Affiliations: [a] Centre for Healthcare Innovation & Medical Engineering, Biomedical Institute for Global Health Research and Technology, National University of Singapore, Singapore | [b] Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Melvyn Zhang, Centre for Healthcare Innovations & Medical Engineering, Biomedical Institute for Global Health Research and Technology (BIGHEART), National University of Singapore, MD6, 14 Medical Drive, #14-01, 117599 Singapore. Tel.: +65 63892504; Fax: +65 63892222; E-mail:melvynzhangweibin@gmail.com
Abstract: There have been rapid advances in technologies over the past decade and
virtual reality technology is an area which is increasingly utilized as a
healthcare intervention in many disciplines including that of Medicine,
Surgery and Psychiatry. In Psychiatry, most of the current interventions
involving the usage of virtual reality technology is limited to its
application for anxiety disorders. With the advances in technology, Internet
addiction and Internet gaming disorders are increasingly prevalent. To date,
these disorders are still being treated using conventional psychotherapy
methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy. However, there is an
increasing number of research combining various other therapies alongside
with cognitive behavioural therapy, as an attempt possibly to reduce the
drop-out rates and to make such interventions more relevant to the targeted
group of addicts, who are mostly adolescents. To date, there has been a
prior study done in Korea that has demonstrated the comparable efficacy of
virtual reality therapy with that of cognitive behavioural therapy. However,
the intervention requires the usage of specialized screens and devices. It
is thus the objective of the current article to highlight how smartphone
applications could be designed and be utilized for immersive virtual reality
treatment, alongside low cost wearables.
Keywords: M-Health, smartphones, virtual reality therapy, internet addiction, internet gaming disorder
