Treatment for addictions has taken a new step forward as a University of Houston Associate Professor has begun to investigate using virtual worlds therapeutically. Science Daily recently reported on the story.

Strapping a virtual reality helmet on his subjects, Professor Patrick Bordnick, of the UH Graduate College of Social Work, helps to create a realistic setting for addicts. In this setting - for alcohol-dependent people, a bar - the professor tracks the addicts cravings as they move through the virtual setting and are offered drinks in all-too familiar settings. Subjects have been interviewed following the session and the results have been positive.

“What we found was that the VR environments were real enough that their cravings were intensified,” said Bordnick. “So, now we can develop coping skills, practice them in those very realistic environments until those skills are working tools for them to use in real life.”