PMID: 11317771Apr 25, 2001Paper

An experiment on fear of public speaking in virtual reality

Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
David-Paul PertaubChris Barker

Abstract

Can virtual reality exposure therapy be used to treat people with social phobia? To answer this question it is vital to known if people will respond to virtual humans (avatars) in a virtual social setting in the same way they would to real humans. If someone is extremely anxious with real people, will they also be anxious when faced with simulated people, despite knowing that the avatars are computer generated? In [17] we described a small pilot study that placed 10 people before a virtual audience. The purpose was to assess the extent to which social anxiety, specifically fear of public speaking, was induced by the virtual audience and the extent of influence of degree of immersion (head mounted display or desktop monitor. The current paper describes a follow up study conducted with 40 subjects and the results clearly show that not only is social anxiety induced by the audience, but the degree of anxiety experienced is directly related to the type of virtual audience feedback the speaker receives. In particular, a hostile negative audience scenario was found to generate strong affect in speakers, regardless of whether or not they normally suffered from fear of public speaking.

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anxiety Disorders

Discover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.

Related Papers

Cyberpsychology & Behavior : the Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society
Laura K JamesMel Slater
Cyberpsychology & Behavior : the Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society
Mel SlaterDavid M Clark
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved