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People who had lived with fear of heights for decades became less scared by the virtual reality therapy that saw them climb a flying whale, researchers said Thursday.
A specialized team including psychologists and computer scientists They confirmed the acrophobes through a series of simulations of virtual reality, after which they all announced "a reduction of fear," they announced.
VR-based treatments concluded: With a virtual "coach" to guide people through treatment, the new method could offer an inexpensive way to provide care to people who can not afford or access to a therapist face-to-face. 19659002] The VR coach uses the recorded voice of an actor
The fear of heights, the most common phobia, affects one in five people at some point in their lives, according to researchers who published their findings in The Lancet Psychiatry
Most never receive treatment
For the last study, the team recruited 100 volunteers. Half received VR treatment and the other half not, to allow comparison.
This was the first VR phobia treatment that did not require the presence of a real-life therapist, the team said. be as imaginative, entertaining and easy to navigate as possible, "says study leader Daniel Freeman of Oxford University's Department of Psychiatry
Wearing glbades and tactile gloves on a Firm ground, patients move around the 3D world centered in the mbadive atrium of a ten-storey computerized office building.
The 30-minute prerecorded programming sessions ran automatically, with the virtual coach explaining what the participants had to do.
a rickety bridge, save a cat from a tree, perform tasks near the edge of a balcony, and ride a flying whale.
The result after several sessions exceeded the expectations of the researchers.
"More than three-quarters of participants receiving VR treatments showed at least a halving of their fear of heights," said Freeman.AFP
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