The Use of Virtual-Reality Interventions in Reducing Anxiety

Virtual-reality (VR) technology is a growing industry that implements various types of artificial intelligence, ranging from deriving mental states through motion capture and physiological arousal, to simulating social interactions in three-dimensional space. Such VR interventions may be particularly useful in providing access to psychological support to people experiencing anxiety and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. VR interventions for anxiety have grown exponentially over the last two decades, especially due to the technological advances in presence and immersion that make situations feel very life-like, yet well-controlled. There is an ever-increasing amount of evidence that demonstrate VR interventions to be as effective as face-to-face psychological interventions in reducing anxiety in the short-term and long-term. VR interventions offer several benefits, including encouraging people to seek help if they are less inclined to engage in face-to-face therapy. People with mild-to-moderate and or sub-clinical levels of anxiety can engage with them. VR interventions can facilitate wider and remote access as they can be implemented at home.

There is a need to conduct rigorous testing of these interventions alongside valid control interventions and understand the biological, psychological and social mechanisms behind the effectiveness of VR interventions for anxiety.

There is a need to know what advantages and limits VR interventions pose to improving symptoms of anxiety. In addition, we need to know how VR interventions may be used to tackle the anxiety arising from the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The limits of virtual-reality intervention for reducing anxiety can be understood under the following themes:

1. The theoretical underpinnings of virtual-reality intervention for clinical and sub-clinical levels of anxiety,
2. The technological advances in virtual-reality intervention, such as realism and immersion,
3. The effectiveness of virtual-reality intervention for anxiety,
4. The mechanisms of response to virtual-reality intervention for reducing anxiety.

The scope of the research topic is to understand the potential for virtual-reality interventions as an alternative form of psychosocial intervention for anxiety. This Research Topic invites manuscripts that broadly fall within the following themes (but not limited to) on virtual-reality intervention for anxiety disorders:
- The theoretical significance of virtual-reality intervention,
- The technological advances in virtual-reality intervention that can better target/facilitate different types of anxiety disorders,
- The effectiveness or efficacy of virtual-reality intervention for anxiety,
- Differences in the effectiveness of virtual-reality intervention between different types of anxiety disorders,
- Biological, psychological and social mechanisms of response to virtual-reality intervention for anxiety.