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Cited by 139Virtual Reality Applications and ImpactsAugmented Reality ApplicationsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Mixing realities? An application of augmented reality for the treatment of cockroach phobia

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Botella, C.M., Juan, M.C., Baños, R.M., Alcañiz, M., Guillén, V., Rey, B.·2005·CyberPsychology & Behavior
DOI 10.1089/cpb.2005.8.162
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Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) refers to the introduction of virtual elements in the real world. That is, the person is seeing an image composed of a visualization of the real world, and a series of virtual elements that, at that same moment, are super-imposed on the real world. The most important aspect of AR is that the virtual elements supply to the person relevant and useful information that is not contained in the real world. AR has notable potential, and has already been used in diverse fields, such as medicine, the army, coaching, engineering, design, and robotics. Until now, AR has never been used in the scope of psychological treatment. Nevertheless, AR presents various advantages. Just like in the classical systems of virtual reality, it is possible to have total control over the virtual elements that are super-imposed on the real world, and how one interacts with those elements. AR could involve additional advantages; on one side it could be less expensive since it also uses the real world (this does not need to be modeled), and it could facilitate the feeling of presence (the sensation of being there), and reality judgment (the fact of judging the experience as real) of the person since the environment he or she is in, and what he or she is seeing is, in fact the "reality." In this paper, we present the data of the first case study in which AR has been used for the treatment of a specific phobia, cockroaches phobia. It addresses a system of AR that permits exposure to virtual cockroaches super-imposed on the real world. In order to carry out the exposure, the guidelines of Ost with respect to "one-session treatment" were followed. The results are promising. The participant demonstrated notable fear and avoidance in the behavioral avoidance test before the treatment, and not only was an important decrease in the scores of fear and avoidance observed after the treatment, but also the participant was capable of approaching, interacting, and killing live cockroaches immediately following the treatment. The results are maintained in a follow-up conducted 1 month after the termination of the treatment.

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  • The acceptance data obtained in this study are in line with previous studies on AR for specific phobia in adults and children, and with studies using VR.

    “The acceptance data obtained in this study are in line with previous studies in the literature about the use of AR for the treatment of specific phobia in adults [43] and children [84]; and with studies where the VR was used to treat this problem [24,37,85,86].”

    From In Vivo versus augmented reality exposure in the treatment of small animal phobia: A randomized controlled trial (2016) · cites this paper as [43]

  • The data from this study agree with previous studies by the research group using the same AR system for cockroach phobia, which obtained similar scores on BAT and secondary measures.

    “The results agree with those obtained in previous studies by our research group, where this AR system to apply the exposure component in cockroach phobia [43,50] obtained similar scores on both the primary outcome measure (BAT) and the secondary measures, such as the FSQ, FSQ, SBQ, MTB and CSS.”

    From In Vivo versus augmented reality exposure in the treatment of small animal phobia: A randomized controlled trial (2016) · cites this paper as [43]

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Authors
Botella, C. M., Juan, M. C., Baños, R. M., Alcañiz, M., Guillén, V., & Rey, B.
Affiliations
  • Universitat Jaume I (ES)
  • Universitat Politècnica de València (ES)
  • Universitat de València (ES)
  • Laboratorio de Imagen Médica Computerizada (MedICLab), Universidad Politécnica de València, València, Spain.
ORCID
Venue
CyberPsychology & Behavior
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2005-04
Volume
8
Issue
2
Pages
162-171
ISSN
  • 1094-9313 (ISSN-L)
  • 1557-8364
DOI
10.1089/cpb.2005.8.162
OpenAlex
W1985589859
Cited by
139
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 7
FWCI
5.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • CyberPsychology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Repository of Digital Objects for Teaching Research and Culture (University of Valencia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Augmented Reality Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
augmented reality, specific phobia, exposure therapy, virtual reality exposure, single-session intervention, fear and avoidance, maintenance of treatment effects, psychological intervention
MeSH terms
Adult, Animals, Behavior Therapy, Cockroaches, Computer Graphics, Computer Simulation, Desensitization, Psychologic, Female, Humans, Phobic Disorders, Therapy, Computer-Assisted, User-Computer Interface, Treatment Outcome

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