Abstract

Small-animal phobias has been treated using in vivo exposure therapies (IVET) and virtual reality exposure therapies (VRET). Recently, augmented reality for exposure therapies (ARET) has also been presented and validated as a suitable tool. In this work we identified an ensemble of feedback factors that affect the user experience of patients using ARET systems for the treatment of small-animal phobias, and propose a taxonomy to characterize this kind of applications according to the feedback factors used in the application. Further, we present a customized version of the taxonomy by considering factors/attributes specific to the visual stimuli. To the best of our knowledge, no other work has identified nor provided an explicit classification or taxonomy of factors that affect the user experience of patients using this kind of systems for the treatment of small-animal phobias. Our final aim is to two-fold: (i) provide a tool for the design, classification and evaluation of this kind of systems, and (ii) inspire others to conduct further work on this topic.

Highlights

  • A specific phobia is defined as a persisting fear of an object, situation or activity that does not ordinarily justify fear [1]

  • Our objective is to identify some design factors that allow generating the presence of objects of fear in augmented reality for exposure therapies (ARET) systems

  • We are interested in (i) identifying feedback factors that affect the experience of use of ARET systems for the treatment of small-animal phobias, and (ii) defining a taxonomy to characterize this type of applications according to the type of feedback factors used, which can eventually support the design, classification and evaluation of this type of systems

Read more

Summary

Introduction

A specific phobia (or phobia) is defined as a persisting fear of an object, situation or activity that does not ordinarily justify fear [1]. The use of technology has allowed the search of less threatening and more practical alternatives to IVET, which has led to explore the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in exposure therapies With respect to their effectiveness, there are several studies that have shown that both VRET and ARET are effective as IVET for the treatment of specific phobias [9,10,11,12,13]. In this type of exposure therapy systems through VRET and ARET systems, stimuli are generated by means of virtual elements that are used to quantify and qualify the experience of use [14]. We are interested in (i) identifying feedback factors that affect the experience of use of ARET systems for the treatment of small-animal phobias, and (ii) defining a taxonomy to characterize this type of applications according to the type of feedback factors used, which can eventually support the design, classification and evaluation of this type of systems

Mixed Reality Technologies for Exposure Therapies
Method
Findings
Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy Systems for Small-Animal Phobias
Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.