Virtual reality: applications in medicine and psychiatry

Virtual reality (VR) is a coined description of a new computer-based technology that allows the user to enter a 3-D artificial world. Inside this world, the user can look around, move around and interact within computer worlds. The user can fly, visit exotic lands, play with molecules, "enter" cardiac chambers and watch blood swirl or do simulated surgery. The possibilities are staggering and it is important that physicians become literate in this visual experience. In this article I will introduce the technology in the field, discuss some medical applications already in use, and speculate on some potential uses in my field of interest: psychiatry.