Virtual World Therapy

Meet Wendy Powell, a researcher at Portsmouth University, who is doing something really useful with computer art. She's linked virtual reality software to a specially adapted treadmill, enabling people to see an artificial world while walking. The aim is to help patients who suffer from osteoarthritis or who have had strokes or falls. By slowing down their virtual world, Wendy makes the patients think they're walking slower than they are. Not only do the patients walk quicker and better, but also they experience less pain than in traditional physiotherapy. Her system is undergoing clinical trials in Portsmouth and Canada.