Can VR Make Digital Treatment More Effective?
Can virtual reality improve the current generation of digital therapeutics? That was the perspective of Aaron Gani, former Chief Technology Officer of Humana in his Fast Company article, Can VR Act As A Digital Therapeutic? Until I read his piece, it was an issue I hadn’t considered.
We are at the infancy of prescription digital therapeutics (DTx), which are evidence-based therapeutic interventions delivered by software programs (see Digital Therapeutics Defined And Explained). Currently only seven DTx have been cleared by the FDA. Two are for substance abuse disorders (from Pear Therapeutics), one for the treatment of ADHD (EndeavoRx by Akili), and Nightware for PTSD. There are also PTD for insomnia, irritable bowl syndrome, chronic pain, and eyesight (see Beyond Telehealth).
Mr. Gani points out that the challenge of the current digital treatment tools is consumer engagement. “Modern medicine has an engagement problem. It was one of my greatest frustrations during my time as chief technology officer at Humana…. I’d see health care consumers disengage from their treatments entirely… Health care innovators routinely develop effective technology-enabled innovations, but can’t seem to get health care consumers to use them long enough to be effective.” His solution is to use virtual reality as the delivery mechanism “where there is not competition for attention.”
The differentiator of virtual reality (VR) tools and the metaverse is that they offer an immersive experience for consumers. VR uses computer technology to create a three-dimensional simulated environment that gives the user the “feel” of a virtual world. Users access the environment with a technology tool like special goggles, a helmet with a screen inside, or gloves fitted with sensors. The metaverse is essentially a shared virtual reality where users can interact with others in the virtual world (see Metaverse vs. Virtual Reality: Key Differences). And it is this immersive experience that has the potential to bring greater consumer engagement to current digital therapies.
While VR has been around the health care field for a few decades, the investor community has a recently increased appetite for these applications, which has created more VR-based interventions in the pipeline. The augmented reality (AR) and VR market in health care will likely hit $9.7 billion in the next 5 years, a growth of 5x (see Augmented & Virtual Reality In Healthcare Is Poised To Become A Nearly $10 Billion Dollar Market).
And while many of the early VR applications are for clinical education and surgery, we are seeing new applications for chronic conditions come to market. For example, Limbix supplies DTx for adolescent mental health, with a focus on adolescents with depression (see Limbix Launches First Digital Therapeutic For Adolescents With Symptoms Of Depression). Tripp, which has Amazon as an investor, is focused on anxiety and creating a tech-charged meditative experience (see TRIPP: A New Way To Meditate and Amazon, Qualcomm & More Invest $11.2M In TRIPP To Build The “Mindful Metaverse”). Amelia is focused on the OCD and anxiety space (see Chicago Behavior Center Utilizes Innovative Virtual Reality).
Health and human service executive teams are facing twin challenges. First, how to incorporate digital treatment tools in their service delivery system to expand access and reduce cost of care. And second, how to improve the consumer experience and consumer engagement. The emerging VR applications may be part of the solution.
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