VR Tinnitus Interface With 3D Sound for Faster Habituation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tinnitus treatment methods, particularly sound therapy, are time-consuming and focus on treatment sounds, making it difficult for patients to manage tinnitus in daily life, and there is a need for a more effective method to habituate responses to tinnitus.
Innovation Solution
A tinnitus treatment device and system using a surround sound virtual reality interface that includes a display unit, surround sound processing, and a VR video control unit to visualize and manipulate virtual tinnitus objects, allowing users to actively participate in reducing tinnitus symptoms through a surround sound virtual reality interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional sound therapy is used to shield tinnitus sound, then tinnitus perception is modified, but treatment time required is significant and difficult to maintain in daily life
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts the virtual environment and tinnitus sound characteristics based on real-time user responses and physiological data, allowing the treatment to evolve and optimize effectiveness over time without requiring extended treatment sessions. The virtual reality environment changes interactively to maintain engagement and therapeutic benefit.
Solution Approach 2:
A virtual reality environment serves as an intermediary between the user and the tinnitus sound, providing a controlled immersive space where tinnitus masking and habituation can occur more efficiently. The VR environment acts as a mediator that delivers therapeutic sounds and visual stimuli in an integrated manner, reducing the time needed compared to conventional sound therapy.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional sound therapy focuses on treatment sounds, then tinnitus masking is achieved, but it is not easy to focus on sound in daily life
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a visual dimension to sound therapy by displaying visual representations of sounds and tinnitus in the virtual reality environment. This multi-sensory approach helps users focus on and differentiate therapeutic sounds from tinnitus, making the skill transferable to daily life situations where visual cues can aid auditory attention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback through both auditory and visual channels, allowing users to see the effects of therapeutic sounds and adjust their attention accordingly. This dual-feedback mechanism enhances the ability to focus on treatment sounds and apply the same focus skills in real-world environments.
3Extent of automation
If virtual reality is used to visualize tinnitus, then active user participation is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual reality system serves multiple therapeutic functions simultaneously: it provides tinnitus visualization, delivers therapeutic sounds, offers cognitive behavioral therapy elements, and collects physiological data all within a single integrated platform. This multi-functionality justifies the increased complexity by consolidating multiple treatment modalities into one system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables users to actively control and manipulate their tinnitus representation in the virtual environment, allowing them to take charge of their treatment process. Users can interact with visualized tinnitus sounds, adjust parameters, and engage in self-directed habituation exercises, reducing the need for constant professional intervention despite the system's complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A tinnitus treatment device using a surround sound virtual reality (VR) interface of the present invention includes a display unit that is mounted on a user's head to display a VR video, into which a tinnitus avatar is inserted, to a subject, a virtual environment object unit that generates the tinnitus avatar by visualizing the tinnitus perceived by the user, a surround sound processing unit that generates a 3D sound so as to allow the user to perceive a mixed sound combined with the tinnitus, a sound output unit that outputs the 3D sound to the user, and a VR video control unit that changes content in the VR video in response to a user input signal provided from a user interface, in which the VR video control unit controls the tinnitus avatar displayed in the VR video in response to the user input signal and changes the output of the 3D sound in response to the control of the tinnitus avatar.