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a research team at the university developed an augmented reality app for smartphones called phobys, which displays a realistic 3d spider on a real background. “it’s easier for people with a fear of spiders to face a virtual spider than a real one,” anja zimmer, lead author of the study, told the university’s news team .
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“we report that repeated home-use of the stand-alone, smartphone-based, gamified ar exposure app was effective in the reduction of phobic fear in participants with fear of spiders,” the researchers wrote in the study , which was published in the journal of anxiety disorders. even people who used the app for less time than was suggested — 90 minutes instead of 180 minutes — found that “the fear of spiders was reduced at clinically relevant effect sizes.” (the study did note, though, that researchers couldn’t rule out the placebo effect as part of that result.)
“we see a great potential in our smartphone-based, stand-alone ar exposure app to act as a complementary tool for psychotherapy,” they wrote. the app is available for a free trial on apple and android phones, although the training that the study participants went through costs money.
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arachnophobia, or fear of spiders, is very common. some researchers believe it’s actually a genetic, evolutionary fear: a german study found that babies as young as six months have negative reactions to spiders.
