Therapy and The Metaverse: Second Life® and The Changing Conditions of Therapy For Convalescent and Chronically Ill Users
Mark Kizelshteyn · Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) · 2008
Peer Editors: Danielle Wallis and Daniel Woznica; Faculty Mentor: John R. Bowen This study examines the therapeutic utility of 3D Massively Multi-User Virtual Environments (MMVE’s), specifically Second Life®, for convalescent and chronically ill users. Wheelies, a disability themed nightclub is one of the three major therapy-related simulations within Second Life examined from within a larger study. This work focuses on one of five case studies representative of virtual therapy. Two significant results surfaced through examining the space and its users: a new form of complimentary therapy and a relationship between “virtual” and “real” well-being has been established. The first point explores how virtual worlds provide therapy forms outside of traditional and formalized settings with a medical professional or facilitator. The second point considers how virtual activities and therapies intersect with “real” physical and emotional reactions. This research sheds light on a new frontier of therapeutic activities that facilitate a psychological and physical rehabilitative process through the social virtual environment Second Life. From the Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest: WUURD, Volume 4, Issue 1, Fall 2008. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Henry Biggs, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Joy Zalis Kiefer, Undergraduate Research Coordinator, Co-editor, and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Kristin Sobotka, Editor.