This AR App Can Heal Your Arachnophobia

Check out Phobys – a science-based augmented reality app to reduce the fear of spiders.

Researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland have introduced Phobys, an AR app that aims to deliver exposure therapy to the arachnophobes and help them combat the fear of spiders. To test the effectiveness of the treatment in real-life situations, the University of Basel conducted a randomized, controlled study. All the subjects either completed at-home training with Phobys (6 times for 30 minutes) or were assigned to a control group. Before and after treatment, the study participants approached a real spider in a sealed box as far as their fear allowed. The group that did the training with Phobys exhibited less fear and disgust in the real-life spider situation and were able to go closer to the spider in the box and even open the box.

Phobys consists of 10 levels with different tasks of exposure and interaction with a realistic 3D AR spider model or interact with it. The training starts really easy by just looking at a spider from the distance and then gradually increases in difficulty and intensity of the exposure. Start with the lowest level and work your way up, step by step.

You can get Phobys for Android here and for iOS here. Also, don't forget to join our new Reddit pageour new Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we are sharing breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

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