Opioids are useful in managing pain, but opioid dependence is a major problem in U.S and globally with severe consequences for people and society. Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States exceed $600 billion annually, of which $181 billion is for illicit drugs. Non-pharmaceutical approaches to fighting pain are vital, and would be especially useful as a highly portable intervention that can be taken to patient's homes. Virtual Reality (VR) for pain management is a new area with significant potential, as seen in the pioneering work of Hunter Hoffman of the University of Washington Human Interface Technology laboratory, who cooriginated the new technique of using immersive VR for pain control in 1996. However, these early systems did not have a high degree of portability, requiring a room full of equipment. Very recent developments in VR technology allow a high level of immersion with equipment as small as a laptop with a headset and controller, and in some cases just a headset and controller. This portability is a breakthrough that could bring the pain reduction of VR to patient's homes, with a health provider like a nurse or nurse practitioner travelling to the patient's home for each session. More interestingly, the health practitioner could possibly visit the patients once to leave the VR headset and after that work with the patient remotely via Virtual Reality telemedicine. If virtual reality experiences could be developed that could be shown to assist with pain management, that would constitute a major advance. Further, if the systems could be made portable enough to be taken to patients in their homes, that would be a greater advance. And if patients found them engaging, wearable, and acceptable overall, this would predict practical feasibility of implementation and utilization in real world treatment settings.
