Introduction

The project consists designing an application that simulates a virtual reality environment of the real world that can be used by therapist or specialist to bring therapy session to treat patients with acrophobia. This tool will be use to make that fists step of preparing the patient before a real confrontation of his phobia. The application has a great utility because can prepare the patient in safely way without any physical injuries. The investigation is really important because actually in Puerto Rico do not exist any tool of virtual reality to bring any kind of therapy.

            In Puerto Rico there is a high population that has problems with phobia. A phobia is defined as the unrelenting fear of a situation, activity, or thing that causes one to want to avoid it. The three types of phobias are social phobia (fear of public speaking, meeting new people, or other social situations), agoraphobia (fear of being outside), and specific phobias (fear of particular items or situations). For our investigation we focused on the specific acrophobia. Helping those who suffer from phobias is thought to be most effective when psychotherapy and medications that are specific to the treatment of phobia are both used. One form of psychotherapy involves the supportive and gradual exposure of the individual with phobias to circumstances that are increasingly close to the one they are phobia about (desensitization). These situations can either consist of actual exposure or virtual reality environment. The main goal of the virtual reality therapy is to expose the patient gradually to a virtual reality environment instead exposing the patient to a real world environment. At the final stage that the patient feel confortable with the exposure in the virtual reality environment then the patient will face the real world situation based on his phobia.