Perspective: Present and Future of Virtual Reality for Neurological Disorders

Abstract

Since the emergence of Virtual Reality technology, it has been adopted in the field of neurology. While Virtual Reality has contributed to various rehabilitation approaches, its potential advantages, especially in diagnosis, have not yet been fully utilized. Moreover, new tides of the Metaverse are approaching rapidly, which will again boost public and research interest and the importance of immersive Virtual Reality technology. Nevertheless, accessibility to such technology for people with neurological disorders has been critically underexplored. Through this perspective paper, we will briefly look over the current state of the technology in neurological studies and then propose future research directions, which hopefully facilitate beneficial Virtual Reality studies on a wider range of topics in neurology.

Keywords: cognitive; diagnosis; metaverse; neurological; rehabilitation; virtual reality.

Figure 1

The results of Google Trends for ‘Metaverse’ and ‘Virtual Reality’ over time (2013 to 2022). The trends show the Virtual Reality boom in the mid-2010s and the recent emergence of the Metaverse.

Figure 2

Cognitive assessment tools for neurological disorders will hopefully evolve from paper-based tests into next-generation VR-based tests with advances in VR technology.