Virtual Vietnam: Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder Treatment Environment
The Virtual Environments
Group at the Georgia Tech Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center
has developed a virtual reality simulation of Vietnam War combat.
This application was created to treat Vietnam veterans suffering from post
traumatic stress disorder, a debilitating psychological condition.
It is currently under evaluationby
psychotherapists at the Atlanta Veterans Administration hospital.
The environment allows users to wear a virtual reality helmet and ride
a combat helicopter.Additionally,
users can walk through a hostile helicopter landing zone. This project
effectively illustrates the capability of virtual environments to immerse
a person in asynthetic
world incorporating 3D graphics and audio. Furthermore,it highlights
the applicability of virtual environments to application areas including
entertainment, medicine, and training.
