VR Flight Research Reveals New Insights on Fear Reduction
Participants in a recent study were divided into two groups: the Flight Group, which engaged in active virtual reality (VR) flight, and a Control Group, which observed a pre-recorded flight experience. The Flight Group was tasked with freely flying at low altitudes for seven minutes using VR controllers before facing a second plank challenge. Conversely, the Control Group passively viewed footage of the Flight Group’s flight experience.
Active Flight Experience Reduces Fear Responses
A research team led by Fujino Misako and Haruno Masahiko from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has found that actively engaging in VR flight enables individuals to believe they can safely manage a fall from a height, effectively diminishing their fear responses. This finding overturns the common belief that fear extinction necessitates repeated encounters with fear-triggering situations. The comparison between the two participant groups revealed that those in the Flight Group exhibited significantly lower physiological (measured through skin conductance response, SCR) and subjective (self-reported fear score, SFS) fear responses when navigating a virtual plank at a high altitude, compared to the Control Group. Notably, participants who expressed a stronger belief that “I can fly, so falling is not dangerous” experienced even greater reductions in fear. These findings imply that an “action-based prediction” approach may reduce fear responses without relying on continuous exposure to fear-inducing scenarios.
Challenging Traditional Views on Fear Extinction
Conventional wisdom posits that individuals can only extinguish fear through repeated exposure to frightening situations, gradually learning that these scenarios are safe. However, the researchers in this study suggest that the ability to predict a safe outcome through self-initiated actions, such as the belief that “I can fly even if I fall,” may also effectively mitigate fear. This research emphasizes the potential of VR experiences in fostering an active flight scenario to diminish both physiological and subjective fear responses.
Experimental Design and Measurements
Participants with a predisposition to acrophobia first engaged in a virtual body ownership task to acclimate themselves to their VR avatars before tackling a high-altitude plank-walking task set at approximately 300 meters above ground. The researchers measured fear responses using SCR electrodes placed on the participants’ fingers and gathered subjective fear assessments through an 11-point self-reported fear score. Following this, participants were randomly assigned to either the Flight Group, which actively flew for seven minutes at a low altitude to prevent height habituation, or the Control Group, which viewed a recording of the Flight Group’s flight.
Impact of Active Flight Experience on Fear Reduction
Analysis of the SCR data indicated that both groups demonstrated diminished fear responses during the Second Plank Task compared to the First. However, the Flight Group experienced a notably larger decrease in SCR compared to the Control Group. Similarly, subjective fear assessments indicated that while both groups reported reduced fear during the Second Plank Task, the Flight Group’s reduction was statistically more significant. These outcomes were consistent across both Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, underscoring the efficacy of low-altitude VR flight in lowering fear responses related to heights.
Exploring Long-term Applications of VR for Fear Reduction
To further validate their hypothesis, the researchers employed multivariate regression analysis on questionnaire results collected post-VR tasks. They discovered that participants’ belief that “falling would not be dangerous because they could fly” (termed the Safety Prediction Score) played a significant role in reducing SCR among the Flight Group. This study suggests that the anticipation of transitioning to a safe state through self-action may represent a novel method for fear extinction, distinct from traditional exposure-based approaches. Moving forward, the researchers aim to explore the long-term effects of VR flight experiences on fear responses in real-world scenarios for individuals suffering from acrophobia, assessing its potential as a viable treatment strategy.
