JMIR XR and Spatial Computing (JMXR)

Virtual reality (VR) could possibly alleviate complaints related to chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP), however little is known about how it affects pain-related variables on an individual level and how patients experience this intervention.

Demands on healthcare services can greatly outweigh capacity. Multifactorial causative factors present great challenges, forcing the NHS to increase efficiency and adaptivity. Concurrently, digital advancements are excelling and long-term plans for NHS sustainability are focusing on the use of technological interventions to benefit patients. As a result, integration of Extended Reality (XR) technology has become an important focus of healthcare research. However, models of how the digital literacy of healthcare workforces can be developed and how front-line staff can be actively involved in the design and development of creative digital interventions are lacking. Such programmes are essential to allow the development and upscaling of digital innovation within the NHS for the benefit of the patients. Such a programme has been developed in the Digital Futures research lab at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, representing one of the first immersive digital technologies research spaces embedded within the NHS. A ‘Digital Deep Dive’ training programme has been developed, allowing local healthcare workers to recognise the possibilities of digital healthcare technologies and supporting them in the evolution of ideas for potential bespoke digital solutions appropriate to their own patient groups and care pathways.

Multidisciplinary team meetings (MDT) are one of the facilitators that enhance knowledge sharing among healthcare professionals. However, organising a face-to-face (MDT) meeting for the discussion of patient treatment plans can be time-consuming. Virtual reality software is widely used in healthcare nowadays to save their time and protect life. Therefore, the use of virtual reality multidisciplinary team meeting (VR MDT) software may help enhance knowledge sharing between healthcare professionals and make meetings more efficient.

Delivering high-quality prehospital emergency care remains challenging, especially in resource-limited settings where real-time clinical decision support (CDS) is limited. Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a promising healthcare technology, offering potential solutions to enhance decision-making, care processes, and EMS training.

Background: Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising tool in health promotion and prevention psychology. Its ability to create immersive, engaging, and standardized environments offers unique opportunities for interventions and assessments. However, the scope of VR applications in this field remains unclear. Objectives: This scoping review aims to identify and map the applications of VR in health promotion and prevention psychology, focusing on its uses, outcomes, and challenges.

Effective crisis management in operating rooms (OR) is crucial for patient safety. Despite their benefits, adherence to OR crisis checklists is often limited, highlighting the need for innovative solutions.

Mixed Reality (MR) simulation training is emerging in paramedical education for practicing stress-intensive scenarios like mass casualty incidents in a safe and controlled environment. Current training platforms, however, lack real-time stress and human performance monitoring tools.

Learning and applying anatomy is essential but is studied and used through two-dimensional tools and imaging techniques. This study aims to verify the usefulness of an additional 3D technique and ensure an improvement in visualization of anatomical structures and pathological findings.

This scoping review investigated immersive virtual reality (IVR) interventions for improving executive function skills of children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Virtual reality (VR) is a type of extended reality (XR) technology seeing increasing adoption in healthcare. There is robust evidence articulating how consumer-grade VR presents significant cyber security and privacy risks due to the often ubiquitous and wide-range of data collection and user monitoring, as well as the unique user impact of attacks due to the immersive nature of the technology. However, little is known about how these risks translate in the use of VR systems in healthcare settings.

The metaverse is a promising avenue for accessible, effective digital mental health treatments. However, general attitudes toward peer-supported metaverse mental health interventions (MMHIs) remain largely unexplored.

Physical activity interventions for people with dementia have shown promising effects in improving cognition and physical function or slowing disease-related decline. Immersive virtual reality (iVR), using head-mounted displays, facilitates realistic experiences by blurring the boundaries between VR and the real world. The use of iVR for people with dementia offers the potential to increase active time and improve dementia therapy and care through exercise interventions. However, the feasibility of using VR use in people with dementia, considering changes in motor, cognitive, psychological, and physiological parameters, remains insufficiently investigated.