Wired.com recently highlighted the use of virtual reality technology for helping others understand what it is like to have hallucinations or delusions.
Created by Janssen Pharmaceutica, the virtual reality training system is being used to advocate for those who suffer mental illness, particularly Schizophrenia. Creating empathy, compassion and understanding is the goal of this technology. Several states are already using it as are law enforcement agencies, corrections departments and mental health professionals. It would be great if judges in the court system could have a go with this technology --- and so should everyone working in the Managed Care Health industry!
The system offers two interactive scenarios. In one, the subject experiences a bus ride where passengers randomly appear and disappear, where birds of prey claw at the windows and voices taunt and whisper. The other features a trip to the drugstore, where a pharmacist hands the subject poison instead of the prescribed medication, and hostile customers stare in disgust.
