MindWire
Phobias are a subcategory of anxiety disorders that entail fear of situations or specific objects. The object of fear can induce extreme symptoms of phobia in people such as shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, numbness, rapid heartbeat, and such. When it comes to traditional methods, Ex
2025-06-28 16:34:08 - Adil Khan
MindWire
Project Area of Specialization Augmented and Virtual RealityProject SummaryPhobias are a subcategory of anxiety disorders that entail fear of situations or specific objects. The object of fear can induce extreme symptoms of phobia in people such as shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, numbness, rapid heartbeat, and such.
When it comes to traditional methods, Exposure Therapy (ET) is a therapy technique used for the treatment of phobias. It entails exposing the person with a phobic disorder to the object of their fear in a controlled environment, but it can be extremely hard for the therapist to create safe scenarios for the client dealing with phobias such as height, insects, and social anxiety.
Virtual Reality has been utilized to enable exposure therapy by means of artificially created environments, namely Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET). In recent years, VRET has been used for the treatment of mental health illnesses and disorders including phobias. VR has served as a means to administer exposure therapy by use of headsets to immerse a person in an artificial environment containing their object of fear. It provides a life-like experience with the object that can stimulate fear but with considerably lesser risk.
The project deals with three phobias: entomophobia (fear of insects), acrophobia (fear of heights), and social phobia. The differentiating factor in this project is that the therapists are equipped with more control during treatment while keeping the comfort of clients in consideration. The design of the application is such that therapists are provided with an interface to control the environment of therapy (scenarios) and its intensity. The therapy is conducted in three stages with therapy becoming more intense with each increasing stage. The application facilitates notetaking for therapists during the session. The client enters the therapy session by use of the VR headset. The client can engage with their feared object or situation and move about in the scenario.
Our projects’ objective is to provide a platform to the therapist where the progress of the client is monitored and recorded on interaction with the scenario. Certain milestones have been set to motivate individuals in overcoming their phobia. In case the client feels overwhelmed during a session, an option for emergency aborting the session is provided. The vitals of the client are also monitored to ensure safety. A relaxation module is provided which comprises relaxing scenarios to induce a calming effect on the client. The therapist can view records of past sessions for each client and even view details about them. This project will be one of a kind in Pakistan and we aim to make it easy and available for therapists all over the county.
Project Objectives- Virtual reality has been used in artificially generated interfaces to enable exposure therapy, known as Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET). Our objective is to provide therapists a means to administer exposure therapy inexpensively and with reduced risk.
- Most people do not treat their phobias because of fear that they will be judged, or people make fun of them or even thinking about that particular situation resulting in panic disorder. We aim to enable clients to overcome their fears under the supervision and care of their trusted therapists in the safety of their offices.
- To introduce the administration of VRET in Pakistan for treatment of mental health illnesses/disorders.
Our project is divided into multiple stages while each scenario is consisted of maximum 3 different phases with varied intensity. The main objective of this project is to provide ease to therapists while giving them a cutting-edge solution for treating people dealing with phobias in a safe and secure environment.
In the first stage, the therapist will be required to create an ID for the client to make the whole environment more personalized for each and every person.
In the second stage the therapist will have an interface where he will be able to take notes while also view the progress of their client that could be maintained through different features.
The main stage of the project consists of a Virtual Reality environment that can be used to treat people with 3 different phobias initially.
The phobias included in this project are:
- Fear of Heights
- Fear of Insects
- Social Phobia
The virtual environment for each phobia will be divided into different phases, each one with different circumstances and intensity levels. These phases will be designed to deal with particular thoughts and feelings that arise when a person is experiencing their particular phobia.
Benefits of the ProjectTraditional exposure (vivo) therapy has shown remarkable results in treatment of numerous mental health illnesses including anxiety disorders and phobias. However, to overcome its limitations, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) has proved to be an effective alternative. Some of the benefits that an application for dealing with phobias through VR can provide are listed as follows.
- Vivo therapy can be expensive to arrange in terms of setting up an environment for treating a client. Recreating an environment each time for each client to interact with can be more expensive than investing in a VR headset and software at once.
- The risk of overwhelming a client by overstimulation can be reduced as it provides significantly more control over the objects and the environment in which the therapy is being conducted.
- It aids the therapists in conducting therapy sessions for clients from the comfort of their office spaces.
- For the clients, exposure to their feared object and situation in a gradual manner can aid them in training their minds to get accustomed and control their reactions.
This project will be based on a desktop application since it is easier to track and update records for the therapist through their desktops.
The setup of this desktop application will be available for download on the official website of the project along with other information I.e., how to use the application and the VR therapy feature in the project. Once downloaded, the application will have a free trial for 3 months which will also be used to gather research and testing facts and figures.
The main software that will be used in this project is Unity 3D which will be utilized to make VR scenarios while different SDKs will be used to create a user-friendly environment for the therapist. Firebase will be used to serve as a database for our desktop application. This application will be supported on Windows as well as MacOS.
A mobile application will be provided to the client where they can see their progress while also viewing their next appointment. This mobile application will be made using Android Studio while the website will be made using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap and PHP.
Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry HealthOther IndustriesCore Technology Augmented & Virtual RealityOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 80000 | |||
| Virtual Reality Headset | Equipment | 1 | 30000 | 30000 |
| Graphic Card DX 10 | Equipment | 1 | 30000 | 30000 |
| Power Supply | Equipment | 1 | 10000 | 10000 |
| Printing and publication overhead | Miscellaneous | 1 | 10000 | 10000 |