Virtual Reality and Social Work

Virtual reality in social work education and practice is relatively new. There is not a large literature on it—note that several of the resources below are authored by the same colleagues. Given the rapid evolution of the technologies, there are limited resources in terms of works within the last fifteen years. Juried resources published by recognized experts are provided. There are basically two distinct forms. First, we have virtual worlds such as Second Life where controlled avatars explore simulated environments. Virtual worlds can be quite varied and rich in visual content. Complete creation of hospitals, service agencies, schools, and places of worship are possible. Support groups for a variety of problems and ability challenges can regularly meet “in world.” Participation is usually synchronous. Most virtual worlds are accessible via personal computers. Participation costs are generally absent. Virtual worlds are not “games” but instead are platforms in which games may be played, role plays may be staged, classes and seminars held. The second virtual reality technology is generally found in laboratory settings. Participants don 3D helmets or goggles and explore environments that are computer-based. Purposes for creating and establishing these environments vary. For example, people suffering from PTSD can explore and relive traumatic events with therapeutic guidance towards symptom relief. As in the case of virtual worlds, lab-based simulations are usually synchronous. Just as avatars may interact with each other, lab-based experiences can include multiple participants. Each of these technologies offers promise for social work education and practice. Students in distance education can work together even when separated by oceans. Students can engage in service evaluation in virtual worlds. Students can learn about addiction triggers through creating the 3D environments that have modeled them. Both formats may be termed multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) though terms vary. Of interest, if one looks at this bibliography as a data sample, educational uses tend to be through virtual worlds while practice uses may tend to be more in laboratory settings. The opening section discusses critical professional issues that may apply to using virtual reality innovations in social work. The next sections take up educational and practice applications. Articles that predominantly address research issues follow. Finally, resources for developing virtual world experiences are provided.

An Immersive Virtual Reality Training Game for Power Substations Evaluated in Terms of Usability and Engagement

Safety-focused training is essential for the operation and maintenance concentrated on the reliability of critical infrastructures, such as power grids. This paper introduces and evaluates a system for power substation operational training by exploring and interacting with realistic models in virtual worlds using serious games. The virtual reality (VR) simulator used building information modelling (BIM) from a 115 kV substation to develop a scenario with high technical detail suitable for professional training. This system created interactive models that could be explored using a first-person-perspective serious game in a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Different operational missions could be carried out in the serious game, allowing several skills to be coached. The suitability for vocational training carried out by utility companies was evaluated in terms of usability and engagement. The evaluation used a System Usability Scale (SUS) and a Game Engagement Questionnaire (GEQ) filled by 16 power substation operators demonstrating marginally acceptable usability, with improvement opportunities and high acceptance (by utility technicians) of this system for operation training focused on safety in such hazardous tasks.

The Fear of Missing Out (FoMO)

Competitiveness, innovation, and constant change have become indispensable elements in today's transition from an industrial society to information society. Internet technologies, which are constantly renewing themselves depending on globalization, have increased the tendency of promotion, sharing, and following. Social networks have become an important part of our lives as a result of the continuous developments in internet-based applications and mobile devices in the world of fiber networks. FoMO emerges as an interdisciplinary phenomenon expressing individuals' awareness of virtual environment. Accordingly, individuals tend to be constantly aware of the changes around them through social media. Individuals, who constantly update and monitor with their mobile devices, spend a long time on social networks and create their own virtual worlds. The FoMO is closely related with psychological, behavioral, and social issues. In the research, in addition to the theoretical background of FoMO, measurement scales and managerial inferences for the organizations have been discussed.

Environmental Concerns in Virtual Worlds: Interactive Experience of Ephemeral Life Beyond Borders

The Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders (2016) is an interactive digital installation by an interdisciplinary art collective teamLab based in Japan. The title of the artwork urges critical questions and implications such as, are the butterflies or the participants beyond the borders of digital technologies in this work? How and why are these borders shaped? If we consider the digital butterflies as the substitute for nature, who has control over nature beyond borders, digital technology, or human? The work situates the human body not only as a part of its natural environment but also as the dominant factor for shaping nature's future as well as the work's. Participants become gradually more aware of their behaviors that impact the continuity and well-being of the natural environment through the experience of intimate interaction with the artwork, particularly with their physical touch. By building a digitized nature installation, the artists create an experience not to prioritize the illusory sense of visuality but to increase and manipulate social awareness of the natural environment. This media artwork presents an exceptional and timely experience with its comments on the contemporary ecological turn through the entanglement of humans, nature, and technology.

Play the Pain: A Digital Strategy for Play-Oriented Research and Action

The value of understanding patients' illness experience and social contexts for advancing medicine and clinical care is widely acknowledged. However, methodologies for rigorous and inclusive data gathering and integrative analysis of biomedical, cultural, and social factors are limited. In this paper, we propose a digital strategy for large-scale qualitative health research, using play (as a state of being, a communication mode or context, and a set of imaginative, expressive, and game-like activities) as a research method for recursive learning and action planning. Our proposal builds on Gregory Bateson's cybernetic approach to knowledge production. Using chronic pain as an example, we show how pragmatic, structural and cultural constraints that define the relationship of patients to the healthcare system can give rise to conflicted messaging that impedes inclusive health research. We then review existing literature to illustrate how different types of play including games, chatbots, virtual worlds, and creative art making can contribute to research in chronic pain. Inspired by Frederick Steier's application of Bateson's theory to designing a science museum, we propose DiSPORA (Digital Strategy for Play-Oriented Research and Action), a virtual citizen science laboratory which provides a framework for delivering health information, tools for play-based experimentation, and data collection capacity, but is flexible in allowing participants to choose the mode and the extent of their interaction. Combined with other data management platforms used in epidemiological studies of neuropsychiatric illness, DiSPORA offers a tool for large-scale qualitative research, digital phenotyping, and advancing personalized medicine.