F. Cavaletti: “Virtual Reality as A Time-Dissolving Machine in Distressing Medical Treatments”

How did the project TIMELAPSE come to life?

It all started with a scientific journal article written by University of Milan’s post-doc researcher Federica Cavaletti in 2021, which sparked a conversation with practitioners in the field (Khora and Fondazione San Gerardo dei Tintori) and paved the way for the submission of the project proposal to the ERC 2023 Proof of Concept call. 

The article below, written within the frame of the ERC Advanced Grant “AN-ICON” research project, tackles with the key concept of flow as theorized by M. Csíkszentmihályi (1975, 1990), arguing that Virtual Reality could be an optimal device to induce it in order to manipulate time perception during long and exhausting medical treatments, such as chemotherapy.

VR has been claimed to improve the treatment experience by influencing the patients’ subjective perception of time.
Could it, more radically, present itself as a «time-compressing machine», capable of making distressing medical treatments like chemotherapy seemingly shorter, and thus more easily bearable?

Title

F. Cavaletti: “Virtual Reality as A Time-Dissolving Machine in Distressing Medical Treatments. Current Perspectives and Future Directions” (2021)

Abstract

Time is key in medical treatments requiring the patients to undergo unpleasant sensations. This paper examines how virtual reality (VR) could be used to manipulate treatment time, with specific regard to chemotherapy. After reviewing the relevant literature, the paper focusses on «flow» as the optimal temporal condition to be created in distressing medical treatments. Based on the Dynamic Occupation in Time model, it argues that VR applications may induce flow when expressing appropriately high levels of novelty; complexity; skill demand; user engagement; and focus on activity. Lastly, the paper discusses VR applications meeting these requirements and suitable for implementation in chemotherapy.

Keywords

Chemotherapy, Virtual Reality, Time Perception, Flow, Medical Treatments

How to cite the article

Cavaletti, F. (2021). Virtual Reality as A Time-Dissolving Machine in Distressing Medical Treatments. Current Perspectives and Future Directions. Reti, saperi, linguaggi, 8(1), 155-176.