when travel becomes therapy via a virtual reality headset

A year ago, a strange machine entered a palliative care unit at the Lille University Hospital (Nord). A mobile capsule allows patients to escape even from their beds. Dominique adopted him. “I did the pyramids, I did Scotland, I did the Icebergs, that was sumptuous”, she says. With a virtual reality headset, she regains her taste for travel, as before her illness.

Therapy is supervised. Under the gaze of the caregivers, Dominique leaves for Latin America. The immersion is total, thanks to sensors. There are even the smells and the wind. Equipped with a tablet, her sister accompanies her. Precious minutes of letting go during which Dominique forgets that she is in a hospital bed. Appeased, she smiles again. The inventors took seven years to develop the machine that synchronizes smell, video, music, hot air and cold air. A dozen different situations have been validated by health professionals. This virtual world, Xavier Melin first imagined it for his daughter, who is severely autistic.