The principal aim to this chapter is to present the latest ideas in virtual reality (VR), some of which have already been applied to the field of anxiety disorders, and others are still pending to be materialized. More than 20 years ago, VR emerged as an exposure tool in order to provide patients and therapists with more appealing ways of delivering a technique that was undoubtedly effective but also rejected and thus underused. Throughout these years, many improvements were achieved. The first section of the chapter describes those improvements, both considering the research progresses and the applications in the real world. In a second part, our main interest is to expand the discussion of the new applications of VR beyond its already known role as an exposure tool. In particular, VR is enabling the materialization of numerous ideas that were previously confined to a merely philosophical discussion in the field of cognitive sciences. That is, VR has the enormous potential of providing feasible ways to explore nonclassical ways of cognition, such as embodied and situated information processing. Despite the fact that many of these developments are not fully developed, and not specifically designed for anxiety disorders, we want to introduce these new ideas in a context in which VR is experiencing an enormous transformation.

Fernandez Kirszman, J., Di Lernia, D., Riva, G., Virtual Reality for Anxiety Disorders: Rethinking a Field in Expansion, in Yong-Ku Ki, Y. K. (ed.), Anxiety Disorders, Springer, Singapore 2020: <<ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY>>, 1191 389- 414. 10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_21 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/147911]

Virtual Reality for Anxiety Disorders: Rethinking a Field in Expansion

Fernandez Kirszman, Javier
;
Di Lernia, Daniele;Riva, Giuseppe
2020

Abstract

The principal aim to this chapter is to present the latest ideas in virtual reality (VR), some of which have already been applied to the field of anxiety disorders, and others are still pending to be materialized. More than 20 years ago, VR emerged as an exposure tool in order to provide patients and therapists with more appealing ways of delivering a technique that was undoubtedly effective but also rejected and thus underused. Throughout these years, many improvements were achieved. The first section of the chapter describes those improvements, both considering the research progresses and the applications in the real world. In a second part, our main interest is to expand the discussion of the new applications of VR beyond its already known role as an exposure tool. In particular, VR is enabling the materialization of numerous ideas that were previously confined to a merely philosophical discussion in the field of cognitive sciences. That is, VR has the enormous potential of providing feasible ways to explore nonclassical ways of cognition, such as embodied and situated information processing. Despite the fact that many of these developments are not fully developed, and not specifically designed for anxiety disorders, we want to introduce these new ideas in a context in which VR is experiencing an enormous transformation.
2020
Inglese
Anxiety Disorders
978-981-32-9705-0
Springer
1191
Fernandez Kirszman, J., Di Lernia, D., Riva, G., Virtual Reality for Anxiety Disorders: Rethinking a Field in Expansion, in Yong-Ku Ki, Y. K. (ed.), Anxiety Disorders, Springer, Singapore 2020: <<ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY>>, 1191 389- 414. 10.1007/978-981-32-9705-0_21 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/147911]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/147911
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