CognifiSense, Inc
VR for pain relief and therapy—pain visualization experiences and comfort improvements for a distraction-therapy app.
Designed and developed interactive virtual reality applications for pain management in clinical trials using Unity3D, C#, JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS and VR hardware to create immersive distraction and visualization therapies.
Overview
CognifiSense is a Silicon Valley health startup using VR for pain relief and therapy. As one of two VR developers/designers, I worked directly with clients to simulate and illustrate chronic and acute pain experiences in VRNT. I also helped reduce motion sickness in an existing distraction-therapy app called Bananaland.
Challenge
Healthcare VR demands a comfort-first bar: users may be older adults or unfamiliar with controllers, and motion sickness can undermine therapeutic value.
We also needed to represent pain in a way that was understandable and respectful, without becoming overly abstract or confusing.
Approach
- Start with real client stories and needs, then translate into VR representations.
- Design for clarity and comfort over novelty.
- Keep UI simple and accessible for low gaming literacy.
Process
- Collaborated with clients to understand pain experiences and design VR simulations accordingly.
- Designed UI flows and mockups optimized for clarity.
- Tuned interaction and comfort to reduce motion sickness, including improvements to Bananaland.
- Contributed to the company website using HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
Outcome
Delivered therapeutic VR work that prioritized accessibility and comfort, while improving an existing app’s motion sickness profile—supporting VR as a practical tool in healthcare contexts.