Smoking Cessation by Virtual Reality - A VR Integrated App Concept

This study aims to reduce smoking among university students by developing a proof-of-concept intervention design utilizing the virtual reality (VR) with a smartphone application (App). The target audience for this study is university students between the ages of 18 and 24 from the German Jordanian University (GJU). The VR-integrated App concept combines psychology and technology. The App was programmed, on Flutter platform by Google, using Dart, a client-optimized language for creating quick Apps, with 5 different screens, including one that transfers the user from the App to a VR video, which has been linked to the VR headset "Meta Quest 2". Next, the students were instructed to experience the concept. Utilizing the BOYA-M1 microphone to capture a meditation script for a VR video, epitomizes the meditation session designed to mitigate smoking cravings. The VR-integrated App used in this study encouraged the students to exercise breathing, walking, drinking water and/or chewing gum as mitigation techniques. It showed that around 64% of college students were intending to quit smoking before using VR technology and raised to around 82% after using VR technology. Hence, the improvement of the VR technologies that are integrated within the App in smoking cessation was about 28%. This study suggests that virtual reality could be a useful in tackling smoking addiction and hence enhancing public health.