Virtual Reality is no longer confined within the realm of gaming and live entertainment. With breakthroughs taking place regularly within this niche’ domain, VR is now being applied to various projects related to pain management, cellular investigation so as to help alleviate ailments that currently affect many people across the globe.
Not only that, it has now come to a stage where cancer experts from all over the world are coming together with The Sony Foundation and Tour de Cure in order to help fight cancer. The aforementioned organizations have set aside a grant worth half a million dollars so that VR innovations which can help with cancer research can be looked into and developed.
More About the Project
Even though VR research continues to grow, its applications within the domain of medicine and healthcare remain quite restricted.
According to Sophie Ryan, CEO of The Sony Foundation, their latest funding effort could play a big role in bridging the gap that currently exists between cancer research and the VR industry. In this regard, she added:
“We hope that we will uncover a brilliant idea to fund the application of VR to support youth cancer patients that haven’t been seen before. And, we are excited to foster new networks for collaboration between some of the leading VR developers around the world with cancer researchers to ignite future interest and investment in this type of game-changing research.”
The Statistics
Over the years, the survival rates of adults suffering from cancer have continually increased but the same cannot be said for the survival rates of adolescent children and young adults– with studies indicating that their rates have remained the same, and in some cases have even lowered, over the course of the past 25 years.
According to Chuck Bailey, Head Researcher at The Gene and Stem Cell Therapy Centenary Institute, it is imperative for industrial and medical research organizations to come together and fund new innovative techniques for tackling cancer– especially since conventional methods have proven to be only somewhat effective 100% of the time.
Final Thoughts
With the rise of Virtual Reality, the technology now needs to be used within areas beyond simple pain management and gaming. This latest effort hopes to achieve this and if successful, could set a healthy precedent for the medical industry as a whole.
