Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Virtual Reality

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Rehabilitation interventions in the patient with obesity

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) technology is a promising platform to be included in obesity therapy as it provides a safe environment for learner experimentation, real-time personalized behavioral weight management tasks, and strategies. Moreover, it is able to target negative emotions and body image dissatisfaction that play a critical role in the onset and maintenance of this disorder.

Finally, it has the potential of improving treatment adherence, addressing a critical issue to achieve successful weight loss and weight maintenance. As such, VR can be considered an integrated experiential platform able to engage obese individuals in mastering physical activity, diet, and self-regulatory strategies—targeting both emotions and experience of the body—that are the gateway to weight management and obesity prevention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Riva G, Vatalaro F, Davide F, Alcañiz M, editors. Ambient intelligence: the evolution of technology, communication and cognition towards the future of human-computer interaction. Amsterdam: IOS Press; 2004. Online: http://www.emergingcommunication.com/volume6.html.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Satava RM, Jones SB. Medical applications of virtual reality. In: Stanney KM, editor. Handbook of virtual environments: design, implementation, and applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.; 2002. p. 368–91.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Riva G, Gamberini L. Virtual reality in telemedicine. Telemed J e-Health. 2004;6(3):327–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Riva G, Gaggioli A. Virtual clinical therapy. Lect Notes Comput Sci. 2008;4650:90–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Riva G, Botella C, Baños R, Mantovani F, García-Palacios A, Quero S, et al. Presence-inducing media for mental health applications. In: Lombard M, Biocca F, Freeman J, Ijsselsteijn W, Schaevitz RJ, editors. Immersed in media. New York: Springer International Publishing; 2015. p. 283–332.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Schultheis MT, Rizzo AA. The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation. Rehabil Psychol. 2001;46(3):296–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Riva G, Baños RM, Botella C, Mantovani F, Gaggioli A. Transforming experience: the potential of augmented reality and virtual reality for enhancing personal and clinical change. Front Psychiatry. 2016;7:164.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Riva G, Wiederhold BK, Mantovani F. Neuroscience of virtual reality: from virtual exposure to embodied medicine. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2019;22(1):82–96.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Riva G, Wiederhold BK, Chirico A, Di Lernia D, Mantovani F, Brain GA. Virtual reality: what do they have in common and how to exploit their potential. Annu Rev Cyberther Telemed. 2018;16:3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Riva G. Letter to the editor: virtual reality in the treatment of eating and weight disorders. Psychol Med. 2017;47(14):2567–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Gutierrez-Maldonado J, Wiederhold BK, Riva G. Future directions: how virtual reality can further improve the assessment and treatment of eating disorders and obesity. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016;19(2):148–53.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Riva G, Gutierrez-Maldonado J, Wiederhold BK. Virtual worlds versus real body: virtual reality meets eating and weight disorders. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016;19(2):63–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Rizzo AS, Lange B, Suma EA, Bolas M. Virtual reality and interactive digital game technology: new tools to address obesity and diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2011;5(2):256–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lyons EJ. Cultivating engagement and enjoyment in exergames using feedback, challenge, and rewards. Games Health J. 2015;4(1):12–8.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Csikszentmihalyi M. Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: HarperCollins; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Nakamura J, Csikszentmihalyi M. Flow theory and research. In: Lopez SJ, Snyder CR, editors. Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press; 2009. p. 195–206.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Botella C, Quero S, Banos RM, Perpina C, Garcia Palacios A, Riva G. Virtual reality and psychotherapy. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2004;99:37–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ryan RM, Mims V, Koestner R. Relation of reward contingency and interpersonal context to intrinsic motivation: a review and test using cognitive evaluation theory. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1983;45(4):736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Li BJ, Lwin MO, Jung Y. Wii, myself, and size: the influence of Proteus effect and stereotype threat on overweight Children’s exercise motivation and behavior in exergames. Games Health J. 2014;3(1):40–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Finkelstein S, Nickel A, Lipps Z, Barnes T, Wartell Z, Suma EA. Astrojumper: motivating exercise with an immersive virtual reality exergame. Presence Teleop Virt. 2011;20(1):78–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bolton J, Lambert M, Lirette D, Unsworth B. PaperDude: a virtual reality cycling exergame. In: CHI’14 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ACM; 2014. p. 475–8.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Farič N, Yorke E, Varnes L, Newby K, Potts HWW, Smith L, et al. Younger adolescents’ perceptions of physical activity, exergaming, and virtual reality: qualitative intervention study. JMIR Serious Games. 2019;7(2):e11960.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Farrow M, Lutteroth C, Rouse PC, Bilzon JLJ. Virtual-reality exergaming improves performance during high-intensity interval training. Eur J Sport Sci. 2019;19(6):719–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Macht M. How emotions affect eating: a five-way model. Appetite. 2008;50(1):1–11.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Jansen A. A learning model of binge eating: cue reactivity and cue exposure. Behav Res Ther. 1998;36(3):257–72.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Gorini A, Griez E, Petrova A, Riva G. Assessment of the emotional responses produced by exposure to real food, virtual food and photographs of food in patients affected by eating disorders. Ann Gen Psychiatr. 2010;9:30. Online: http://www.annals-general-psychiatry.com/content/9/1/.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Balzarotti S, Piccini L, Andreoni G, Ciceri R. “I Know That You Know How I Feel”: Behavioral and Physiological Signals Demonstrate Emotional Attunement While Interacting with a Computer Simulating Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 2014 38, 283–99.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Pla-Sanjuanelo J, Ferrer-Garcia M, Gutierrez-Maldonado J, Riva G, Andreu-Gracia A, Dakanalis A, et al. Identifying specific cues and contexts related to bingeing behavior for the development of effective virtual environments. Appetite. 2015;87:81–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Pla-Sanjuanelo J, Ferrer-García M, Vilalta-Abella F, Riva G, Dakanalis A, Ribas-Sabaté J, et al. Testing virtual reality-based cue-exposure software: which cue-elicited responses best discriminate between patients with eating disorders and healthy controls? Eat Weight Disord. 2019;24:757–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Gutierrez-Maldonado J, Ferrer-Garcia M, Dakanalis A, Riva G. Virtual reality: applications to eating disorders. In: Agras SW, Robinson A, editors. The Oxford handbook of eating disorders. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2017. p. 146–61.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Ferrer-Garcia M, Gutierrez-Maldonado J, Pla-Sanjuanelo J, Vilalta-Abella F, Riva G, Clerici M, et al. A randomised controlled comparison of second-level treatment approaches for treatment-resistant adults with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder: assessing the benefits of virtual reality cue exposure therapy. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2017;25(6):479–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Ferrer-Garcia M, Pla-Sanjuanelo J, Dakanalis A, Vilalta-Abella F, Riva G, Fernandez-Aranda F, et al. A randomized trial of virtual reality-based Cue exposure second-level therapy and cognitive behavior second-level therapy for bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder: outcome at six-month follow-up. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2019;22(1):60–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Manzoni GM, Pagnini F, Gorini A, Preziosa A, Castelnuovo G, Molinari E, et al. Can relaxation training reduce emotional eating in women with obesity? An exploratory study with 3 months of follow-up. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(8):1427–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Makinen M, Puukko-Viertomies LR, Lindberg N, Siimes MA, Aalberg V. Body dissatisfaction and body mass in girls and boys transitioning from early to mid-adolescence: additional role of self-esteem and eating habits. BMC Psychiatry. 2012;12:35.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Quick V, Wall M, Larson N, Haines J, Neumark-Sztainer D. Personal, behavioral and socio-environmental predictors of overweight incidence in young adults: 10-yr longitudinal findings. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013;10:37.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Puhl RM, Wall MM, Chen C, Bryn Austin S, Eisenberg ME, Neumark-Sztainer D. Experiences of weight teasing in adolescence and weight-related outcomes in adulthood: a 15-year longitudinal study. Prev Med. 2017;100:173–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Stice E, Presnell K, Shaw H, Rohde P. Psychological and behavioral risk factors for obesity onset in adolescent girls: a prospective study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2005;73(2):195–202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Fredrickson BL, Roberts T. Objectification theory: toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychol Women Q. 1997;21:173–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Calogero RM, Tantleff-Dunn S, Thompson JK. Self-objectification in women: causes, consequences, and counteractions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Dakanalis A, Di Mattei VE, Bagliacca EP, Prunas A, Sarno L, Riva G, et al. Disordered eating behaviors among Italian men: objectifying media and sexual orientation differences. Eat Disord. 2012;20(5):356–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Riva G, Waterworth JA, Murray D, editors. Interacting with presence: HCI and the sense of presence in computer-mediated environments. Berlin: De Gruyter Open; 2014. Online: www.presence-research.com.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Tiggemann M. Sociocultural perspectives on human appearance and body image. In: Cash TF, Smolak L, editors. Body image: a handbook of science, practice, and prevention. New York: Guilford; 2011. p. 12–9.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Riva G. Medical clinical uses of virtual worlds. In: Grimshaw M, editor. The Oxford handbook of virtuality. New York: Oxford University Press; 2014. p. 649–65.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Riva G. Out of my real body: cognitive neuroscience meets eating disorders. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014;8:236.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Dakanalis A, Riva G. Mass media, body image and eating disturbances: the underline mechanism through the lens of the objectification theory. In: Latzer J, Merrick J, Stein D, editors. Body image: gender differences, sociocultural influences and health implication. New York: Nova Science; 2013. p. 217–36.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Riva G, Dakanalis A. Altered processing and integration of multisensory bodily representations and signals in eating disorders: a possible path toward the understanding of their underlying causes. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:49.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Tsakiris M. The multisensory basis of the self: from body to identity to others. Q J Exp Psychol. 2017;70(4):597–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Talsma D. Predictive coding and multisensory integration: an attentional account of the multisensory mind. Front Integr Neurosci. 2015;9:19.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Riva G, Gaudio S. Locked to a wrong body: eating disorders as the outcome of a primary disturbance in multisensory body integration. Conscious Cogn. 2018;59:57–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Riva G. The neuroscience of body memory: from the self through the space to the others. Cortex. 2018;104:241–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Shriver LH, Dollar JM, Lawless M, Calkins SD, Keane SP, Shanahan L, et al. Longitudinal associations between emotion regulation and adiposity in late adolescence: indirect effects through eating behaviors. Nutrients. 2019;11(3):517.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Fink PW, Shultz SP, D’Hondt E, Lenoir M, Hills AP. Multifractal analysis differentiates postural sway in obese and nonobese children. Mot Control. 2019;23(2):262–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Gardner RM, Salaz V, Reyes B, Brake SJ. Sensitivity to proprioceptive feedback in obese subjects. Percept Mot Skills. 1983;57(3 Suppl):1111–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Simmons WK, DeVille DC. Interoceptive contributions to healthy eating and obesity. Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;17:106–12.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Scarpina F, Migliorati D, Marzullo P, Mauro A, Scacchi M, Costantini M. Altered multisensory temporal integration in obesity. Sci Rep. 2016;6:28382.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Paulus MP, Stein MB. Interoception in anxiety and depression. Brain Struct Funct. 2010;214(5–6):451–63.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Riva G. Neuroscience and eating disorders: the allocentric lock hypothesis. Med Hypotheses. 2012;78:254–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Riva G, Gaudio S, Dakanalis AI. I’m in a virtual body: a locked allocentric memory may impair the experience of the body in both obesity and anorexia nervosa. Eat Weight Disord. 2013;19(1):133–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Akhtar S, Justice LV, Loveday C, Conway MA. Switching memory perspective. Conscious Cogn. 2017;56(Supplement C):50–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Riva G. The key to unlocking the virtual body: virtual reality in the treatment of obesity and eating disorders. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2011;5(2):283–92.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Normand JM, Giannopoulos E, Spanlang B, Slater M. Multisensory stimulation can induce an illusion of larger belly size in immersive virtual reality. PLoS One. 2011;6(1):e16128.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  62. Gutiérrez-Maldonado J, Wiederhold BK, Riva G. Future directions: how virtual reality can further improve the assessment and treatment of eating disorders and obesity. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016;19:148–53.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Osimo SA, Pizarro R, Spanlang B, Slater M. Conversations between self and self as Sigmund Freud—a virtual body ownership paradigm for self-counselling. Sci Rep. 2015;5:13899.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  64. Butters JW, Cash TF. Cognitive-behavioral treatment of women’s body image satisfaction: a controlled outcome-study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1987;55:889–97.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Wooley SC, Wooley OW. Intensive out-patient and residential treatment for bulimia. In: Garner DM, Garfinkel PE, editors. Handbook of psychotherapy for anorexia and bulimia. New York: Guilford Press; 1985. p. 120–32.

    Google Scholar 

  66. Leuner H. Guided affective imagery: a method of intensive psychotherapy. Am J Psychother. 1969;23:4–21.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Cesa GL, Manzoni GM, Bacchetta M, Castelnuovo G, Conti S, Gaggioli A, et al. Virtual reality for enhancing the cognitive behavioral treatment of obesity with binge eating disorder: randomized controlled study with one-year follow-up. J Med Internet Res. 2013;15(6):e113.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  68. Manzoni GM, Cesa GL, Bacchetta M, Castelnuovo G, Conti S, Gaggioli A, et al. Virtual reality-enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy for morbid obesity: a randomized controlled study with 1 year follow-up. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016;19(2):134–40.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  69. Botvinick M, Cohen J. Rubber hands ‘feel’ touch that eyes see. Nature. 1998;391(6669):756.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Serino S, Pedroli E, Keizer A, Triberti S, Dakanalis A, Pallavicini F, et al. Virtual reality body swapping: a tool for modifying the allocentric memory of the body. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016;19(2):127–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Serino S, Scarpina F, Keizer A, Pedroli E, Dakanalis A, Castelnuovo G, et al. A novel technique for improving bodily experience in a non-operable super-super obesity case. Front Psychol. 2016;7:837.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  72. Preston C, Ehrsson HH. Illusory changes in body size modulate body satisfaction in a way that is related to non-clinical eating disorder psychopathology. PLoS One. 2014;9(1):e85773.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCSS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Riva

  2. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Riva, Clelia Malighetti, Alice Chirico & Daniele Di Lernia

  3. CESCOM, Università Milano—Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Fabrizia Mantovani

  4. Department of Medicine and Surgery, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Antonios Dakanalis

  5. Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Antonios Dakanalis

Authors
  1. Giuseppe Riva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Clelia Malighetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alice Chirico
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniele Di Lernia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Fabrizia Mantovani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Antonios Dakanalis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giuseppe Riva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rehabilitation Unit, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piancavallo, Verbania, Italy

    Paolo Capodaglio

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Riva, G., Malighetti, C., Chirico, A., Di Lernia, D., Mantovani, F., Dakanalis, A. (2020). Virtual Reality. In: Capodaglio, P. (eds) Rehabilitation interventions in the patient with obesity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32274-8_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32274-8_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-32273-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-32274-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation