https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wFBEaaNIjo
Samsung’s VR headsets help millennials conquer their fears. Via Agency Cheil Worldwide, they got 27 participants to undergo four weeks of VR training to overcome their fears before facing real life applications of their skills.
Fear of public speaking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWkrTrRC2t0
Acrophobia (Fear of heights):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4x35hIdMEs
Via adweek:
Samsung backs up its research—conducted using its own smartwatches to measure heart rates—with stats from the VR lab at the Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital in South Korea. In a study of 82 participants, doctors achieved a 90 percent success rate in reducing anxiety among those with fears of heights and public speaking. Over two weeks in the Samsung program, 87.5 percent of acrophobic subjects saw an average anxiety reduction of 23.6 percent, per tests that accounted for eye movement and self-assessment (along with heart rate). Subjects suffering from glossophobia saw an 18.7 percent reduction in anxiety levels. Those gains aren’t insignificant, but they might also help explain why some participants in the zipline stunt still look like they’re not feeling as good about the whole thing as Samsung might like.
Samsung isn’t the only company in this space. River, a San Francisco startup, has also released simulations via its company Psious to address phobias like flying and arachnophobia. By incrementally training people to confront their fears in a safe setting, they would be better equipped to face it in real life. So far the simulations aren’t entirely immersive, but studies have indicated that VR has been more effective at treating phobias than traditional methods like mental visualisation or photographs. Other applications of VR in this field include IraqWorld, which helps to treat PTSD, and SnowWorld, which helps burn victims manage their pain, and with technology only getting cheaper and more available, no doubt there’ll be more and more great uses in the future, even if the gaming or social part of VR never takes off.