Snow World is a virtual reality pain reduction program created at the The University of Washington’ HIT Lab nearly a decade ago. The ‘distraction,’ as it is called, has been in frequent use at the University of Washington Harborview Burn Center, helping take the patient’s mind off of pain during the difficult wound care period. As bandages are changed, wounds are cleaned or staples removed, often the physical and psychological stress is too much to bear. Snow World has had remarkable results on burn patients.

Now, the US military is going to study whether Snow World is applicable to soldiers who have been burned in combat, according to ScienCentral.

Two combat burn patients have already used the virtual world successfully. Snow World is all about snow, the near-opposite of fire and heat. The world is snowy and cold and researchers say this is a great help to burn victims.

“The patients don’t associate Snow World with pain because they’re not in pain when they’re in Snow World,” said Hunter Hoffman, director of the UW’s VR Analgesia Research Center. “They associated Snow World with fun.”

Here’s the YouTube evidence: