Combating phobias, psychotic disorders using virtual technology

TU Delft researcher Willem-Paul Brinkman has been using virtual technology to help people suffering from phobias and psychotic disorders. In the latest edition of Delft Outlook, TU Delft's science magazine, Brinkman shows how this method can provide solutions for such problems as fear of flying and, in the longer term, possibly also for social disorders.

Fear of flying
Brinkman is developing virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) which can be used to help people deal with their anxieties, such as fear of flying, fear of heights or claustrophobia or psychotic disorders, such as paranoia.

One of the first products to emerge from the Delft Mental Health Computing Lab was a vibrating aircraft seat.

TU Delft researchers have been working with other parties to develop a system to enable people with a fear of flying to experience the sounds and feel of flying via a virtual reality helmet and the vibrating seat as if they were really in the air.

This helps them to become exposed to the feared situation and so overcome their fear. The system is already being used intensively, explains Brinkman.

Virtual pub
Recently, Brinkman's work has concentrated on programmes like the virtual pub that are designed to help people with social problems. The idea is that reconstructing the social environment in a virtual world and exposing people to it will enable psychiatrists to study psychotic symptoms more effectively and ultimately provide better help to patients.