A woman says she has been cured of her fear of heights using new VR technology funded by Oxford VR, a spin-out from Oxford University. Fay Nugent, a 48-year-old malaria research project manager working at the university, heard about a clinical trial of the treatment programme, designed to help those suffering from acrophobia.
Having suffered from a fear of heights since trying out a tree-top walk on holiday, Nugent found her acrophobia began to interfere with her everyday life more and more, suffering panic attacks at concert venues and going out of her way to avoid the use of escalators.
Nugent took part in the initial trial but wasn’t placed in the treatment group. However, once the study concluded, she was offered the treatment herself and says her acrophobia is now cured.
The trial involved five or six 30-minute sessions over the course of two weeks. Participants completed tasks such as scaling tall structures, rescuing trapped cats from high ledges and even riding around on the nose of a flying whale.
70% of participants said they were cured of their fear of heights. Lead research Professor Daniel Freeman revealed that a pilot of the treatment programme will begin in the UK soon.
