Police Find Insane Use For Virtual Reality Headsets

Reading next month's woodmeat edition of Wired is a hallucinatory experience: literally so, thanks to a police training device designed to provide officers with a look at the world through a psychotic's eyes.

The scenarios are goofy, but the goggles,* they work*!

"In one, you're riding a bus in which other riders appear and disappear, birds of prey claw at the windows, and voices hiss, "He's taking you back to the FBI!" The other features a trip to the drugstore, where the pharmacist seems to be handing you poison instead of pills, and hostile customers stare at you in disgust."

Created by Janssen, L.P., it's hoped the device will aid the authorities in understanding how best to deal with subjects suffering from certain mental illnesses. It's an interesting application, but it's hard to shake the idea that there was a warehouse full of forlorn VR helmets somewhere that needed to be sold, any way, any how.

Virtual Hallucinating Device Drives Police Insane for a Day [Wired Magazine]