effectiveness was evaluated and compared with two other gamification strategies, the goal-setting strategy and the use of social communities. Findings are that the social interaction strategy was the most effective intervention among these three. Contrary to prior research, goal-setting was not found to be as effective at providing motivation compared to social interaction. Although FitPet failed to promote significantly higher levels of physical activity, participants enjoyed this approach and provided design insights for future research: implementing social components and more challenging gameplay.
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