Background and objectives

Virtual reality (VR) interventions are becoming more prevalent in treating fear of flying (FoF). Since multisensory stimulation can enhance the sense of presence in a virtual environment, the present study compared virtual reality exposure with and without vibrotactile cues to determine its contribution to the realism of the virtual experience.

Methods

A repeated measures design was used. Thirty-one participants were exposed to two experimental conditions with a minimum of a one-week interval between them: one in which participants were exposed to the virtual environment with vibrotactile cues (smart chair, SC), and another in which participants were exposed to the virtual environment without vibrotactile cues (ordinary chair, OC). The administration order of both conditions was counterbalanced to avoid possible order effects.

Results

Participants felt higher levels of sense of presence when using the SC than the OC. However, the addition of vibrotactile stimulation partially influenced experienced anxiety. Some personality traits were also associated with participants’ sense of presence and anxiety responses during the exposure.

Limitations

The sample size was smaller than required. Moreover, only self-reported measures were used. Finally, a roller coaster instead of an airplane scenario was used for the exposure, which might not have been suitable enough for provoking anxiety in participants with FoF.

Conclusions

Vibrotactile cues enhanced the sense of presence. However, the addition of vibrotactile stimulation did not have a consistent effect on anxiety experienced during exposure. Therefore, the benefits of incorporating vibrotactile cues in virtual reality environments for exposure therapy are not clear.

中文翻译：

---

虚拟现实暴露与振动触觉刺激治疗飞行恐惧：一项试点研究

背景和目标

虚拟现实 (VR) 干预措施在治疗飞行恐惧 (FoF) 方面变得越来越普遍。由于多感官刺激可以增强虚拟环境中的临场感，因此本研究比较了有或没有振动触觉线索的虚拟现实暴露，以确定其对虚拟体验的真实感的贡献。

方法

使用重复测量设计。31 名参与者接受了两种实验条件，实验条件之间至少间隔一周：一种是参与者接触到带有振动触觉提示的虚拟环境（智能椅子，SC），另一种是参与者接触到没有振动触觉提示的虚拟环境（普通椅子，OC）。平衡这两种条件的管理顺序以避免可能的顺序影响。

结果

参与者在使用 SC 时比使用 OC 时感受到更高水平的存在感。然而，振动触觉刺激的增加部分影响了焦虑体验。一些人格特征也与参与者在暴露期间的存在感和焦虑反应有关。

局限性

样本量小于要求。此外，仅使用自我报告的措施。最后，使用过山车而不是飞机场景进行暴露，这可能不足以引起 FoF 参与者的焦虑。

结论

振动触觉提示增强了存在感。然而，添加振动触觉刺激对于暴露期间的焦虑并没有产生一致的效果。因此，在虚拟现实环境中结合振动触觉线索进行暴露疗法的好处尚不清楚。