When we think of vertigo many of us believe this to be a fear of heights or a feeling of dizziness when looking down from a high place e.g sitting on the highest level of a football stadium. In reality, vertigo can be triggered by almost any visual stimulus, that varies from person to person. This can therefore limit in someone’s ability to go about daily life as something as common as a supermarket can cause nausea for several hours or even days in some cases. The exact cause of vertigo is unknown but it could be related to damage to the vestibular system which s part of the inner ear. Ear infections could therefore be a cause.

It is believed that VR could help to rehabilitate suffers by using the equipment to slowly get them used to their triggers so that vertigo is no longer felt. We associate VR as the next gaming platform and it is thought that if little games are incorporated into the program then suffers will find that visual trigger enjoyable or not even realize what they are seeing is too engrossed in the task. This could potentially be the way to let suffers have more freedom without the risk of experiencing dizziness. As well as helping patients it can also be used as a diagnostic service, I someone is unsure of their trigger then they could be put into different environments by the VR and monitored to find what is causing their symptoms. This will also help save time as the quicker the cause is found then the sooner help can be given to combat that visual vertigo.

This can make VR a vital bit of kit for helping people with visual vertigo, with this theory I believe people will start to find other ways in which the technology can be exploited to improve lives. If anyone can think of any other she’s of VR in medicine or rehabilitation please comment below. Thanks for reading I got the information from the BBC so if anyone wants to read further feel free to explore.

Thanks again

George