virtual reality seems like magic to many
of us in just
mere seconds a special pair of goggles
transports us from our mundane lives
to a world where we can fly through
space or fight zombies
however for all the fun that is possible
with virtual reality
one can't help but wonder is virtual
reality a two-sided coin
carrying unforeseen long-term
consequences on our health which we
don't know about
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in 2018 alone around 171
million active virtual reality users
were estimated to exist
with around 16 million being hardcore
gamers
the virtual reality industry has grown a
lot since then
as the technology's popularity continues
to soar
questions regarding its long-term
effects on health have been raised but
in order to take an accurate assessment
of virtual reality's long-term effects
on the human body
we need to consider this problem from
two angles a psychological
and physiological one let's start with
the psychological effects
obviously repeatedly engaging in
activity which involves placing yourself
in a falsely constructed reality
designed to trick your brain is not
without
side effects we see a perfect example of
this in stanford's becoming homeless
study
where 560 participants aged 15 to 88
from eight different ethnic backgrounds
were guided through several scenarios in
virtual reality
as an individual who lost their job and
had to pick items around their apartment
to sell
the results were astounding compared to
individuals who underwent the becoming
homeless experience on a desktop
computer or from reading about it
the virtual reality participants had a
much more empathetic attitude towards
the homeless
and in the long term were far more
likely to sign petitions for affordable
housing
or agree with statements such as our
society does not do enough to help
homeless people
compared to those in the desktop and
reading experience
however on the flip side vr is just as
capable
of leaving a lasting negative emotional
impact on the user
one study had a group of participants
play a video game with frightening
characters in vr
while another group played the same game
on a laptop
following the gameplay the individuals
who use vr
experience a stronger level of negative
emotions compared to the laptop group
so how exactly can virtual reality have
such positive
and negative psychological impacts on a
magnitude much greater than other forms
of technology
used for the same activity well to
answer that
you need to understand this important
rule everything psychological
is biological virtual reality's enhanced
effects on attitudes and behaviors
are a result of a psychological
phenomena called absorption
during absorption an individual gives
their complete attention to a limited
set of stimuli from the environment
while ignoring everything else
this difference is apparent when we
examine the brain under an
electroencephalogram or eeg
an eeg is essentially a recording of the
electrical activity in your brain
different wave patterns on an eeg
correspond with different levels of
brain activity
individuals in this high state of
cognitive absorption tend to exhibit
alpha wave patterns on their eeg
which is a brainwave pattern associated
with being more relaxed
awake and less vigilant in this state an
individual possesses better working
memory and attentiveness and disregard
for distracting information
additionally a decrease in beta wave
patterns was duly noted in absorbed
individuals
beta wave patterns on an eeg usually
correspond with an
increased level of vigilance and anxiety
it doesn't just stop there
as discussed in our two previous vr
videos there are other notable changes
in brain activity upon exposure to
virtual reality
such as a decrease in activity in
regions associated with pain processing
and a decrease in activity in the
hippocampus an area of the brain
associated with spatial mapping of the
environment
however what's more interesting is that
children and adults seem to be affected
by virtual reality differently
brain scans reveal that under virtual
reality children had less activation of
their prefrontal cortex
which is associated with higher level
thinking this means their cognition and
thought process
may be more malleable by virtual reality
due to their underdeveloped brains
however the topic of how children are
affected by virtual reality is one that
deserves its own separate video down the
road
as more research is required in this
area also on a side note
for those of you watching this with some
worry and confusion
common side effects such as nausea
dizziness and motion sickness have been
noted
this is due to conflicting signals sent
to the brain where your eyes detect you
moving around in a virtual environment
while the fluids in your ear which help
you balance detect that you're standing
still in the real world
as a result you may experience motion
sickness
so please use vr with caution if you are
prone to such symptoms
so all in all it seems the effects of vr
are heavily dependent on the manner and
purposes it's used for
the long-term effects of virtual reality
on our brains is still a subject that is
under heavy research
so more time is needed before we see any
new information and insight that the
scientific community has to offer
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thanks for watching and as always stay
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