Original story

Internet Now 20.11.2018

EU Medical Commission warns cyberhotels dangerous for heart patients

The European Union’s Medical Commission, meeting yesterday in Warsaw, has issued recommendations that persons with health risks should avoid using cyberhotels. A total of 52 people have died of heart attacks this year in cyberhotels in the EU area alone.

The general view of the medical profession is that the deaths resulted from extreme tension and heightened emotional and physical functions. According to the Commission, anyone falling into a medical risk group should under no circumstances visit a cyberhotel alone. They should also avoid absolutely all exciting or potentially oppressive cyberenvironments. A particularly dangerous new trend has emerged in the so-called “cybersuits”, as these are known to elevate emotional states to extremes, often beyond normal human tolerance levels.

Visits to cyberhotels have grown rapidly in recent months, particularly among older sections of the population, and many virtual office complexes have been converted into suites for cybertourists. Virtual travel in the home has acquired a major competitor from these cybertrips, even though as yet they are expensive and beyond the reach of most users.

The cyberhotels are all luxuriously appointed. All the walls and ceilings can be used to project 3-D moving images. In addition, artificial sensory and olfactory stimuli and the cybersuits and cyberrobes provided for guests heighten the impression of reality in a way that far outperforms the VR apparatus now widely available in households. Most cyberhotels provide guests with additional equipment on request, for example virtual helmets for underwater adventures or other experiscenarios, and in many cases parallel connections also allow cybertrippers to experience the doings of their partners. This has been the cause of several deaths, as older users have plugged in to a younger partner’s VR adventure and their bodies could not take the strain.

Airlines unruffled by cybertravel

At a meeting of IATA members in Oslo last week, international airlines and air alliances reported that as yet cybertravel has not cut into passenger levels. According to a spokesman for Eurasair, the price levels for the cyberhotels are still so forbidding that there is no shortage of people wanting to fly to vacation destinations. The company does not foresee that the new fad will bring about a collapse in air travel of the sort which hit business flying with the spread of videoconferencing.

In fact, most carriers have announced higher capacity percentages on many routes, and suggest that private travel is growing. The reason is thought to be the changing concepts regarding work and leisure time. Telecommuting and teleworking no longer tie individuals to set dates and set locations. Many now spend much of their time on the move, and get their work done whenever and wherever in the world they feel like doing it. IATA Chairman Logan O’Hare envisages optimistically that this trend will only gather momentum over the next few years.

Hannula I. & Linturi R. 1998: 100 Phenomena. Yritysmikrot Oy, Helsinki 1998. Copyright notices ISBN 952-9508-18-2

Toteuma-arvio 2026

Toteuma lyhyesti

  • Ilmiön toteuma: 3/5
  • Toteuma viiden vuoden tarkkuudella: kyllä; arviointi-ikkuna on 2013–2023
  • Toteuma väljemmällä aikahorisontilla: kyllä, mutta rajatusti
  • Ilmiön ydin: erittäin immersiivinen virtuaalikokemus voi kuormittaa kehoa ja aiheuttaa terveysriskin erityisesti haavoittuville käyttäjille.

VR voi aiheuttaa pahoinvointia, tasapainohäiriöitä, stressiä ja harvinaisissa tilanteissa muita oireita, minkä vuoksi laitteissa on terveysvaroituksia. Sydänkuolemista cyberhotelleissa tai ympärivuorokautisista elämysmatkoista ei ole tullut ilmiötä.

Johtopäätös: virtuaalitodellisuuden terveydellisen kuormituksen ydin toteutui, mutta vakavuus jäi ennakoitua pienemmäksi.