Advantage using VR for therapy

Cost Effective

• Many stimuli for exposure are difficult to arrange or control, and when exposure is conducted outside of the therapist's office, it becomes more expensive in terms of time and money.

Effective Therapy

• The doctor can easily control the virtual environment - He cannot control the actual environment which is subject to unexpected situations (e.g., imagine an elevator malfunction!). This would allow the doctor to more easily control the progression of the treatment, as well as to investigate which perceptual cues are most influential to the fear. Cues could be added to or subtracted from the environment methodologically while acrophobes' physiological responses are monitored.

Confidentiality

• Because users could receive therapy while in the office/room, they would not have to sacrifice confidentiality as they do when using the therapy in real environment.

Less intimidating

• Users may be more willing to try the virtual environment because they know they are safely planted on the ground