US Army Funds Second Life-Based Therapy For Amputees

The United States Army is funding a Second Life project to develop a virtual environment therapeutic space for amputees, through the auspices of Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) of the US Army's Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) branch. In Second Life, the project will be handled by Virtual Ability, a non-profit that's been using SL as therapy for the disabled for years, and Remedy Communication, a Canadian media agency whose well-known representative in SL is Dusan Writer.

The Army's TATRC, Dusan tells me, "was aware that virtual worlds are helping to bring people together, whether people with disabilities, vets or casual users, and are increasingly being used in therapy and peer-to-peer support." This project in Second Life aims to establish a "global standard" to this phenomenon. It'll operate in SL's recently launched "Nebraska" behind-the-firewall enterprise solution.

I'm fairly skeptical there's a large and sustainable market for Nebraska yet, but in this case, it's a perfect match:

As I've written before, there's a number of grassroots military veteran support groups who already depend on SL, and a Lieutenant Colonel devoted to helping vets has said Second Life Used For PTSD therapy is "Working when nothing else has”.

"You know," Dusan tells me, "this project feels a bit like a dream project. I always thought that if you focus on the communities, content creators, and creative possibilities in Second Life that you could create stuff of lasting, meaningful value. I think TATRC felt the same way: they're looking to build meaningful and sustainable communities to support people who may want a place to meet, socialize, share and express."