Take a Deep Breath. Virtual Reality and Real Anxiety

The fear of technology works as a sort of Leitmotiv in dystopian narratives, with many examples not only in movies, comics, and science fiction novels, but also in literature and philosophy. Among the technologies that feed dystopian visions of the future, a special role is played by virtual reality (VR), which we broadly identify with any set of devices providing immersive, multisensory, and multimodal experiences, by separating the user from “real reality” and absorbing her/him inside the representation. Is it possible, however, to conceive an alternative scenario, in which a different connection can be configured between VR and negative emotions? Leaving aside the imagery and narratives of the new medium, how does the “real” virtual reality concretely works nowadays? Our main goal in this chapter will be to overturn the anxiety of new technologies by taking into account the use of VR devices precisely in the medical treatment of anxiety. In this regard, two main paradigms of intervention will be outlined and discussed: the first one is grounded in the principle of exposure, it exploits the reproductive capacity of VR, and functions in a transitive way; the second one is grounded in the principle of isolation, it exploits the generative capacity of VR, and functions in an intransitive way.