Evaluation of the psycho-oncological effectiveness of the bedside wellness system.

This article describes how a virtual forest walk system (a bedside Wellness system) is expected to help cancer patients to relax and become more positive emotionally. It is also expected that the beautiful scenery (with wind, scents, and sounds) will refresh patients and that the evoked changes in the natural world will relax them. We have demonstrated the possible uses of virtual reality (VR) technology in the care of patients' mental health; however, we still have to improve the VR technology itself and investigate how to utilize it most effectively. It is essential that VR technology may be able to construct virtual, but realistic, environments that patients can enjoy without being caused additional stress or fatigue. This type of medical VR system may be effective in improving the quality of life of not only cancer patients, but also of the elderly.