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BLACK MIRROR

Virtual reality headsets given to terminally ill patients so they can enter computer simulations during their final days

Patients are given the chance to experience the world through virtual reality...just like an episode of hit TV series Black Mirror

DYING patients have been handed virtual reality headsets so they can simulate being outdoors in their final days.

A hospice is giving the terminally ill a chance to experience the world through a lens - just like an episode of hit TV series Black Mirror.

 Patients will see places they are familiar with through the simulator
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Patients will see places they are familiar with through the simulator

After placing the headset on they feel as if they are strolling along a beach or through woods.

It's hoped it will offer those stuck in hospices the chance to see places they have nice memories of.

It comes as a top Virtual Reality CEO warned that the technology will one day be so detailed that humans will choose to live in computer simulations.

Just like Charlie Brooker's Netflix hit, where patients also slip into a virtual reality world, patients at LOROS Hospice, Leicester, have been trying out the new technology.

John Lee has Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and was the first one to test out the futuristic headset at LOROS.

The-70-year-old said it was "just like" walking through a park in Leicester he used to visit, as he had a 360 degree view.

He added: "You soon relax, it's just like you're there, I loved it. I nearly waved at somebody, as they walked past. It's almost as good as the real thing.

"Since being diagnosed with MND, we can get out but I can't spend a lot of time out of the wheelchair, so being able to have these experiences through the glasses is really good."

John Knight, chief executive of LOROS said: "Research suggests that the brain accepts the virtual world within 20 seconds after which the experience becomes all absorbing.

 Patient John Lee, who has Motor Neurone Disease, tries out the VR goggles
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Patient John Lee, who has Motor Neurone Disease, tries out the VR goggles

"We recognise that some of our patients are often restricted to where they can go due to their illness, so we wanted to help give them the opportunity to still enjoy life wider than their restrictions allow, through virtual reality.

"To see the response from one of our patients, including John, was quite overwhelming. You could really see how much it meant to him to be able to experience walking through Bradgate Park, something he never thought he would be able to ever experience again after being diagnosed."

It is planning to commission a number of further films, such as walking on a beach, to create a library of valuable experiences for patients at other hospices to access and enjoy.

The virtual reality project was funded by the TS Shipman Trust, and LOROS want to make films for lots of other hospices and care homes.



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