An Explorative Study into a Tele-delivered Multi Patient Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy System

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology to support the treatment of patients with phobia, such as the fear of flying, is getting considerable research attention. VR treatment may provide substantial improvement in efficient use of therapist resources and accessibility by delivering the treatment over the internet, to multiple patients simultaneously. This motivated initial exploration into the possibilities of a multiple-patient Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment (VRET). With such a setup, one therapist can monitor and treat multiple patients simultaneously, each having their own personal VR treatment at their own personal location. The approach taken was (1) a scenario-based investigation with six therapists that had extensive experience in treating patients with VRET, and (2) a controlled lab experiment with 27 (students) participants to examine the effect of an automated assistance function on the therapists' workload and performance when treating three computer- simulated patients over the internet. The findings of both the scenario-based investigation and lab experiment are encouraging. They imply that a tele-delivered multi-patient VRET system might be possible in the future, thereby providing treatment at remote locations and making efficient use of therapist resources.