Hybrid AR-VR Transitional Exposure: Bridging the Reality Gap for Severe Phobias

Suso-Ribera et al. (2019) found in-vivo therapy outperformed VRET for patients with high baseline avoidance. This idea develops a transitional exposure framework: Patients start in VR (e.g., virtual crowds), progress to AR-overlaid real environments (e.g., virtual spiders on physical tables), and finally to in-vivo exposure. This challenges Arnfred et al.’s (2023) assumption that VR alone suffices, addressing Găină et al.’s (2024) call for accessibility by using smartphone-based AR. It could resolve the "efficacy plateau" in Hidayat et al.’s (2024) acrophobia study by leveraging reality’s tactile feedback.

References:

1. SAFEvR MentalVeRse.app: Development of a Free Immersive Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Acrophobia and Claustrophobia. M. Găină, Stefan-Vladimir Sbârcea, Bianca-Stefana Popa, Bogdan-Victor Stefanescu, Alexandra-Maria Găină, A. Szalontay, A. Boloș, Cristinel Ștefănescu (2024). Brain Science.
2. Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy as a Novel Approach to Acrophobia Treatment. Kardilah Rohmat Hidayat, A. Aminuddin, Abdulhafiz Nuhu Ahmad, Fiyas Mahananing Puri, Norhikmah, Agus Fatkhurohman (2024). 2024 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Electrical Engineering, Computer and Information Technology (ICEECIT).
3. Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and In Vivo Exposure Therapy: A Preliminary Comparison of Treatment Efficacy in Small Animal Phobia. C. Suso‐Ribera, Javier Fernández-Álvarez, A. García-Palacios, H. Hoffman, Juani Bretón-López, R. Baños, S. Quero, C. Botella (2019). Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
4. Scoping review of the hardware and software features of virtual reality exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobia. Benjamin Arnfred, Johanna Kvist Svendsen, Ali Adjourlu, Carsten Horthøj (2023). Frontiers in Virtual Reality.