Table 1 Description of the VR equipment and software used in randomised trials evaluating the effectiveness of virtual reality for pain control in medical procedures
Study | VR equipment | VR software | Interactive or non-interactive |
|---|---|---|---|
Akin 2021 [132] | VR Box 3D virtual reality glass | Video images recorded on the phone of the pregnant woman by looking at the baby’s face with the help of a 3D/4D probe | Non-interactive |
Atzori 2018 [107] | VR helmet (HMZ T-2 3D viewer Sony) with 45° diagonal field of view supported by laptop, latex-free earphones | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Atzori 2022 [45] | VR helmet, the Personal 3D Viewer Sony: HMZ T-2, supported by a laptop | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Aydin and Ozyazicioglu 2019 [133] | VR headset | Non-interactive 3D video stimulating a submarine journey to discover things in the virtual aquarium | Non-interactive |
Basak 2021 [134] | 3-D audio-visual presentation was watched using VR glasses | Submarine view video | Non-interactive |
Boonreunya 2022 [44] | VR headset Olympus GIF-HQ190. The content on the VR screen showed nature scenarios in relaxing mode | Commercially available VR program and specific content about nature scenarios and sightseeing in relaxing mode | Non-interactive |
Bosso 2023 [43] | Oculus GO headset with sound played through headphones with active noise reduction | Zen garden developed by Healthy Mind | Non-interactive |
Bozdoğan Yesilot 2022 [135] | VR headset (not specified) | Relaxing video | Non-interactive |
Brunn 2022 [41] | Oculus Go headset with guided meditation VR App | Nokia Spot 1 environment and 10-min guided Zen meditation | Interactive |
Karaveli—Cakir 2021 [136] | Android mobile phone placed in Cardboard Super Flex Goggles | ‘A walk on the beach’ | Non-interactive |
Canares 2021 [137] | Commercially available VR headset with game | Not specified | Not specified |
Carrougher 2009 [108] | VR helmet with head-position tracking and audio feedback | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Carus 2022 [40] | Oculus Quest All-in-one VR Gaming Headset (128 GB) VR system | Several virtual environments, including orange sunset, green meadows, black beginning, red savannah, blue deep, blue moon, blue ocean, white winter, and red fall | Non-interactive |
Chan 2007 [123] | Super high-resolution interactive glasses with graphic animation and multi-sensory input with sound and sight to create an immersive environment taking into account the participants’ age group, psychomotor developmental abilities, and intellectual capabilities | Interactive game (Ice Cream Factory) controlled with a PC mouse | Interactive |
Chan 2019 [122] | Google Pixel XL/Google Daydream VR headset | Interactive game (Underwater adventure) with relaxation and progressing to marine scenes | Interactive |
Chan 2019 [122] | Google Pixel XL/Google Daydream VR headset | Interactive game (Underwater adventure) with relaxation and progressing to marine scenes | Interactive |
Chang 2022 [39] | Oculus Quest headset (Facebook Technologies) | SILVER software enacts a story centred on the ‘Burp’s Magic Tower’ | Non-Interactive |
Chen 2020 [119] | HMD with headphones playing videos from downloaded VR apps on iPhones | Various immersive non-interactive videos of virtual environments (roller coasters, space exploration a wildlife park and travel destinations) | Non-Interactive |
Clerc 2021 [138] | VR headset (VOX + Z3 3D; Emerge Technologies, Coppell, Texas) and smartphone (Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML; ASUSTek Computer Inc., Taipei, Taiwan) | VR Roller Coaster | Non-interactive |
Das 2005 [124] | HMD with a tracking system steered by a PC mouse | Immersive interactive game with virtual environment controlled by moving the participant’s head, neck, decoder | Interactive |
Deo 2021 [120] | Oculus Go with a head-mounted display and built-in audio drivers | 8-min video called ‘Forest of Serenity’ commissioned by St Giles Hospice, developed by Holosphere and narrated by Sir David Attenborough | Interactive |
Ding 2019 [106] | HMD (eMagin z800) with 40° view field used with an integrated audio system and a FasTrak control box | Interactive game (Snow World 2.1) | Interactive |
Dumoulin 2019 [121] | HMD (eMagin z800) with built-in motion tracker, steered by a wireless PC mouse | Immersive Interactive game (Health Shoot The Flies) | Interactive |
Ebrahimian 2022 [38] | Virtual reality glasses (Samsung Gear VR Virtual Reality Headset with Samsung Mobile S7) | 360° video with nature landscapes | Non-interactive |
Erdogan 2021 [116] | VR glasses and headsets (Samsung Galaxy) powered by Samsung Galaxy Note 5 N920 smartphone | Non-interactive 3D age-appropriate animation (Dinosaur) | Non-interactive |
Estrella-Juarez 2023 [139] | Bnext 3D glasses and 360° images | Images of the ocean floor with relaxing sounds | Non-interactive |
Fouks 2022 [37] | Head-mounted display (SootheVR: AppliedVR, Los Angeles, California) | Immersive module of diving in a lagoon | Interactive |
Frey 2019 [125] | Samsung Gear Oculus VR headset fitted with Samsung Galaxy S5 Note phone | Non-interactive animation Cartoon videos | Non-interactive |
Genc 2022 [36] | VR glasses connected with smart mobile phone | Nature video scenes recorded on YouTube at 360° were watched for 10 min | Non-interactive |
Gerçeker 2018 [126] | HMD powered by a Galaxy S7 phone with a hand control and noise-reducing headphones | Interactive environment (Ocean Rift) showing scuba diving simulation with sounds of manatee calls and breathing underwater, with relaxing music and user input via head tracking and a hand control to stimulate taking underwater photos | Interactive |
Gerçeker 2020 [100] | Samsung Gear Oculus headset connected to Samsung Galaxy S5 Note mobile phones with audio feedback | Non-interactive video (Rollercoster or Ocean Rift) | Non-interactive |
Gerçeker 2020 [100] | Samsung Gear Oculus headset connected to Samsung Galaxy S5 Note mobile phones with audio feedback | Non-interactive video (Rollercoster or Ocean Rift) | Non-interactive |
Gerçeker 2021 [118] | Samsung Gear Oculus headset connected to Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge mobile phones, head tracking and hand controller | Interactive environment (Ocean Rift, Rilix VR or In the eyes of animal) | Interactive |
Goergen 2022 [35] | Samsung® A5 mobile phone adapted to Trust Urban® Exos 3D virtual reality glasses and a headset | App-video was playing simulating a ride on rails (without sudden changes that could scare him or change his heart rate) | Non-interactive |
Gold 2006 [112] | High-performance professional immersive HMD with multi-sensory audio and tactile feedback with inertial tracking and music via headphones | Interactive game (Street Luge) | Interactive |
Gold 2018 [127] | Age-appropriate VR goggle (Samsung Galaxy G6 mobile-based Gear VR goggles or Google Pixel mobile-based Merge VR goggles) multi-sensory (visual and auditory) immersive system and head-tracking sensors | Interactive game (Bear Blast) | Interactive |
Gold 2021 [140] | Samsung Gear VR [Samsung Electronics] or Merge VR [Merge Labs], VR game Bear Blast; AppliedVR | VR game Bear Blast | Interactive |
Goldman 2021a [141] | VR Headset (ReTrak Utopia 360 VR Headset) and smartphone (Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML) pre-loaded with a VR Roller Coaster app (VR Roller Coaster, Frag) | Pre-loaded with a VR Roller Coaster app (VR Roller Coaster, Frag) | Interactive |
Goldman 2021b [142] | VOX + Z3 3D Virtual Reality Headset (China), an Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML mobile de- vice (Taiwan) | Pre-loaded with a VR Roller Coaster app (VR Roller Coaster, Frag) | Interactive |
Gray 2021 [117] | Oculus Go VR goggles and a hand-held controller | VR game called SpaceBurgers | Interactive |
Guo 2015 [128] | Ultra-high-resolution 3D glasses, headphones, and a PC mouse | Non-interactive videos (Afanda) | Non-interactive |
Hoffman 2001 [131] | VR helmet with motion-sensing system. Circular eyepiece with a 60° diagonal field of view per eye with PC keyboard controls motion-sensing system to complete dedicated tasks (e.g. pick up virtual objects, tactile augmentation) | Interactive game (Snow World) offering Immersive 3D interactive computer-simulated environment | Interactive |
Hoffman 2008 [109] | VR helmet with a Microsoft SideWinder joystick and audio effects | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Hoffman 2019 [105] | Water-friendly VR goggles (MX90) held by robot-like articulated arm goggle holder, with battery-powered laptop and audio-visual unit, steered by a wireless computer mouse | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Hsu 2022 [34] | VR headset HTC Vive (HMD) | VR Cosmos fully immersive view with the wireless hand controller mirrored the participants’ hand actions | Interactive |
Hua 2015 [143] | HMD with laptop joystick | Chinese version of the Ice Age 2: The Meltdown game (Twentieth Century Fox, Sierra Entertainment) | Interactive |
Huang 2020 [115] | Samsung Gear VR HMD or Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 HMD with noise-cancelling headphone | Custom-designed version of the software ‘Iceland’ and Snow World | Non-interactive |
Hundert 2021 [33] | VR head-mounted display, noise-cancelling headphones (to deliver sound) and held a wireless Bluetooth controller | Auditory and visual stimuli (a game which consisted of aiming rainbow balls at sea creatures as they explored an underwater environment in search of treasure) | Interactive |
Jahani Shoorab 2015 [110] | VR glasses playing 3D film with two external headphones (3D blue-ray/DVD player full HD) | Non-interactive videos (Dolphin and Whales) | Non-interactive |
Jeffs 2014 [144] | VR helmet mounted on articulated arm tripod device with Bose Quiet comfort 3 headphones and trackball controller | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Joo 2021 [145] | Samsung Gear HMD compatible with the Android platform operating on a Galaxy 7.0 device | 3D VR software consists of a seashore view with Korean language narrations designed to induce relaxation (NUVO program by Oncomfort SA, Wavre, Belgium) | Non-interactive |
Karaman 2021 [146] | G3 smartphone, the 3D VR Player (GO VR) application and VR Box Glasses | ‘A walk on the beach’ | Non-interactive |
Kaya 2022 [32] | Samsung Gear and Oculus Rift VR headsets | ‘Merry Snowballs VR’ application | Interactive |
Ketsuwan 2022 [31] | HMD (BOBOVR Z6 Wireless Bluetooth version; Winhoo, Guangdong, China) in combination with an Apple iPhone 12 smartphone | Landscape image of a snowy mountain | Non-interactive |
Kipping 2012 [147] | HMD 3D Visor with head tracking and joystick hand controllers | Interactive game (Chicken Little/Need for Speed) | Interactive |
Konstantatos 2009 [113] | Goggles fitted on head via a circumferential strap, disposable earpiece, commentary plus DVD footage | Non-interactive video based on hypnotherapy therapy (virtual reality relaxation) | Non-interactive |
Leopold 2022 [30] | Unspecified | Unspecified | Non-interactive |
Litwin 2021 [114] | Samsung GearVR head-mounted device | Child travelling underwater through the ocean (kindVR Aqua, Alameda, CA) to launch rainbow-coloured balls at nearby fish | Interactive |
Liu 2021 [148] | Oculus Go VR goggles (head mount display hardware; hand trackers; built-in surround sound spatial audio speakers) and a hand-held controller, | VR game called SpaceBurgers | Interactive |
Liu 2022 [29] | Head-mounted VR display (Nibiru 3.50.005) | Short clips (with a total length 30 min) featuring tropical islands and forests with soothing music: ‘With an orchid’ by Yanni | Non-interactive |
Łuczak 2021 [149] | VR set consisting of goggles and headphones | 3D world generated through the projection of images, the emission of sounds and the production of other stimuli | Non-interactive |
Luo 2023 [28] | VR glasses (Unity3D 2018.3.10f1, Shu Rui Medical) | Rural scenery close to nature, including blue sky, floating white clouds, trees swaying in the wind, flowing water, birds in flight, and soft music | Non-interactive |
Maani 2011 [129] | 3D VR goggles with Robot-like arm, sound effects and a mouse controller | Interactive game (Snow World) controlled with a PC mouse | Interactive |
McSherry 2018 [130] | 3D VR goggles with sound effects, noise-cancelling earphones with PC mouse | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Melcer 2021 [150] | Oculus Go standalone VR headset | 5–15-min clip showing views of rolling hills, sail boats, a tropical beach, a beautiful desert landscape and the undersea world | Non-interactive |
Momenyan 2021 [151] | Android application was developed using the Google VR SDK, patient's head movements tracked using Samsung S3’s inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor | 360° video of nature containing beach and peaceful landscape along with the sound of nature | Non-interactive |
Osmanlliu 2021 [152] | Oculus Rift head-mounted device | Videogame Dreamland®, developed by Oniric Interactive in collaboration with the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témis-camingue, a classic ‘point & shoot’ game that uses head movements for aiming and a hand trigger for shooting balloons | Non-interactive |
Özkan 2020 [101] | VR goggle compatible with iPhone 6 playing videos with sounds | Various non-interactive video | Non-interactive |
Özsoy 2022 [153] | Preo My VR box head-mounted device | Cartoon on tablet distraction | Non-interactive |
Pathoulas 2022 [154] | Single-use disposable VR devices with a mobile phone | Moving 3D graphics | Non-interactive |
Perdue 2022 [22] | Oculus Go head-mounted device | Playing Ocean Rift | Interactive |
Piskorz 2020 [58] | Head-mounted displays (Samsung gear) | Memorize blinking elements and search for them among other moving objects | Interactive |
Pratiw 2017 [155] | VR headset with Smartphone Lenovo K4 Note | Non-interactive videos (Festivo) offering VR distraction sequence scenery like river, beach, waterfall, and lake allowing users to glide through a with 360° video | Non-interactive |
Ryu 2022 [156] | Oculus Go head-mounted VR display | Characters of ‘Hello Carbot’ (Choi-Rock Contents Factory, Seoul, South Korea), | Non-interactive |
Sander Windt 2002 [111] | VR glasses and earphones | Non-interactive video (Escape) offering multidimensional sight and sound experience with several videos and music in stereo sound | Non-interactive |
Schlechter 2021 [157] | VR headsets, eye mask, iPhone (Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA) with VR software, and optional headphones | Game of narwhal swims through the ocean | Interactive |
Schmitt 2011 [158] | nVisor SX (NVIS Inc., Reston VA), the VR-1280 (Virtual Research Systems, Aptos CA), the ProView XL 50 (Kaiser Electro-Optics, Carlsbad CA), and the ProView SR 80 and Polhemus Fastrak (Polhemus, Colchester VT) motion-sensing system (six degrees of freedom) | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Semerci 2020 [102] | PiranhaTM VR system and headset connects to an iPhone 6 mobile phones and allows for watching and listening to VR videos | Rollercoaster video in which a rollercoaster speeds up and slows down in the forest accompanied by slow music | Non-interactive |
Smith 2020 [159] | HMD with a Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, head tracking, hand controllers and touchpad | Interactive game (Skylight) with relaxing background music is also played to provide auditory stimulation | Interactive |
Soltani 2018 [160] | VR goggles (MX90) steered by a computer mouse | Interactive game (Gliding through an icy 3D canyon) | Interactive |
Stunden 2021 [161] | MERGE VR headset (Merge Labs Inc) | Tutorial included a dinosaur in outer space that taught the user how to interact with the elements, see in 360°, and interact with hotspots (referred to as teleportation devices) | Non-interactive |
Thybo 2022 [26] | Oculus Go VR goggles (Khora Virtual Reality Denmark) | VR game named Freddy-the-Frog, a 3D interactive game made in cooperation with a professional VR company (Khora Virtual Reality Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark) | Interactive |
Top 2021 [162] | VR BOX 3.0 | Video (3D Aquarium) by virtual reality glasses | Non-interactive |
Walker 2014 [163] | VR helmet and trackball hand controller | Interactive game (Snow World) | Interactive |
Walther-Larsen 2019 [164] | Samsung S6 mobile-based Gear VR goggles steered by a controller | Interactive 3D game (Seagull Splash) | Interactive |
Wang 2022 [165] | Pico-G2-4KS all-in-one machine | ‘Chicken Run’ puzzle game | Interactive |
Wolitzky 2005 [166] | HMD and joystick connected to a computer | Interactive game (Virtual Gorilla) offering educational supplement for children visiting the gorilla habitat at Zoo | Interactive |
Wong 2021a [167] | Google cardboard goggles fitted to Apple and Samsung smartphones | VR cartoons | Non-interactive |
Wong 2021b [103] | VR goggle with imagery and auditory guidance | Non-interactive videos of a blossoming tree, ocean waves, and crackling campfire with meditative auditory guidance | Non-interactive |
Xiang 2021 [168] | Lightweight, low-cost VR paired with an Apple iPhone 6 and detachable earphones | VR game titled Virtual River Cruise | Interactive |
Xie 2022 [24] | 3D SpaceMax software | The real scene shooting in the delivery room is added to the system to bring the 3D interactive virtual scene to life, including characters, sites, objects, environments, time and voices | Non-interactive |
Yildirim 2023 [23] | Immersive experiments with VR glasses (Oculus Rift VR and Samsung Galaxy S7 mobile phone and headset) | 3 virtual environments (i.e. roller coaster, mine craft, ocean rift) | Non-interactive |