Recently I had the chance to try out the HTC Vive, one of the many different virtual reality headsets in the market today. As a person who never experienced virtual reality before, I was more than excited to volunteer.
I was never warned on just how terrifying it could be.
We all see the videos on YouTube of people freaking out while wearing the somewhat funny looking piece of large plastic and metal on their heads. But let me assure you, as soon as you put the headset on, you feel as if are completely transported into a different world.
You can tell yourself all you want that it is not real, but your brain will be tricked into thinking that you are truly in the middle of a sunken ship in the ocean or that you are flying with hundreds of birds completely encompassing you. Even skeptics of virtual reality would believe that everything they see around them is real.
Therefore, when terrifying events occur within the virtual world, it can trigger panic and fear and cause you to think irrationally.
A great example of this would be when I was transported to a lake circled with trees when suddenly a train from the distance began to head right towards me.
Right. Towards. Me.
So what exactly do you do when a train is headed right towards you? You freak out, completely forget that it truly is not a real world, and start fearing for your life.
Regardless of whether it was real or not, it definitely impacted my psychological state at that time. It was one of the most scariest experiences of my life, and one I am not likely to forget.
Furthermore, this brings to question the psychological impact virtual reality can have on people.
One of the studies conducted on virtual reality was in 1994, in regards to violence in video games. The researchers were interested as to whether participating in violent events in video games would trigger aggressive behavior within the participants in comparison to others who simply observed the game. Their findings showed that the people who participated in the action had increased heart rate, nausea, and aggressive thoughts in comparison to those who only watched.
Along with increasing risk of trauma and change in psychological states, people can get easily addicted to virtual reality. Virtual reality provide people an adrenaline rush, and as virtual reality becomes more common, it would be easy to reject our reality and replace it with another (i.e. the main premise of WALL-E).
Nevertheless, virtual reality can be used as a positive tool. One group of researchers conducted a study where they had a veteran try virtual reality to help with their PTSD. The patient was placed into two simulated worlds, a virtual helicopter flying over Vietnam and a clearing in the middle of the jungle, in order to combat their PTSD. After the study finished, the results showed that the veteran "experienced a 34% decrease on clinician-rated PTSD and a 45% decrease on self-rated PTSD."
The world of virtual reality is still relatively new, and as the market is broadening up to commercial virtual reality headsets, it is important to understand that participants need to be aware of the effects virtual reality can have and use it responsibly.
