Veteran eXpeRience Brings a New Reality to Veterans - Veterans Affairs (.gov)

On December 15, Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL) hosted the first-ever Veteran eXpeRience astatine the National SimLEARN Validation, Evaluation, and Testing (SimVET) Center successful Orlando, Florida. At this event, much than 40 Veterans experienced however VA is utilizing extended world (XR) to alteration Veteran attraction transportation and the wide wellness attraction experience.

The lawsuit was the archetypal of its benignant and was designed to supply Veterans with an in-person, hands-on acquisition to assistance item however virtual reality (VR), augmented world (AR), and different immersive technologies tin interaction physical, affectional and intelligence health. As Veterans arrived passim the day, OHIL’s VA Immersive squad and a big of VHA XR enthusiasts and unit from Orlando VA Medical Center and OHIL’s Simulation Learning, Evaluation, Assessment, and Research Network (SimLEARN) helped each 1 navigate a assortment of XR demonstrations and experiences.

For each experience, Veterans were helped to enactment connected VR headsets to summation understanding, successful real-time, however immersive exertion could beryllium utilized successful a assortment of settings and indications, specified arsenic symptom management, intelligence wellness support, carnal and physiological assessment, recreation therapy and more.

“You’re truthful progressive successful [the experience], it’s astir similar therapy,” said Army Veteran Gilberto Vallejo, who attended the event. “You wholly hide your pain. Because present you’re successful a virtual world strategy wherever you’re playing a game, and you conscionable perpetually privation to bash better. You don’t recognize that you’re utilizing it for therapy.”

It is often hard to explicit with words unsocial however XR has specified an impact, which creates a situation for helping staff, leaders, caregivers and Veterans flooded assumptions and skepticism astir a exertion that originated successful the satellite of gaming; however, by allowing Veterans to enactment their “heads successful headsets,” the Veteran eXpeRience provided an accidental for the interaction to beryllium seen and felt.

Veteran eXpeRience is Nationwide

While the December Veteran eXpeRience took spot successful Florida, VA’s immersive exertion efforts are making an interaction nationwide arsenic the VA Immersive squad continues to grow its beingness and enactment crossed the full VA system. More than 1,000 Veterans person present utilized XR successful their VA wellness attraction journeys.

Additionally, much facilities and providers are including XR successful regular attraction delivery, and the interaction is being realized successful a meaningful way. For example, astatine 1 facility—the Western North Carolina Healthcare System—VR has been utilized with Veterans successful implicit 500 sessions. Sixty-nine percent of Veterans who utilized VR for symptom absorption experienced a simplification successful acute and/or chronic symptom intensity. Almost each of Veterans who utilized VR for anxiousness oregon boredom experienced a alteration successful anxiousness levels oregon the dissipation of boredom, respectively.

As XR and different immersive technologies proceed to dispersed crossed VA and arsenic much Veterans prosecute with XR astatine their VA facilities, Veteran wellness attraction volition proceed to beryllium transformed. Talk to your attraction supplier astir XR options astatine your installation oregon scope retired to the VA Immersive squad astatine VHAXRNetwork@va.gov, and enactment tuned for aboriginal opportunities to be a Veteran eXpeRience successful your area.