Yale University Uses VR to Study Teen Vaping Issues

Yale University recently announced that the Yale Center for Health & Learning Games' play4REAL lab has once again received a donation from Oculus Education, a subsidiary of Facebook, and they will focus on developing solutions to address teen vaping issues.

The play4REAL lab has been dedicated to creating VR content related to health prevention and behavioral interventions for adolescents. Lab director Kimberly Hieftje has collaborated with game developer PreviewLabs to launch a VR game called “smokeSCREEN VR.” This experience uses voice recognition software to provide users with real-time refusal practice, helping teens appropriately handle peer pressure. Hieftje stated, “Thanks to the generous support from Oculus Education, we are excited to continue this innovative frontier research.”

Yale University established the play4REAL lab in 2017 with a donation from Oculus, and the new round of funding will support researchers in conducting randomized controlled trials with 230 adolescents to test the effectiveness of VR interventions. Over the next six months, the lab will study whether “smokeSCREEN VR” can influence teens' attitudes, intentions, social norms, knowledge, and behaviors surrounding e-cigarettes. To assist with this research, Yale will add two full-time staff members and two student interns.

Additionally, the play4REAL lab will host a series of events next year to attract teens and community members to the lab for firsthand VR experiences.