Virtual Reality world calms addicts & offers low-risk place to just say ’no’

Opioid addicts and others battling compulsion around drugs or alcohol are using a new high-tech, low-risk method to practice saying no—through virtual reality. Their virtual reality avatars, accompanied by Vanderbilt University clinical psychology graduate student Noah Robinson, walk into a virtual bar, turn down alcoholic drinks offered by a stranger, and ask for water instead. A different VR world allows them the drug-free relaxation of interacting with colorful, free-floating spheres while listening to u