Creation of Interactive Virtual Environments for Exposure Therapy Through Game-Level Editors: Comparison and Tests on Presence and Anxiety

Abstract

Virtual reality and video games are becoming a part of everyday life. Computer games are provided with game-level editors (GLE), which allow the user to create customized virtual environments (VE). In a therapeutic framework, GLE's VEs combined with virtual reality have been used in many fields including psychotherapy. The present article comprises two studies. In the first study, criteria for selecting the most relevant GLE for the construction of interactive VEs are outlined. During the second study, the selected GLE was utilized to construct 9 distinct virtual situations in which a sample of 18 agoraphobics were immersed. Within each VE, the participants contended with their least feared situation and their most feared one. Questionnaires and physiological measures demonstrated increased levels of presence and anxiety within the feared VEs. There was a significant correlation between presence and anxiety. These data indicate that GLE's interactive worlds combined with VR offers a viable possibility to establish a therapeutic environment at an affordable cost.

Acknowledgments

We thank Yao Ying, Andy Maesen (Sigma), Jonathan Gaston, Eric Fassbender, Debbie Richards, Iwan Kartiko, Vickie Williams, John Porte, Meredith Taylor, Psyfalc, Dan Dombrowski, Carl Kenner, and Racer as well as the reviewers for their help and advices.

Notes

¹The RR interval is the time between two cardiac electric waves named R which occur as a result of the heart cyclic activity. This interval is required to calculate specific variables such as the HRV.