Comparison between Full Body Motion Recognition Camera Interaction and Hand Controllers Interaction used in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Acrophobia

Sensors

Dimitris Koutsouris¹  Giorgos Alevizopoulos²  Marilina Douloudi³  Anxhelino Mehmeti⁴  George Nikolaou⁴  Jacob Kritikos⁵  Giannis Tzannetos⁵  Chara Zoitaki⁵ 

[1] Oncological Hospital, 14564 Athens, Greece;;Agioi Anargyroi, General &Department of Biology, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece;Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece;School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece;

关键词: virtual reality;    cognitive behavioral therapy;    exposure therapy;    anxiety disorders;    specific phobias;    acrophobia;    motion tracking sensor;    motion recognition camera;    hand controllers;    presence;    immersion;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s20051244

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Virtual Reality has already been proven as a useful supplementary treatment tool for anxiety disorders. However, no specific technological importance has been given so far on how to apply Virtual Reality with a way that properly stimulates the phobic stimulus and provide the necessary means for lifelike experience. Thanks to technological advancements, there is now a variety of hardware that can help enhance stronger emotions generated by Virtual Reality systems. This study aims to evaluate the feeling of presence during different hardware setups of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, and, particularly how the user’s interaction with those setups can affects their sense of presence during the virtual simulation. An acrophobic virtual scenario is used as a case study by 20 phobic individuals and the Witmer−Singer presence questionnaire was used for presence evaluation by the users of the system. Statistical analysis on their answers revealed that the proposed full body Motion Recognition Cameras system generates a better feeling of presence compared to the Hand Controllers system. This is thanks to the Motion Recognition Cameras, which track and allow display of the user’s entire body within the virtual environment. Thus, the users are enabled to interact and confront the anxiety-provoking stimulus as in real world. Further studies are recommended, in which the proposed system could be used in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy trials with acrophobic patients and other anxiety disorders as well, since the proposed system can provide natural interaction in various simulated environments.

【 授权许可】

Unknown