Using Augmented Reality To Treat Cockroach Phobia

RichDiesal writes "In this blog post, I describe a new use for augmented reality — treating people for cockroach phobia. A recent paper in the academic journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking discusses a system where people suffering from cockroach phobia sit at a desk with a virtual reality headset. The headset has a camera on the front so that patients see the desk they're sitting at — but covered in cockroaches. In the study, researchers managed to elicit a fear response to virtual cockroaches similar to what would be experienced with real cockroaches. Sounds like a little slice of hell to me."

Comments

Re:It does work

[JanneM]

Though remember that phobia is pretty much defined as an inappropriately strong aversion to something. It is not rational - when fear is rational it's not a phobia. So a phobia is a disorder; the question is just whether it is debilitating enough (or at all) that it warrants any kind of treatment. And that depends on your own lifestyle as much as on the strength of the phobia. A snake phobia, for instance, is likely no problem if you live and work in a northern city. If you work as a tropical-zone farmer on the other hand, it may well debilitate you.

Re:There are better, quicker ways to phobia relief

[Anonymous Coward]

Semmelweis did have evidence.

Semmelweis had evidence and you didn't, so your comparison is no good.
HAND