The National Center for Telehealth and Technology Center (T2Health) on Joint Base Lewis-McChord is implementing technology to prove that virtual reality can have a positive effect on traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
T2Health has created many products, such as Internet networks and mobile applications, and has also built a Technology Advancement Center that includes huge interactive touch screens and a $2 million virtual reality center.

The center, located near the Madigan Healthcare System, contains usability labs that allow products being developed to be tested by Servicemembers and their families.

T2Health's mobile apps include the Tactical Breather, the PTSD coach, MoodTracker and the Prolonged Exposure application.

Along with application testing sites, the center also includes a virtual reality program that allows Soldiers to relive their traumatic events. The T2Health Virtual Reality Sphere (or Virtuosphere) simulates traumatic experiences a Soldier may have encountered during a deployment through virtual reality.

"We take them back to their experience and have them relive it, with hopes of easing the discomfort caused by their trauma," said T2Health's Dr. Don Workman. "By identifying the specific problem, we know exactly where to help."

The Virtuosphere isn't just visual either - it also contains a smell generator, audio sound transmissions and bayshakers to make the experience as realistic as possible.

"This remains the only place where spouses and children can go and virtually relive what most deployed Soldiers experience," said T2Health public affairs officer Joe Jimenez.

T2Health currently has five websites (including the popular MilitaryKidsConnect.org) and 10 mobile applications to help assist with postwar trauma.

A congressionally directed grant funds this Department of Defense program, which is currently the only one of its kind.
The center also contains movable units that could be placed near combat areas to help assist with stress and trauma while Soldiers are deployed.

"We are shifting from desktop devices to mobile devices," Jimenez said.  "We create our own networks and all of our mobile apps on location."

T2Health also has multiple Information Strategies, including Web and Mobile; social media channels; partnerships; news releases; programs and projects; presentations and briefings and media centers.

"This is the only behavioral health lab of its kind," Jimenez said. "We leverage care of TBI and psychological assistance through technology."

As technology constantly shifts, it's good to know that assistance for postwar trauma is also making a shift toward the future.