It has been used to push the limits in the film industry, transporting audiences to another dimension.
Now the NHS has decided to follow suit and use virtual-reality technology to help treat patients suffering from mental health issues.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal at least 16 NHS trusts across the UK have already adopted VR software that enables patients to enter a digital 3D world and create virtual people known as avatars to explore their feelings in different scenarios.
Patients recreate past experiences that have upset them and use their avatars to express what they struggle to say out loud in real life.
Dr David Rigby, co-chairman of the Digital Psychiatry Special Interest Group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said there has been an ‘explosion’ in VR as the technology becomes cheaper.
