A sequence versus a feedback loop
Static VR presents a predetermined experience. An adaptive system can change an experience in response to input or contextual information. That distinction concerns system behavior; it does not automatically prove that any adaptive product is better than any static one.
A child can still interact with a static game. Adaptation is a separate question: whether the system changes its response to the evolving context, rather than following the same rules or sequence for everyone.
What Immersive Smile investigated
The venipuncture study compared static VR with an intervention combining DQN-based adaptation and sensor-enabled tactile feedback. Its lower reported mean pain in the adaptive group belongs to that combined comparison.
It would be incorrect to assign the entire difference to AI alone or to claim the comparison proves superiority to every other pediatric VR system.
Questions for an evaluator
Ask what information changes the experience, what the system can change and how those changes are constrained. Confirm the product version and the relationship between it and the studied configuration.
For a hospital, a clear explanation of workflow and evidence is more useful than an animated AI dashboard. The experience must remain secondary to appropriate clinical care.