Virtual Reality - a powerful way to trigger personal memories
Virtual reality has many special powers. It is incredibly effective as a means to stimulate empathy for the plight of others. It can help burns victims to feel less pain. It can help to encourage bystander helping behaviour. And it can be used to light the touchpaper of very personal, sometimes traumatic, autobiographical memories, hence last week we discussed how it can be used to facilitate therapy in people struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This week, however, we look at the lighter side of VR and its awesome power to stimulate people’s own childhood memories.
This is taken from the BMVR Beta Test Session that took place in Wimbledon London in June 2022.
It showcases the incredible power of virtual reality to transport people anywhere the world in the blink of an eye.
The "place illusion" is so powerful in certain types of VR experience that memories can instantly come flooding back. (It was sheer fluke that these two people had BOTH been to Venice before, but such coincidences can, of course, be planned in advance too).
Virtual Reality is completely unlike other medium in its capacity to make people feel present in the moment, whilst entirely absent from the room. In fact, this has been used to great effect in care homes, enabling people who are not very mobile (like the elderly for example) to go on VR journeys up mountains, under the sea etc, that they are simply not physically capable of coping with in the flesh.
Feeling as if they have visited a familiar place from their past, without the inconvenience of leaving home, brings a huge sense of well-being. This is true for anybody; young or old.
Brain Man VR memory trips can be tailored to individual needs.
We can curate a memory trip for your team member or loved one if we can get hold of a suitable 360 photograph of the appropriate location. Interested? Please click here to book your flight.
[NB This all took place in separate rooms, but in the same location, all running off the same wifi. Any number of people can join the experience. So long as they have a copy of your particular version of the Brain Man VR app. And it’s completely private. Dozens of people can enter this VR space at the same time, but it’s up to you to ensure that your version of the app is sent only to people you want to be able to access your shared space. Social VR is what makes virtual reality special, after all, so that's why we specialise in multiplayer VR experiences.]
