Enhancing Tinnitus Management through a Virtual Reality Multimedia Application

This study assessed usability, acceptability and usefulness of a virtual reality (VR) system in tinnitus management, and explored short-term effects of audio-visual masking on tinnitus severity, and user preferences for virtual environments (VEs).17 participants with chronic tinnitus were immersed in 3 VEs (blank, beach, and forest environments). In each environment, participants completed tinnitus severity scales before, during, and after binaurally spatialised masking noise activation, emanating from a virtual radio that could be fixed in position in relation to the head. Usability and tinnitus severity measures were recorded in each environment and after completing all VEs.Tinnitus severity decreased significantly during masking noise activation for all VEs. Benefit appeared to accumulate, with each subsequent VE producing further decreases in severity. Participants found the technology easy to use, relaxing, useful, novel, and enjoyable. A System Usability Scale score of 72.3 indicated a good usability rating. All participants reported that the ability to move and fix the position of the virtual radio in relation to the head was useful for tinnitus management.Usability and acceptability of our VR system was high amongst participants and all believed it may be useful in future tinnitus management. Only short-term benefits were examined, but results demonstrate that further development and research into long-term benefits of the system are worth exploring.