JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Immersive virtual reality (VR) technology presents digital simulations that create the sense of actually experiencing a scenario. VR simulations are persuasive enough to elicit physiological reactions that mirror real-world responses. Prior research suggests that fear responses and sensation seeking are inversely correlated, but that work largely relies on self-reported outcomes and hypothetical scenarios.

Objective:

We measure physiological responses to a realistic VR simulation of height exposure and assess behavioral sensation seeking using a laboratory choice task.

Methods:

N=57 healthy undergraduates participated in a VR simulation of height exposure and falling (Richie’s Plank) that included walking across and stepping off a plank at the top of a skyscraper. Physiological recordings and self-reported state anxiety were collected prior to and during the experience. Behavioral sensation seeking was quantified using an olfactory choice task offering a ‘boring’ or ‘exciting’ (risky) option varying in intensity and pleasantness.

Results:

The VR experience evoked physiological and self-reported fear. Acrophobia correlated with self-reported fear. Behavioral sensation seeking negatively correlated with both self-reported fear and increased heart rate in males (q<.05). Behavioral and self-reported sensation seeking were uncorrelated. Self-reported fear was uncorrelated with physiological fear responses.

Conclusions:

VR simulations can produce lifelike responses to scenarios that are impractical to reproduce in the laboratory. Further, VR facilitates presenting highly abstract or improbable scenarios, expanding the range of topics for behavioral investigations. Given the ever-wider adoption of immersive therapeutics in the clinic, VR research requires further development to evaluate biobehavioral outcomes and interactions with personality factors.