Virtual whale ride helps ease fear of heights: study

People who had lived with a fear of heights for decades became less afraid after virtual reality (VR) therapy that saw them riding a flying whale, researchers said Thursday.

A specialized team put confirmed acrophobes through their paces in a series of life-like VR simulations, after which all reported “a reduction in fear,” they announced.

VR-based treatments, the team concluded, “have the potential to greatly increase treatment provision for mental health disorders.”

With a virtual “coach” to guide people through treatment, the new method could offer a low-cost way of providing care to people who cannot afford or access a face-to-face therapist.

Fear of heights, the most common phobia, affects one in five people at some point of their lives, according to researchers who published their findings in The Lancet Psychiatry medical journal.

Wearing goggles and tactile gloves while standing safely on firm ground, patients moved around a 3-D world centered in the massive atrium of a computerized, 10-story office building.

Tasks included having to cross a rickety bridge, rescue a cat from a tree, perform tasks near the edge of a balcony, and ride a flying whale.

In self-reported feedback, over three-quarters of the participants receiving the VR treatments showed at least a halving of their fear of heights.