A SWOT Analysis of the Field of Virtual Rehabilitation and Therapy

Virtual Reality (VR) has now emerged as a promising tool in many domains of therapy and rehabilitation (Rizzo, Schultheis, Kerns & Mateer, in press; Weiss & Jessel, 1998; Zimand, Anderson, Gershon, Graap, Hodges, & Rothbaum, 2002). Continuing advances in VR technology along with concomitant system cost reductions have supported the development of more usable, useful, and accessible VR systems that can uniquely target a wide range of physical, psychological, and cognitive rehabilitation concerns and research questions. What makes VR application development in the therapy and rehabilitation sciences so distinctively important is that it represents more than a simple linear extension of existing computer technology for human use. VR offers the potential to create systematic human testing, training and treatment environments that allow for the precise control of complex dynamic 3D stimulus presentations, within which sophisticated interaction, behavioral tracking and performance recording is possible. Much like an aircraft simulator serves to test and train piloting ability, virtual environments can be developed to present simulations that assess and rehabilitate human functional performance under a range of stimulus conditions that are not easily deliverable and controllable in the real world. When combining these assets within the context of functionally relevant, ecologically valid VEs, a fundamental advancement could emerge in how human functioning can be addressed in many rehabilitation disciplines.