VR for Health and Wellness

Advantages of Firsthand’s Evidence-based Approach
Firsthand has set the standard for quality of experience, clinical fit, and efficacy. Our products are based on years of scientific and clinical studies of VR for pain relief.

  • Activate patients engaging therapy they want to do
  • High-quality VR experiences completely absorb mind and body for the best outcomes and enjoyment
  • Easy to operate for health staff or patients can run it on their own
  • Provide an opioid alternative bridge away from dependency
  • Generate insights through robust biometric and behavioral data

 Read the evidence showing from multiple clinical studies using Firsthand’s Virtual Worlds.

Take a Pain Holiday

COOL! is ideal for patients feeling the pain and anxiety of medical procedures or the burden of chronic conditions. Easy to use, simple to learn – leave pain behind and embark on a journey playing paintball with lovable otters in jewel-crusted caves and crystalline streams.

Multiple clinical studies have shown Cool! can dramatically reduce pain and stress for chronic pain.

The Evolution of COOL!

The evolution of COOL! began with Firsthand’s long-time collaboration on SnowWorld with Dr. Hunter Hoffman and Dr. Tom Furness at the Human Interface Technology Lab (HITL). Years of iterative studies and successive development of SnowWorld have helped define the power and potential of VR analgesia. The fundamental research includes the fMRI studies of 2004 and 2007 which captured how immersion in SnowWorld dramatically changes brain activity as it reduces pain. Subsequent studies compared variations on the content, such as “temperature” in the hellfire of Dante’s Canyon to the coolness of SnowWorld.

The UW-Firsthand research team continued to test the effects of SnowWorld with pediatric and adult populations undergoing treatment for burns, wounds and many other conditions. As the data mounted and interest grew, Firsthand took the lead in spreading the clinical use of SnowWorld to leading hospitals around the nation to establish best practices for therapeutic use.

COOL! takes the learnings from SnowWorld to a new level of patient experience and therapeutic functionality. Multiple research studies have shown COOL! effectively reduces acute and chronic pain. COOL! is also being successfully applied for mental health with mindfulness training and stress reduction.

COOL! continues to set the standard for VR analgesia.

Read studies at: VR Pain Research Bibliography or visit our Blog.