Assessing Presence in an Improved Exposure Therapy AR Application

The most common treatment for phobias is in vivo exposure therapy, which has a high success rate but also comes with certain limitations, such as limited control over the phobic elements, impracticality in a conventional office setting, and a notable rate of patient refusal. Technological alternatives like virtual or augmented reality can address these drawbacks. The objective is to present the validation results of an augmented reality application that enables the loading of various phobic elements and the creation of interactive scenarios in a flexible manner. This validation aims to assess the sense of presence and realism experienced by the users during the exposure therapy sessions.