On May 10-12, 2023, members of the Pain Studies Lab presented two posters at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Pain Society in Banff, Canada. The Canadian Pain Society connects healthcare professionals, scientists, researchers, policymakers, and people with lived experience through evidence-based education. Each poster articulates the results of scientific and clinical studies conducted by members of the Pain Studies Lab in collaboration with other organizations in British Columbia.
Poster 1: Diversity of Social Presence in VR
Yuemei Wu presented a poster about the Diverse Forms of Social Presence in VR for Chronic Pain in a number of our immersive virtual environments. “Social Presence” is often assumed to involve two users sharing the same Virtual Environment (VE), and each user inhabits an avatar communicating in real-time. However, we argue that other forms of social presence can be experienced in multiple ways for multiple purposes. For example, a number of our VEs have humanoid, animal or robotic characters who help users navigate or interact.
Wu Y, Chong K, Gromala D, Shaw C, Kagiri T, Williamson O, Li R, Kim D, Hortsing S, Wilson M. Diverse Forms of Social Presence in VR for Chronic Pain. In the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Pain Society, Banff, Canada, 10-12 May 2023.
Graduate student Yuemei Wu introduces the VEs to someone with lived experience.
Poster 2: Neuroscience: essential for the Design of VR for Chronic Pain
In this poster, neuroscientist Dr. Zahra Ofoghi demonstrates an intriguing method she developed to help partially automate structured reviews. Her approach also enables researchers to gain an immediate sense of interdisciplinary differences of the resulting research papers that met the search criteria. That a neuroscientist learns to integrate visualization apps for purposes of pain research may appear to be novel, we take pride in such interdisciplinary achievements, especially for knowledge translation that may be useful for others, building bridges across disciplines.
Ofoghi Z, Gromala D, Kagiri T. Neuroscientific Implication for the Design and Development of Virtual Reality for Patients with Chronic Pain. In the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Pain Society, Banff, Canada, 10-12 May 2023
Bridging the Gap: Dr. Zahra Ofoghi’s Innovative Neuroscience Approach Unveiled in VR for Chronic Pain.
Title: Toward a collective understanding of chronic pain journeys through Perspectives of diverse healthcare professionals
Kit-Ying Angela Chong conducted a pre-research early investigative activity developed from a co-design and co-speculation course. The goal was to explore co-design methodologies and understand the barriers chronic pain patients may face from a healthcare professional or researcher’s perspective. The early investigative activity resulted in several learning outcomes. For instance, the journey map as an intervention tool in a conference setting was not as effective as expected, however, it was a successful conversation starter. Angela planned to iterate the activity and further develop it into a research study that contributes to the chronic pain community.
Unveiling Insights: Kit-Ying Angela Chong Explores Chronic Pain Journeys from Diverse Healthcare Perspectives.
