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Virtual worlds give some sick, disabled new lease on life

By Washington Post
Published October 7, 2007

WASHINGTON - After suffering a devastating stroke four years ago, Susan Brown was left in a wheelchair with little hope of walking again. Today, the 57-year-old Richmond, Va., woman has regained use of her legs and has begun to reclaim her life, thanks in part to encouragement she says she gets from an online "virtual world" where she can walk, run and even dance.

Roberto Salvatierra, long imprisoned in his home by his terror over going outdoors, has started venturing outside more after gaining confidence by first tentatively exploring the 3-D, interactive world on the Internet.

John Dawley III, who has a form of autism that makes it hard to read social cues, learned how to talk with people more easily by using his computer-generated alter ego to practice with other cyber-personas.

Brown, Salvatierra and Dawley are just a few examples of an increasing number of sick, disabled and troubled people who say virtual worlds are helping them fight their diseases, live with their disabilities and sometimes even begin to recover. Researchers say they are only starting to appreciate the impact of this phenomenon.

"We're at a major technical and social transition with this technology. It has very recently started to become a very big deal, and we haven't by any means digested what the implications are," said William Sims Bainbridge, a social scientist at the National Science Foundation.

In addition to helping individuals, virtual worlds are being used for a host of other health-related purposes. Medical schools are using them to train doctors. Researchers are using them to gain insights into how epidemics spread. Health support groups are using them to educate the public and raise money.

These increasingly sophisticated online worlds enable people to create rich virtual lives through "avatars" - identities they can tailor to their desires.

They walk, run, and even fly and "teleport" around vast realms offering shopping malls, bars, homes, parks and myriad other settings. They schmooze, flirt and comfort one another using lifelike gestures while they type instant messages or talk directly through headsets.

While the emergence of these worlds has generated controversy over the gender-bending, sexually outrageous, profiteering and even violent virtual behavior of some participants, their usefulness for meeting health needs has just begun to draw attention.

"There is a fundamental irony here," said Thomas Murray of the Hastings Center, a medical ethics think tank in Garrison, N.Y. "Avatars tend to be young, beautiful, and never age or get sick. But at the same time they can serve as an important way to share information about health."

Murray and others, however, worry that participants may neglect potentially more helpful real-life relationships, or have unrealistic expectations about what virtual worlds can do. The emotional punch of virtual worlds makes them fertile breeding grounds for false, misleading and possibly dangerous information. Sick, lonely and psychologically fragile people are particularly vulnerable.

Users and health care providers may be rushing ahead, some say, without validating the usefulness of these worlds or identifying the dangers.

Still, an increasing number of major health organizations are trying to take advantage of virtual worlds for public health education, patient support and fundraising. For instance the American Cancer Society has an elaborate "island" in the popular virtual world Second Life offering virtual lectures by avatar doctors, support group meetings and other activities. An annual fundraising marathon raised more than $115,000 in real money last year.

Susan Brown, the stroke victim, also roams Second Life, which with 9-million members is among the largest virtual worlds.

Brown said encouragement from other survivors in Dreams, one of several protected areas in Second Life for people with disabilities, and the experience of seeing herself walking online aided her recovery.

"It helped me visualize," Brown said through her avatar, Marie Hightower. "I stumbled here just like I stumbled in RL (real life)."

Kathie Olson, 53, uses a wheelchair, lives alone and rarely leaves her home near Salt Lake City. But as Kat Klata in Second Life, she runs the Dragon Inn nightclub.

"It's kind of like getting your life back again, but even better in some ways," she said. "I've met so many people. I can walk. I can dance. I can even fly. Without this I'd just be staring at four walls. Mentally it's helped me so much."

[Last modified October 7, 2007, 01:51:31]