|
TRAUMATISED British soldiers could be sent to "Virtual Iraq" to help them recover. Reading University believes war zone veterans are helped by reliving their experiences in a computer-generated combat zone.
The aim is to get them to confront and overcome their fears in a controlled virtual reality environment. The virtual Iraq simulation, developed first at the University of Southern California (USC)but now being put into practice at Reading, is designed as part of an exposure therapy programme which allows soldiers suffering post-traumatic stress disorder to relive and confront psychological trauma – and it has produced promising results for the first handful of patients treated.
Professor Paul Sharkey, a Director of the University of Reading's Visualisation Centre has been working with Professors Albert "Skip" Rizzo and Jarrell Pair from the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. Vets can either wear helmet which recreate the sights, smells, sounds and jolts of the battlefield or enter a small virtual reality room which recreated the events leading to their trauma at Reading's Visualisation Centre.
The focus of the research at Reading will be to replace the use of headsets or helmets – which in themselves can induce trauma because they remind vets of combat helmets – with the virtual reality room. The headsets project computer game-like battlefield images on to their eyes. For extra realism, the vibration of a vehicle or concussion from a bomb blast can be simulated. The sounds, and even smells, of the war zone are also added.
The therapy, piloted last year, has already produced significant improvements in four US soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder. Professor Sharkey said: "While the initial phase of the project will be focused on the display technologies, it is hoped that this will lead to pilot studies with therapists and psychologists to test the efficacy of the approach as a tool for therapy."An MoD spokesman added: "It is early research and further results will be examined by our specialists."
In "Virtual Iraq", soldiers with PTSD get over mental blocks by facing their fears in a gradual process. Each soldier tells their story while a therapist supplies sights, sounds, sensations and smells. They include driving a military vehicle along a desert road, moving towards the scene of an explosion, flying over a bombed town or facing a masked fighter with a gun. There is also a "smell machine" that can produce eight odours including cordite, diesel fuel, burning rubber, Middle Eastern spices, and cooked lamb. In Iraq, a lot of cooking is done outside and soldiers have reported the smell of roasting lamb in the streets. Dr Skip Rizzo, of the University of Southern California, who helped develop the treatment, said: "After a while, the person treats it as if they are really there."
 |
Supernatural frogs falling
from the sky, mysterious airships, spontaneous human combustion...
it all fascinated Charles Fort, whose appetite for the paranormal
lives on today in sci-fi, conspiracy theories and that quirky
chronicle of the unknown, the Fortean Times.
The spirit of Montague Keen watched helplessly as his body was loaded
into an ambulance. His wife, Veronica, stared blankly into the
distance, tears flooding down her face. Her friends whispered words of
hope, but in her heart she knew her husband was dead.
It sounds ridiculous and terrifying in equal measure but could hypnotism replace general anaesthetics in surgery? Many doctors certainly think so. Belgian surgeons have carried out over 6,000 operations using only hypnosis to dull the pain including hysterectomies and major abdominal surgery....
Ever wanted to lose weight permanently? Lorna Houldsworth appeared on Channel 4's Richard & Judy programme as a weight-loss guinea pig. Lorna was a depressed serial dieter who had never succeeded in losing weight. Here she describes how she managed to permanently lose weight and become a happier, more contented person.
Santanero the fighting bull fell to his knees. Blood poured from his
mouth, pooling in the dust. Vicious stab wounds scarred his chest and
every breath only caused him more agony.
Over the coming days tens of thousands of baby seals will be clubbed and hacked to death off Canada’s east coast. Hundreds of thousands more will be shot and left to die. The lucky ones will die swiftly. Many will suffer long lingering deaths….
'Cultural tradition' or the world's cruellest sport? Horse-fighting is big business in the Philippines and has a huge following. Here we reveal the true horror of horse-fighting.... 
In a word “Amazing”. There’s no other way of describing these Denon
earphones. They produce wonderful sound, are built to last and look
pretty cool too.