Design and Development of a Serious Game for Treating Acrophobia

The purpose of the SAFE-VR (System for Ameliorating Phobias based on Exposure to Virtual Reality) project is to design and implement a feasible system for treating phobias based on gradual exposure in the Virtual Reality (VR), accompanied by physiological signals monitoring (pulse, electrodermal activity and electroencephalogram (EEG) data), real-time visual feedback and automatic adaptation of the virtual environment (visual stimuli rendered via a Head Mounted Display (HMD) device and 3D audio stimuli) based on the biophysical data recorded from the user. SAFE-VR represents a substantial evolution compared to the actual systems for treating phobias and an economical approach with high perspectives, as it can be used both in the presence of a therapist under clinical surveillance and independently, for home training, on the computer and on Android devices. Exposure to Virtual Reality has the following advantages: immersion, greater diversity of environments, visual and auditory stimuli that are easily controllable by the therapist, safer environment, accessibility and flexibility in adapting the virtual world to the user's needs and preferences. Monitoring the physiological signals will add the advantages of behavioural-cognitive therapy, by assuming user's reactions and controlling them. In this way, the patient can understand his attitude towards the object that produces fear and work on dealing with it. The user is required to play a game with quests and tasks of various difficulties. For this, we have designed two realistic scenes rendered through a Head Mounted Display (a HTC Vive device) - a mountain landscape with cliffs, highlands and slopes during summer and winter time. This paper presents the development and design of the game and the structure of scenes.