Virtual reality was first developed at MIT in the mid-1960s. The essential elements haven’t changed greatly over the years — a computer generates an image, a display system presents the sensory information, and a tracker feeds back the user’s position and orientation in order to update the image — but what’s new is the sophistication and affordability of the technology.
Despite the massive investment in VR on the part of companies such as Facebook (who bought Oculus in 2014 for $2bn), the technology has so far struggled to gain a foothold beyond the gaming market. So what can it bring to the world of mental health?