The virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technology could simulate stressful situations and help people practice stress-relief strategies, a new study has revealed.

Everyday situations can sometimes feel like big stressors, whether it’s delivering an important work presentation, attending a party full of strangers or confronting a partner. Talking to a friend or a therapist can help. But so can practice.

Advertisement

A new project from Carnegie Mellon University researchers in the US aimed to make that practice easier by using VR/AR technology.

The research team, led by Anna Fang in the School of Computer Science’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, tested their stress simulation technology on a group of 19 participants, the majority of whom overwhelmingly supported it.

“For the past 10 to 20 years, virtual reality and augmented reality have taken a really big hold on the health and mental health space,” said Fang, noting the many meditation apps available for download.

The team built eight prototypes with different design elements for each of the three scenarios, for a total of 24 prototypes. Those prototypes took various forms — virtual reality, mixed or augmented reality, or a text-based environment without visual cues — and offered different degrees of interaction.

Overall, Fang and her team found that people liked using the technology to gain more awareness about themselves. “They wanted technology that would help them learn self-sufficiency skills that they didn’t feel they had,” she said.

Participants also noted that they preferred being able to decide when the large language model suggested guidance instead of receiving that guidance automatically.

They also wanted to take the headsets to other locations to help them become immersed in and more comfortable with the stressful setting.

In this next version, the team plans to upgrade the avatars to look more realistic and to include more text-to-speech features so the avatars can speak to users more naturally.