Design and Implementation of Home-Based Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy System with a Virtual eCoach

Current developments of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) system focus mainly on systems that can be used in health clinics under the direct supervision of a therapist. Offering patients however the possibility to do this treatment at home would make VRET more accessible. In this paper we therefore present a home-based VRET system for the treatment of social anxiety disorder. The system includes 19 exposure scenarios as well as a virtual health agent that guides the patients to various steps of therapy and explains how the system can be used. The presented design and techniques may form the bases for future home-based VRET systems.