An Augmented Reality system for the treatment of phobia to small animals viewed via an optical see-through HMD. Comparison with a similar system viewed via a video see-through

This article presents an optical see-through (OST) Augmented Reality system for the treatment of phobia to small animals. The technical characteristics of the OST system are described, and a comparative study of the sense of presence and anxiety in a nonphobic population (24 participants) using the OST and an equivalent video see-though (VST) system is presented. The results indicate that if all participants are analyzed, the VST system induces greater sense of presence than the OST system. If the participants who had more fear are analyzed, the two systems induce a similar sense of presence. For the anxiety level, the two systems provoke similar and significant anxiety during the experiment. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Juan, M.; Calatrava, J. (2011). An Augmented Reality system for the treatment of phobia to small animals viewed via an optical see-through HMD. Comparison with a similar system viewed via a video see-through. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. 27(5):436-449. doi:10.1080/10447318.2011.552059S436449275Azuma, R. and Bishop, G. Improving static and dynamic registration in an optical see-through HMD. Proceedings of 21st Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive techniques (SIGGRAPH'94). pp.197–204.Bimber, O., & Raskar, R. (2005). Spatial Augmented Reality. doi:10.1201/b10624Botella, C., Quero, S., Banos, R. M., Garcia-Palacios, A., Breton-Lopez, J., Alcaniz, M., & Fabregat, S. (2008). Telepsychology and Self-Help: The Treatment of Phobias Using the Internet. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 659-664. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0012Botella, C. M., Juan, M. C., Baños, R. M., Alcañiz, M., Guillén, V., & Rey, B. (2005). Mixing Realities? An Application of Augmented Reality for the Treatment of Cockroach Phobia. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(2), 162-171. doi:10.1089/cpb.2005.8.162Carlin, A. S., Hoffman, H. G., & Weghorst, S. (1997). Virtual reality and tactile augmentation in the treatment of spider phobia: a case report. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(2), 153-158. doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00085-xGarcia-Palacios, A., Hoffman, H., Carlin, A., Furness, T. ., & Botella, C. (2002). Virtual reality in the treatment of spider phobia: a controlled study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(9), 983-993. doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00068-7Genc, Y., Tuceryan, M., & Navab, N. (s. f.). Practical solutions for calibration of optical see-through devices. Proceedings. International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality. doi:10.1109/ismar.2002.1115086Hoffman, H. G., Garcia-Palacios, A., Carlin, A., Furness III, T. A., & Botella-Arbona, C. (2003). Interfaces That Heal: Coupling Real and Virtual Objects to Treat Spider Phobia. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 16(2), 283-300. doi:10.1207/s15327590ijhc1602_08Juan, M. C., Alcaniz, M., Monserrat, C., Botella, C., Banos, R. M., & Guerrero, B. (2005). Using Augmented Reality to Treat Phobias. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 25(6), 31-37. doi:10.1109/mcg.2005.143Juan, M. C., Baños, R., Botella, C., Pérez, D., Alcaníiz, M., & Monserrat, C. (2006). An Augmented Reality System for the Treatment of Acrophobia: The Sense of Presence Using Immersive Photography. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(4), 393-402. doi:10.1162/pres.15.4.393Kato, H., & Billinghurst, M. (s. f.). Marker tracking and HMD calibration for a video-based augmented reality conferencing system. Proceedings 2nd IEEE and ACM International Workshop on Augmented Reality (IWAR’99). doi:10.1109/iwar.1999.803809Nash, E. B., Edwards, G. W., Thompson, J. A., & Barfield, W. (2000). A Review of Presence and Performance in Virtual Environments. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 12(1), 1-41. doi:10.1207/s15327590ijhc1201_1Owen, C. B., Ji Zhou, Tang, A., & Fan Xiao. (s. f.). Display-Relative Calibration for Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays. Third IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality. doi:10.1109/ismar.2004.28Özbek, C., Giesler, B. and Dillmann, R. Jedi training: Playful evaluation of head-mounted augmented reality display systems. SPIE Conference Medical Imaging. Vol. 5291, pp.454–463.Renaud, P., Bouchard, S., & Proulx, R. (2002). Behavioral avoidance dynamics in the presence of a virtual spider. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 6(3), 235-243. doi:10.1109/titb.2002.802381Schwald, B. and Laval, B. An Augmented Reality system for training and assistance to maintenance in the industrial context. International Conference in Central Europe on Computer Graphics, Visualization and Computer Vision. pp.425–432.Slater, M., Usoh, M., & Steed, A. (1994). Depth of Presence in Virtual Environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 3(2), 130-144. doi:10.1162/pres.1994.3.2.130Szymanski, J., & O’Donohue, W. (1995). Fear of Spiders Questionnaire. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 26(1), 31-34. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(94)00072-

The feasibility of an augment reality system to study the psychophysiological correlates of fear-related responses

Previous studies have successfully used augmented reality (AR) as an aid to exposure-based treatments for anxiety disorders. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of these studies have measured the physiological correlates of the fear response, relying solely on self-reports and behavioral avoidance tests.publishe

Improving the efficacy of exposure therapy using projection-based augmented reality for the treatment of cockroach phobia: a randomised clinical trial protocol

Introduction: In vivo exposure is the treatment of choice for specific phobia (SP), but this technique presents limitations related to access and acceptability. Augmented reality (AR) offers advantages like maximising strategies such as ‘variability’ (varying stimuli, durations, levels of intensity or the order of the items), control by the therapist, or ‘exposure to multiple contexts’, which can produce positive effects in terms of fear renewal and generalisation of the results. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of varying the phobic stimuli during treatment with AR: using multiple stimuli (MS) versus a single stimulus (SS) in participants with SP. Methods and analysis: Participants (N=80) with a diagnosis of an SP of cockroaches will be randomised into two conditions: (1) projection-based AR exposure therapy with MS (P-ARET MS); (2) P-ARET with an SS (P-ARET SS). The measures are related to the efficacy results (fear, avoidance and negative thoughts, performance on the behavioural avoidance test (BAT) and preferences). The primary outcome measure is the BAT, and the secondary outcome measures are the BAT through AR, Fear of Cockroaches Questionnaire, Cockroach Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire, Fear and Avoidance Scales Patient’s Improvement Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition. Five evaluation moments will be included: preintervention, postintervention, and 1-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-ups. The treatment will follow the guidelines of the ‘one-session treatment’. Student’s t-tests to compare the two groups on the post-test will be applied. In addition, two-way analysis of variances with repeated measures in one of the two factors (pretest, post-test and follow-ups) will be carried out to compare intragroup differences. Ethics and dissemination: The Universitat Jaume I Ethics Committee (Castellón, Spain) granted approval for the study (CD/64/2019). Dissemination will include publications and presentations at national and international conferences

Las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en el tratamiento de la fobia a animales pequeños en la infancia

Algunos de los miedos presentes en la infancia se mantienen y provocan un malestar significativo e interfieren en la vida diaria del niño, entre ellos las fobias específicas a los animales. Existen tratamientos bien establecidos basados en la exposición para este problema (Davis, May y Whiting, 2011). No obstante, uno de los problemas que presentan, es la no aceptación en muchos casos por parte de los pacientes, ya que los encuentran demasiado aversivos. Los avances en las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs) han permitido desarrollar nuevos procedimientos que se están aplicando con éxito en el tratamiento de fobias específicas en adultos. Sin embargo, existen escasas investigaciones sobre el empleo de las TICs en niños. El objetivo del presente trabajo es evaluar, en un estudio de N= 1, si el uso de imágenes, juegos de ordenador y realidad aumentada puede facilitar el tratamiento de la fobia a los animales pequeños y ayudar a preparar a los niños para que sean capaces de realizar la exposición en vivo al animal temido.Some of the fears present during childhood remain and cause significant distress and interfere in the child’s daily life, including specific animal phobias. Well-established treatments based on exposure are available for this problem (Davis, May, & Whiting, 2011). However, one of the main problems treatments face is the frequent rejection by patients because they consider them too aversive. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have managed to develop new procedures which are being implemented successfully in the treatment of specific phobias in adults. However, there is little research in the use of ICTs in children. The aim of this paper is to assess in a N= 1 study whether the use of images, computer games, and Augmented Reality can facilitate the treatment of fear to small animals and help to prepare the children to be able to conduct in vivo exposure to the feared animal

Advances in psychological treatments: the use of new Communication and Information Technologies

Los tratamientos psicológicos han logrado avances importantes en los últimos años. Desde la puesta en marcha del movimiento de la psicología basada en la evidencia disponemos de un buen número de protocolos de tratamiento que han demostrado ser eficaces y eficientes. En este sentido, merece subrayarse el papel desempeñado por las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs). Nuestro grupo de investigación ha desarrollado y validado una serie de aplicaciones basadas en TICs que se comentan es este trabajo. En concreto, técnicas de Realidad Virtual, Realidad Aumentada y aplicaciones de Telepsicología basadas en internet. También se analizan algunas de las ventajas y limitaciones de estos procedimientos frente a los tratamientos tradicionales y se presentan datos acerca del grado de satisfacción manifestado por pacientes que recibieron un programa de tratamiento basado en TICs y se comentan algunas perspectivas de trabajo futuras.The psychological treatments have advanced notably in the last years. Since the beginning of the psychology movement based on evidence we have already available a high number of treatment protocols that have proved to be effective and efficient. In this sense, it should be highlighted the role played by the new communication and information technologies (CITs). Our research group has developed and validated a series of applications based on CITs that are presented in this work. Specifically, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality techniques and Telepsychology applications based on the internet. The advantages that these new procedures have over the traditional treatments, as well as some limitations currently existent regarding the use of CITs are analysed. Finally, data about the level of satisfaction reported by patients who received a treatment program based on CITs are presented, and some future perspectives in the field are also analysed

A comparative study of the sense of presence and anxiety in an invisible marker versus a marker Augmented Reality system for the treatment of phobia towards small animals

Phobia towards small animals has been treated using exposure in vivo and virtual reality. Recently, augmented reality (AR) has also been presented as a suitable tool. The first AR system developed for this purpose used visible markers for tracking. In this first system, the presence of visible markers warns the user of the appearance of animals. To avoid this warning, this paper presents a second version in which the markers are invisible. First, the technical characteristics of a prototype are described. Second, a comparative study of the sense of presence and anxiety in a non-phobic population using the visible marker-tracking system and the invisible marker-tracking system is presented. Twenty-four participants used the two systems. The participants were asked to rate their anxiety level (from 0 to 10) at 8 different moments. Immediately after their experience, the participants were given the SUS questionnaire to assess their subjective sense of presence. The results indicate that the invisible marker-tracking system induces a similar or higher sense of presence than the visible marker-tracking system, and it also provokes a similar or higher level of anxiety in important steps for therapy. Moreover, 83.33% of the participants reported that they did not have the same sensations/surprise using the two systems, and they scored the advantage of using the invisible marker-tracking system (IMARS) at 5.19 +/- 2.25 (on a scale from 1 to 10). However, if only the group with higher fear levels is considered, 100% of the participants reported that they did not have the same sensations/surprise with the two systems, scoring the advantage of using IMARS at 6.38 +/- 1.60 (on a scale from 1 to 10). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Juan, M.; Joele, D. (2011). A comparative study of the sense of presence and anxiety in an invisible marker versus a marker Augmented Reality system for the treatment of phobia towards small animals. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 69(6):440-453. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2011.03.00244045369

Virtual Reality in Current and Future Psychiatry

Virtual reality technology is now being used in neuropsychological assessment and real-world applications of many psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, child psychiatric disorders, dementia, and substance related disorders. These applications are growing rapidly due to recent evolution in both hardware and software of virtual reality. In this paper, we review these current applications and discuss the future work of clinical, ethical, and technological aspects needed to refine and expand these applications to psychiatry.ope

Advances in psychological treatments: the use of new Communication and Information Technologies

Los tratamientos psicológicos han logrado avances importantes en los últimos años. Desde la puesta en marcha del movimiento de la psicología basada en la evidencia disponemos de un buen número de protocolos de tratamiento que han demostrado ser eficaces y eficientes. En este sentido, merece subrayarse el papel desempeñado por las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TICs). Nuestro grupo de investigación ha desarrollado y validado una serie de aplicaciones basadas en TICs que se comentan es este trabajo. En concreto, técnicas de Realidad Virtual, Realidad Aumentada y aplicaciones de Telepsicología basadas en internet. También se analizan algunas de las ventajas y limitaciones de estos procedimientos frente a los tratamientos tradicionales y se presentan datos acerca del grado de satisfacción manifestado por pacientes que recibieron un programa de tratamiento basado en TICs y se comentan algunas perspectivas de trabajo futuras.The psychological treatments have advanced notably in the last years. Since the beginning of the psychology movement based on evidence we have already available a high number of treatment protocols that have proved to be effective and efficient. In this sense, it should be highlighted the role played by the new communication and information technologies (CITs). Our research group has developed and validated a series of applications based on CITs that are presented in this work. Specifically, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality techniques and Telepsychology applications based on the internet. The advantages that these new procedures have over the traditional treatments, as well as some limitations currently existent regarding the use of CITs are analysed. Finally, data about the level of satisfaction reported by patients who received a treatment program based on CITs are presented, and some future perspectives in the field are also analysed

Effects of augmented reality exposure therapy combined with cognitive intervention on cat phobia

With the advancement of technology, augmented reality has started to appear as an option in exposure therapies. This article aims to examine the effect of ARET (augmented reality exposure therapy) in combination with cognitive intervention on cat phobia and to evaluate the clients' experiences with ARET. The study was conducted with explanatory sequential design with four participants (all women). The quantitative part of the study was conducted as a single case study. Participants were then interviewed to assess their experiences during and after ARET. Our findings suggest that ARET, used in combination with cognitive intervention, is effective in reducing cat phobia, with the exception of physical contact with a cat. ARET can also be used independently of cognitive intervention. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of ARET assessed by the clients are also discussed. It should be ensured that ARET is widely used in therapy as an important technique that has an advantage for both clients and therapists