Exploring the Potential of the Web-Based Virtual World of Second Life to Improve Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes

Provides an overview of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, and summarizes discussions among addiction recovery experts about integrating virtual reality into behavioral treatment as a way to teach patients new responses to real environments

Interactive multiplatform software to mitigate arachnophobia through augmented reality

Abstract: Augmented Reality (RA) is a technology that mixes physical reality with virtual elements, resulting in mixed reality in real time. He is currently widely accepted for his ease of adaptation in human activities. Superimposing data and digital information in a real environment for educational, commercial, social, therapeutic, industrial, among others. The objective of this research is to develop an interactive software to mitigate arachnophobia by using the engine and graphic editor of Unity Games, focusing on augmented reality. In this project the agile scrum methodology was used. Because it is based on incremental development. Enabling application requirements and development to be flexible for patients and developers. Obtained as a result of a sample of 16 people, that 93.19% improved equal or greater than 50% in their level of anxiety and fear according to their score obtained in the test FSQ after using the proposed application. While 6.81% obtained a percentage lower than 50% because the use of the application was carried out in times less than 20 minutes per day, causing no significant changes

Virtual reality for anxiety and stress-related disorders: A SWOT analysis

Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy has emerged in the 90s as an appealing way of delivering exposure treatment. Throughout these years, ample evidence has been published. Although there is an agreed consensus regarding its efficacy, currently a quick shift in the field is being experienced, especially due to the advent of off-the-shelf technology that is greatly facilitating its dissemination. In this context, theoretical discussions of the field appear as an important action in order to take stock of the mounting evidence that has been produced and the main challenges for the coming future. To stimulate the discussion in a burgeoning field, a SWOT analysis is proposed, which may help to map the field of VR therapy for anxiety and stress-related disorders. Overall, it is undoubted that VR appears as a well-established technology for the treatment of ASRD and the main challenges are in line with the possibility of hurdling the same obstacles that the whole field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy has to deal with: How to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice

Users’ Opinion About a Virtual Reality System as an Adjunct to Psychological Treatment for Stress-Related Disorders: A Quantitative and Qualitative Mixed-Methods Study

This study aims to explore patients’ and therapists’ attitudes about the psychological treatment they received (patients) or applied (therapists). The treatments were standard CBT protocols for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complicated grief (CG), or adjustment disorders (ADs), depending on each patient diagnosis. The treatments were delivered following a traditional format or supported by a virtual reality (VR) system “EMMA’s WORLD” designed for the treatment of stress-related disorders. “EMMA’s WORLD” is a VR application in which patients can explore negative experiences using different virtual elements that can be customized to make them more meaningful to the user. The sample was composed of two groups: the “professionals” ( N = 10) were all clinical psychologists who applied the same psychological treatment in both the traditional format (“traditional condition”) and using the VR system (“ EMMA” condition). The second group consisted of a sample of patients ( N = 50) who met the criteria for at least one of three different diagnoses: PTSD ( N = 15), CG ( N = 15), or AD ( N = 20). 25 patients received treatment in the traditional format and 25 supported by the VR system. The patients were asked about their expectations (before treatment) and satisfaction (after treatment) with the treatment they received. All the therapists were asked their opinions about both treatment conditions. A mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative methodologies was used. In both conditions, high scores were observed, and the patient’s opinions were even better when they have already received the treatments. A more pronounced pre-test–post-test change in the EMMA therapy group than in the traditional group was observed. EMMA’s World was well- accepted by both patients and therapists, and it helped to foster motivation in patients, while helping the therapist to apply the treatment. Thus, VR can be useful as an adjunct tool to enhance the treatmen

The Relation of Presence and Virtual Reality Exposure for Treatment of Flying Phobia

A growing body of literature suggests that Virtual Reality is a successful tool for exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. Virtual Reality (VR) researchers posit the construct of presence, interpreting an artificial stimulus as if it were real, as the mechanism that enables anxiety to be felt during virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE). However, empirical studies on the relation between presence and anxiety in VRE have yielded mixed findings. The current study tested the following hypotheses 1) Presence is related to in session anxiety and treatment outcome; 2) Presence mediates the extent that pre-existing (pre-treatment) anxiety is experienced during exposure with VR; 3) Presence is positively related to the amount of phobic elements included within the virtual environment. Results supported presence as the mechanism by which anxiety is experienced in the virtual environment as well as a relation between presence and the phobic elements, but did not support a relation between presence and treatment outcom

Towards a Human-Centered Approach for VRET Systems: Case Study for Acrophobia

This paper presents a human-centered methodology for designing and developing Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) systems. By following the steps proposed by the methodology – Users analysis, Domain Analysis, Task Analysis and Representational Analysis, we developed a system for acrophobia therapy composed of 9 functional, interrelated modules which are responsible for patients, scenes, audio and graphics management, as well as with physiological monitoring and event triggering. The therapist visualizes in real time the patient’s biophysical signals and adapts the exposure scenario accordingly, as. he can lower or increase the level of exposure. There are 3 scenes in the game, depicting a ride by cable car, one by ski lift and a walk by foot in a mountain landscape. A reward system is implemented and emotion dimension ratings are collected at predefined points in the scenario. They will be stored and later used for constructing an automatic machine learning emotion recognition and exposure adaptation modul

Usabilidad y aceptabilidad del programa de tratamiento autoaplicado a través de Internet para la fobia a volar sin miedo Airlines: resultados de un estudio piloto

III Jornades d’Investigació per a l’Alumnat de la Facultat de Ciències de la Salu

The Use of Virtual Reality Facilitates Dialectical Behavior Therapy® “Observing Sounds and Visuals” Mindfulness Skills Training Exercises for a Latino Patient with Severe Burns: A Case Study

Sustaining a burn injury increases an individual’s risk of developing psychological problems such as generalized anxiety, negative emotions, depression, acute stress disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite the growing use of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy® (DBT®) by clinical psychologists, to date, there are no published studies using standard DBT® or DBT® skills learning for severe burn patients. The current study explored the feasibility and clinical potential of using Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training to reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions of a patient with severe burn injuries. The participant was a hospitalized (in house) 21-year-old Spanish speaking Latino male patient being treated for a large (>35% TBSA) severe flame burn injury. Methods: The patient looked into a pair of Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality goggles to perceive the computer-generated virtual reality illusion of floating down a river, with rocks, boulders, trees, mountains, and clouds, while listening to DBT® mindfulness training audios during 4 VR sessions over a 1 month period. Study measures were administered before and after each VR session. Results: As predicted, the patient reported increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions. The patient also accepted the VR mindfulness treatment technique. He reported the sessions helped him become more comfortable with his emotions and he wanted to keep using mindfulness after returning home. Conclusions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is an empirically validated treatment approach that has proved effective with non-burn patient populations for treating many of the psychological problems experienced by severe burn patients. The current case study explored for the first time, the use of immersive virtual reality enhanced DBT® mindfulness skills training with a burn patient. The patient reported reductions in negative emotions and increases in positive emotions, after VR DBT® mindfulness skills training. Immersive Virtual Reality is becoming widely available to mainstream consumers, and thus has the potential to make this treatment available to a much wider number of patient populations, including severe burn patients. Additional development, and controlled studies are needed