When travel becomes therapy through a virtual reality headset

A year ago, a strange machine entered the palliative care unit at the University Hospital of Lille (Noord). A mobile capsule that allows patients to escape even from their beds. Dominic adopted it. “I made the pyramids, I made Scotland, I made icebergs, that was luxurious”, as you say. With a virtual reality headset, she relives her travel taste as it was before her illness.

Treatment is under supervision. Under the caregivers’ gaze, Dominic left for Latin America. Complete immersion thanks to the sensors. There are even smells and wind. Equipped with a tablet, accompanied by her sister. Precious minutes of letting her forget Dominic that she’s in a hospital bed. Relaxed, smiling again. It took the inventors seven years to develop the device that synchronized smell, video, music, hot air, and cold air. Dozens of different positions have been validated by health professionals. This virtual world, Xavier Melin first imagined it for his daughter, who is severely autistic.