Albert “Skip” Rizzo received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is a Research Scientist at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies and conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. He agreed to be the first interviewee for our series.
Click here to read how Dr. Rizzo answered these questions:
- Dr Rizzo, you are a longtime participant in MMVR. What key advances in your research will you be presenting this year in comparison with the 2008 meeting?
- How efficiently can such a virtual environment be used in the therapy of patients with PTSD. How can olfactory stimuli be delivered in these simulations?
- Do you plan to create virtual environments focusing on other war regions as well?
- Are you experienced with “web 2.0″ applications? If so, do they affect how your research is conducted? Do they affect how you interact with your patients?
- What qualities do you see as most important for a realistic/convincing/successful simulation?
- What developments do you predict will be most noteworthy in the future of the gaming/simulation industry/technology? Do you have concerns about the increasing usage/role/importance of gaming/simulation technologies in global culture? What are likely positive and negative effects on health and healthcare?
