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VR app is intended to combat users' fear of heights

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Fear of heights is a major burden for 5% of people worldwide.

Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a virtual reality app that can help combat a fear of heights. The fear of heights therapy can be carried out at home using the app and VR glasses directly on the smartphone.


VR technology is just getting better and more popular


Apps are often used purely for entertainment, but it is forgotten that many apps can combat and alleviate real human problems. There is now an app for almost every problem, for example, to maintain the safety distance during the pandemic, or an app that enables people to communicate with their eyes. Virtual reality technology in particular could be used for extremely useful purposes in the next few years. VR glasses have been on the rise in recent years, and are becoming increasingly popular mainly for gaming. The University of Basel has proven that this technology can also be used in other ways with its app to help people fight the fear of heights.


Easy height uses VR glasses for fear of heights therapy

Fight altitude sickness using exposure therapy on your smartphone and VR glasses.


Overall, almost five percent worldwide suffer from a severe fear of heights and are often restricted by this. Often those affected prefer to live with this limitation, as exposure therapy is difficult for several reasons. Since you have to go to a certain height for this and this can lead to dangerous situations, this form of therapy is difficult to apply. The researchers led by Professor Dominique DE Quatrain from the University of Basel have developed Easy heights, a virtual reality app that can be used to combat altitude sickness conveniently with your smartphone at home. The app uses 360-degree images that are captured with the drone were included. The user gets on a virtual platform at a height of one meter and increases step by step.


Fear of heights decreases after just a few hours of therapy with the VR app


The scientists tested this app with real test persons and compared a group that had not completed any training with a group with a total of four hours of Easy heights training. Before and after the test phase, the test subjects had to climb a lookout tower in Zurich. It turned out that the people who had trained with the VR app made significantly greater progress in climbing the tower. The results, therefore, suggest that VR therapy can already show initial successes after a few hours and that these are similar to real exposure therapy. The app will soon be available for free in the app stores be available so that people with the fear of heights can treat themselves if they also have VR glasses. For people with an extremely pronounced fear of heights, however, the support of an expert is recommended.