Virtual Reality and Phobias

On this page you'll find an overview of the VR-systems that are now commercially available for treatment of phobias. It has been constructed through use of a web-based questionnaire and personal communications with developers. The main focus of this study has been to find out what different types of user interfaces have been used in these systems.

The following table contains mostly data obtained through a web-based questionnaire. Please note that VR-system setups are often flexible and that for the same system sometimes different input and output devices can be used than described here.

	Hanyang University	Virtually Better	VRHealth	Previ	DriVR	VRT-2002	CYBERmed
Website	bme.hanyang.ac.kr/vr/	www.virtuallybetter.com	www.vrhealth.com	www.previsl.com	www.driVR.com	science.kennesaw.edu/ ~mnorth/vrt1/vrt1.html	www.insight.co.at
Phobias (other disorders)	Acrophobia Fear of driving Fear of speaking Agoraphobia	Acrophobia Fear of flying Fear of speaking Agoraphobia Fear of thunderstorms (Virtual Vietnam)	Claustrophobia (Panic disorders) (Eating disorders)	Fear of Flying Claustrophobia (Eating disorders)	Fear of Driving	Acrophobia Fear of flying Agoraphobia (Obsessive Compulsive disorders) (Attention Deficit Disorders)	Fear of flying
Patient user interface
Display	HMD	HMD	HMD	HMD	HMD	HMD	HMD
Modalities	Sight Sound Vibration	Sight Sound Vibration	Sight Sound	Sight Sound	Sight Sound	Sight Sound Vibration	Sight Sound ?
Headtracking*	3DOF	6DOF	3DOF	3DOF	3DOF	6DOF	?
Other input devices	Tracked device Driving controls	Tracked device Driving controls	Joypad	Mouse	Driving controls	Tracked device	?
Therapist user interface
Display	Different display than patient	Different display than patient	Different display than patient	Different display than patient	Different display than patient	Different display than patient	Different display than patient
Viewpoint	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient	Same viewpoint as patient
Input devices	Keyboard Joystick Tracked device	Keyboard	Keyboard	Keyboard	Keyboard Joystick Tracked device WIMP (pre-VE)	Keyboard Joystick Tracked device WIMP (pre-VE)	?
Control**	Elements Pre-VE modifications	Elements Viewpoint Pre-VE modifications		Elements Viewpoint Pre-VE modifications	Pre-VE modifications	Elements Viewpoint Pre-VE modifications	?

* 3DOF indicates a tracker that only measures rotation, 6DOF indicates a tracker that also measures translation

** Control indicates the changes the therapist can make:
- Elements : the therapist can alter elements of the VE during the session
- Viewpoint : the therapist can change the viewpoint of the patient
- Pre-VE modifications : the therapy can make changes to the VE before the session

If you find that a system is missing or that the information described here is incorrect, please contact Charles van der Mast

Questionnaire results: VRET Systems