Gabriel Fransisco | 2022-2023 HIVE Intern Showcase

Project: Virtual reality-based treatments for fear of spiders with or without control
Intern: Gabriel Fransisco
Supervisors: Dr Daniel Rudaizky, Prof Warren Mansell, Prof Peter McEvoy (Curtin School of Population Health), Wesley Lamont (Curtin HIVE)
Scholarship funded by: Curtin HIVE
Abstract: Spider fear is one of the most common human fears, but this can be mediated through exposure therapy. The process involves exposing the fear stimulus to the patient in a safe environment whilst being guided by a therapist.
This project is looking into the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality (VR) alternative of spider exposure using an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset. Characteristics of the spider and its distance away from the patients can be modified by the patients for different kinds of exposures within the simulation. Anxiety levels the patient is checked within the simulation. Distance between the patient and the spider is recorded during the simulation process and exported afterwards. This simulation could be used as a pre-exposure therapy session before using an actual spider as a fear stimulus and provides the opportunity to further the advancement of fear research by combining both qualitative and quantitative data within the analysis whilst streamlining a reproducible exposure therapy process.

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Now in its eighth year, the Curtin HIVE Summer Internship Program provides an opportunity for students to gain valuable research project experience in visualisation related topics. Interns are supervised by leading researchers and undertake challenging research projects utilising the resources and support provided by the HIVE. Supervisors, sponsors and industry benefit from the opportunity to explore new techniques and technologies for their research area.  For more information see https://www.hive.curtin.edu.au.