Adaptive Non-Immersive VR Environment for Eliciting Fear of Cockroaches: A Physiology-Driven Approach Combined with 3D-TV Exposure

Abstract

Non-immersive VR environments are related to the least interactive application of VR techniques, such that interaction with the VR environment can occur commonly by 3D-TV without full immersion into the environment. This study presents how 3D-TV exposure combined with physiology recording can elicit fear of cockroaches among individuals with different levels of fear. Thirty-six participants, set apart into three fear groups (low vs. moderate vs. high), were exposed to VR environment with cockroaches for 4 minutes while recording and using cardiac activity as input to the VR environment. Results revealed significant effects on self-report measures and heart rate between different fear groups. Moreover, participants with higher levels of fear were more likely to trigger cockroaches into the scenario due to their cardiac acceleration. Overall results suggest that our physiology-driven VR environment is valid for fear elicitation while having potential use in therapeutic domain.

Does caffeine matter for arousal? Affective and autonomic responses induced by caffeine in coffee intake: evidence from a double-blind tasting task

“…Two physiological indices, namely the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Pupillary Reactivity (PR) were examined in order to objectively assess the impact of caffeine intake on the autonomic system during the double-blind tasting task. The literature suggests HRV and PR to complement the limitation of the SAM because they reflect the state of autonomic nervous system (Carvalho & Rosa, 2020;Rosa et al, 2020).…”