A new smartphone app developed by researchers at the University of Basel uses
It is estimated that up to 5% of all people suffer fromarachnophobia - panic fear that appears at the sight of any spiders. People who are afraid of all spiders do not realize that their fear is often irrational. However, some experts believe that the fear of eight-legged creatures is evolutionarily ingrained in some people.
Exposure therapy is often used to treat such phobias. It is part of a family of psychotherapies known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
During the exposure, people spend their timeimagining - or observing in reality - something that causes them serious concern. The longer the exposure, the more the anxiety will subside. But there are some complications here. For example, not every therapist keeps a pair of giant tarantulas handy for exposure therapy.
In recent years, technological progress has madean easier and safer test of exposure therapy for many different phobias. In particular, exposure therapy in virtual reality (VR) has allowed clinicians to work with patients who are afraid of heights. But VR therapy is still expensive and is limited mainly to the environment where doctors can observe patients during sessions.
A new smartphone app calledPhobysintended for exhibitiontherapy for people suffering from arachnophobia. The app uses an augmented reality interface that is designed to project images of moving spiders onto a person's environment. The clinical trial, where scientists tested the effectiveness of the app, involved people who had a clinical or subclinical fear of spiders.
Multiple home use offlineA gamified smartphone-based AR demonstration app effectively reduced the level of panic anxiety among participants in the arachnophobia experiment.
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