Hunter Hoffman, Ph.D.

Dr. Hoffman  is the Director of the Virtual Reality Research Center at the Human Photonics Lab at the University of Washington Dept of Mechanical Engineering in Seattle and he is affiliate faculty in the University of Washington Depts of Radiology and UW Dept of Psychology

Since 1993, he has developed, Virtual Reality Monitoring World and SnoWorld, the first VR world designed for treating pain and VR DBT Mindfulness Skills learning World (in collaboration with Marsha M. Linehan et al).  In 1997, Hoffman and clinical researcher David Patterson originated the technique of using immersive virtual reality for pain distraction during painful medical procedures, at Harborview Burn Center in Seattle. Hoffman, Patterson, and Walter Meyer MD have recently conducted joint research using VR distraction to reduce pain in children with unusually large severe burn wound injuries at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston Texas. Hoffman is also collaborating with researchers at the University of Montreal, using VR distraction to reduce the pain of young children (average age 2 years old) during burn wound care.