3D-VVRET: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Study

Sponsor

University of Texas at Austin (Other)

Overall Status

Unknown status

CT.gov ID

NCT02584387

Collaborator

(none)

Enrollment

Location

Arms

Duration (Months)

1.1

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This study seeks to examine a Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) using the 3D Video Virtual Reality (VR) technology for the fear of spiders.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Acrophobia Arachnophobia	Behavioral: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy	N/A

Detailed Description

An estimated 10-11% of the US population experiences a specific phobia at some point in their lives (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Magee et al., 1996). About 60-85% of those individuals with a specific phobia never seek treatment (Agras, Sylvester, & Oliveau, 1969; Boyd et al., 1990; Magee et al., 1996). Clinical psychologist can help improve the number of phobia sufferers to seek treatment. Advances in technology are helping clinicians create novel treatment strategies for different anxiety disorders. Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) may help these individuals confront their fears and treat their phobia.

While virtual reality exposure therapy has shown promise in research (Powers & Emmelkamp, 2008), studies have shown that many users complain that the computer generated virtual reality (VR) stimuli looks unrealistic, eccentric and too much like a video game (Kwon, Powell, & Chalmers, 2013). Virtual reality environments have been traditionally created by programmers using video game assets and computer generated imagery (CGI). While CGI can be used to make intricate virtual environments, unless there is a team of expert digital artists, the virtual stimulus may end up looking rudimentary and exhibit a number of graphical glitches which could prove distracting in therapy. Furthermore CGI often suffers from the uncanny valley effect: the tendency of CGI representations of people to be viewed as unsettling as the representations become more lifelike. In addition the many current CGI virtual reality packages are expensive and only available for limited number of fear domains. Recently however an exciting alternative to traditional computer generated virtual reality has emerged: ortho-stereoscopic 3D Video VR. Ortho-stereoscopic 3D refers to 3D videos that are designed to mimic the natural depth we normally see, as opposed to exaggerating it (i.e. Commercial 3D movies). The benefit of 3D VR as opposed to CGI VR is that it is photo realistic, does not suffer from a uncanny valley effect of CGI, and is able to capture nuances of real life fears that are hard to reproduce with CGI.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Anticipated Enrollment :

40 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

Single (Outcomes Assessor)

Primary Purpose:

Treatment

Official Title:

3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (3D-VVRET) Study

Study Start Date :

Sep 1, 2016

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Sep 1, 2019

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Sep 1, 2019

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: 3D VVRET Behavioral: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VVRET) 1 30 minute 3D VRET treatment session for arachnophobia.	Behavioral: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy The 3D video exposure therapy treatment will be administered using an oculus rift virtual reality headset. The oculus rift is a new, affordable virtual reality headset, which uses two different spherical lenses to induce a sense of stereoscopic 3D. Ortho-stereoscopic 3D refers to 3D videos that are designed to mimic the natural depth we normally see, as opposed to exaggerating it (i.e. Commercial 3D movies). To create these 3D videos, the UT 3D Department shot videos of live spiders using a stereoscopic 3D dual camera rig, which simultaneously shoots footage with two cameras positioned apart from each other in a way that mimics the natural pupillary distance between our right and left eyes. To create a sense of 3D depth, the footage of the right and left cameras is then projected on the two different lenses of the oculus rift, creating a sense of depth to the viewer through retinal disparity.
No Intervention: Waitlist Participants randomized to the waitlist group will complete all study procedures except the 3D VVRET. After the conclusion of their sessions, these participants will be offered the full 3D-VVRET treatment.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: 3D VVRET

Behavioral: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VVRET) 1 30 minute 3D VRET treatment session for arachnophobia.

Behavioral: 3D Video Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

The 3D video exposure therapy treatment will be administered using an oculus rift virtual reality headset. The oculus rift is a new, affordable virtual reality headset, which uses two different spherical lenses to induce a sense of stereoscopic 3D. Ortho-stereoscopic 3D refers to 3D videos that are designed to mimic the natural depth we normally see, as opposed to exaggerating it (i.e. Commercial 3D movies). To create these 3D videos, the UT 3D Department shot videos of live spiders using a stereoscopic 3D dual camera rig, which simultaneously shoots footage with two cameras positioned apart from each other in a way that mimics the natural pupillary distance between our right and left eyes. To create a sense of 3D depth, the footage of the right and left cameras is then projected on the two different lenses of the oculus rift, creating a sense of depth to the viewer through retinal disparity.

No Intervention: Waitlist

Participants randomized to the waitlist group will complete all study procedures except the 3D VVRET. After the conclusion of their sessions, these participants will be offered the full 3D-VVRET treatment.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Fear of Spiders Questionnaire [Pre-treatment and 1 week follow-up]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Behavioral Approach Test [Pre-treatment and Post-treatment]
Acceptance and Action Questionnaire [Pre-treatment]
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [Pre-treatment]
Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3) [Pre-treatment]
Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) [Pre-treatment]
Disgust Emotion Scale [Pre-treatment]
Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale (DPSS-R) [Pre-treatment]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years to 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

• Between the ages of 18 and 65
At least one standard deviation above the SONA pool mean on Fear of Spiders Questionnaire or Acrophobia Questionnaire.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Hearing or visually impaired where they cannot use the VRET gear
Currently (or in the last 3 months) receiving exposure-based treatment for acrophobia or arachnophobia

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	The University of Texas at Austin	Austin	Texas	United States	78712

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of Texas at Austin

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

Mark B. Powers, Research Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT02584387

Other Study ID Numbers:

2015-08-0008

First Posted:

Oct 22, 2015

Last Update Posted:

Oct 26, 2017

Last Verified:

Oct 1, 2017

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Oct 26, 2017