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Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality

Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality
Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality

Virtual reality environments have many potential applications in medicine, including surgical training, tele-operated robotic surgery, assessment and rehabilitation of behavioural and neurological disorders and diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation of physical disabilities. Although there is much potential for the use of immersive virtual reality environments in clinical applications, there are problems which could limit their ultimate usability. Some users have experienced side-effects during and after exposure to virtual reality environments. The symptoms include ocular problems, disorientation and balance disturbances, and nausea. Susceptibility to side-effects can be affected by age, ethnicity, experience, gender and physical fitness, as well as the characteristics of the display, the virtual environment and the tasks. The characteristics of the virtual reality system have also been shown to affect the ability of users to perform tasks in a virtual environment. Many of these effects can be attributed to delays between the sampling of head and limb positions and the presentation of an appropriate image on the display. The introduction of patients to virtual reality environments, for assessment, therapy or rehabilitation, raises particular safety and ethical issues. Patients exposed to virtual reality environments for assessment and rehabilitation may have disabilities which increase their susceptibility to certain side-effects. Special precautions therefore need to be taken to ensure the safety and effectiveness of such virtual reality applications. These precautions include minimisation of possible side-effects at the design stage. Factors are identified which are likely to affect the incidence of side-effects during and after exposures, and which need to be understood in order to minimise undesirable consequences. There is also a need for the establishment of protocols for monitoring and controlling exposures of patients to virtual reality environments. Issues are identified which need to be included in such protocols.

35-56
IOS Press
Lewis, Christopher H.
6a953646-70d2-4785-9f6d-ee6f90b16cd5
Griffin, Michael J.
24112494-9774-40cb-91b7-5b4afe3c41b8
Lewis, Christopher H.
6a953646-70d2-4785-9f6d-ee6f90b16cd5
Griffin, Michael J.
24112494-9774-40cb-91b7-5b4afe3c41b8

Lewis, Christopher H. and Griffin, Michael J. (1997) Human factors consideration in clinical applications of virtual reality. In, Virtual Reality in Neuro-Psycho-Physiology. (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 44) IOS Press, pp. 35-56. (doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-888-5-35).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

Virtual reality environments have many potential applications in medicine, including surgical training, tele-operated robotic surgery, assessment and rehabilitation of behavioural and neurological disorders and diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation of physical disabilities. Although there is much potential for the use of immersive virtual reality environments in clinical applications, there are problems which could limit their ultimate usability. Some users have experienced side-effects during and after exposure to virtual reality environments. The symptoms include ocular problems, disorientation and balance disturbances, and nausea. Susceptibility to side-effects can be affected by age, ethnicity, experience, gender and physical fitness, as well as the characteristics of the display, the virtual environment and the tasks. The characteristics of the virtual reality system have also been shown to affect the ability of users to perform tasks in a virtual environment. Many of these effects can be attributed to delays between the sampling of head and limb positions and the presentation of an appropriate image on the display. The introduction of patients to virtual reality environments, for assessment, therapy or rehabilitation, raises particular safety and ethical issues. Patients exposed to virtual reality environments for assessment and rehabilitation may have disabilities which increase their susceptibility to certain side-effects. Special precautions therefore need to be taken to ensure the safety and effectiveness of such virtual reality applications. These precautions include minimisation of possible side-effects at the design stage. Factors are identified which are likely to affect the incidence of side-effects during and after exposures, and which need to be understood in order to minimise undesirable consequences. There is also a need for the establishment of protocols for monitoring and controlling exposures of patients to virtual reality environments. Issues are identified which need to be included in such protocols.

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Published date: 1997
Organisations: University of Southampton

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Local EPrints ID: 406249
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/406249
PURE UUID: ae067ccd-59f7-40ac-a627-e2f79d409a8b
ORCID for Michael J. Griffin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0743-9502

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Date deposited: 10 Mar 2017 10:43
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 12:24

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Contributors

Author: Christopher H. Lewis
Author: Michael J. Griffin ORCID iD

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