Month: March 2010

2010 Spring Editorial

Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation

Spring 2010, Volume 3, Issue 1

 

EDITORIAL

Welcome, readers and researchers, to the Spring 2010 issue of the Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation (JCR). Our peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal continues to explore and support the uses of advanced technologies for therapy, training, education, preven- tion and rehabilitation. JCR is unique in the fact that it focuses on the rapidly expanding worldwide trend of applying ground-breaking technology towards the field of healthcare, with an emphasis on the fields of psychi- atry, psychology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurorehabilitation, oncology, obesity, eating disorders and autism.

With a growing international base of readers and sup- porters driven by a similar goal of advancing the use of technology in the healthcare sector, JCR has re- ceived positive attention from peers, international in- stitutions and international conferences. To keep readers abreast of new developments, within this issue of JCR we present comprehensive articles submitted by preeminent scholars in the field, featuring such top- ics as combining physical activity with learning in an augmented reality setting, including the sense of ol- faction more commonly in VR, and how communica- tion is used in virtual worlds like Second Life.

In the first article Voorhees et al. study the relationship between attitude and adherence to treatment in adoles- cents with sub-threshold depression in order to improve public health strategies to prevent depressive disorders.

Next, Baus and Bouchard address the sense of olfaction and ways in which it can further and enrich VR any ad- vocate the growth of the field while discussing possible applications in virtual environments.

In an attempt to merge learning and physical activity in the classroom, Hsiao next looks at using augmented re- ality and VR applications to provide more effective teaching methods and increase retention, while provid- ing much-needed exercise to the younger population at the same time.

In the fourth article, Alquda et al. use Virtual Humans to look at how race and sex can affect how people interpret others’ pain, pain coping skills, related mood, and other factors.

Lastly, Park discusses the use of Second Life as an ex- ample of how activities in virtual worlds might be used as a communication environment to better understand each other, with an emphasis in this study on gender.

As well as continuing to provide our readers with the latest studies presented in an informative and engaging medium, we will be offering one Continuing Education quiz per issue as a further added service to our sub- scribers and others interested in supporting their educa- tion. For more information, see page 95.

I would like to sincerely thank the contributing authors for their inspiring work and dedication to this field of research. I also want to thank JCR’s Associate Editors – Professor Botella, Professor Bouchard, Professor Gamberini and Professor Riva for their leadership and hard work, as well as or internationally renowned Edi- torial Board for their contributions. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome new Board members – Linda A. Jackson of Michigan State University, Julian Dooley of Edith Cowan University, Wijnand IJsselsteijn from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Joshua Fogel from the University of New York, and XiaoXiang Zheng of Zhejiang University – whose diverse back- ground and placement around the globe will bring added richness to our board. We encourage readers and sub- scribers to contact us with ideas and we welcome sub- missions. Your input continues to enrich our publication.

With the start of a new year, new possibilities abound and we will continue to promote the growth of the di- verse field of advanced technologies for healthcare in Europe and worldwide. We are happy to count you as a part of this movement and thank you for your continued support.

 

 

Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., MBA, BCIA

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of CyberTherapy & Rehabilitation

Virtual Reality Medical Institute