Touching a 'spider' with virtual reality technology helps people come to terms with their fears.
Many people have a horror of spiders and would do anything to avoid encountering one. Traditionally, such phobias would be treated by getting the person to overcome their fear through gradual exposure to spiders. Or, they may be 'thrown in at the deep end' using so-called immersion therapy, where they would have to confront their fears in a dramatic way - by touching or holding a spider, for instance.

Researchers at the University of Washington's Human Interface Technology Lab now reveal that virtual reality (VR) is a powerful technology for overcoming spider phobia. In this approach, participants are confronted by computer-generated, and very realistic, spider images. A group of spider phobic students had VR therapy either with, or without the experience of touch. A control group had no therapy.

The touch group grabbed hold of an image of a fist-size Guyana bird-eating tarantula. The treatments were evaluated in real life by having the participants see how far they could approach a real tarantula. Those in the VR touch group got within six inches of the creature, compared to two and a half feet for those in the VR only group. Those who'd touched the VR spider also felt less anxiety in the presence of the real thing than those who had not.