NeuroVR is a new virtual reality application that can be used with an ordinary computer monitor or an immersive visual device. Award-winning open source software from Italian researchers Prof. G. Riva and Dr. Andrea Gaggioli, it’s now available as a free download.

Virtual reality therapy is most often used for anxiety treatments but has other applications including a communication interface for cyberpsychologists. Controlled trials and meta-analyses have shown encouraging results, especially with VR exposure therapy (VRE) for phobias. Other viable applications include exposure treatment for PTSD, and Experiential Cognitive Therapy (ECT) for eating disorders and accompanying body image distortions.

“The rationale behind VR use is very simple: in VR the patient is intentionally confronted with the feared stimuli while allowing the anxiety to attenuate. Because avoiding a dreaded situation reinforces all phobias, each exposure to it actually lessens the anxiety through the processes of habituation and extinction.”

Learn more about its clinical psychology applications, links to research references, view a brief demo video and more at the NeuroVR web site.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 3 Jul 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.