News Health & Medicine

Scared of heights? This new VR therapy could help

Participants became less fearful after an avatar coached them through edge-of-ledge moments

virtual reality therapy program

DON’T LOOK DOWN In a new virtual reality therapy program, an animated coach guides participants through activities (like saving a cat from a tree) that help them overcome their fear of heights.

Oxford VR

By Maria Temming

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Health & Medicine

  1. older man receiving coronavirus vaccine injection
    Health & Medicine

    Here’s what you should know about COVID-19 vaccine booster shots

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  2. illustration of an egg bursting out of an ovary
    Health & Medicine

    Solving mysteries of reproduction helped make parenthood possible for millions

    By Robin Marantz Henig
  3. man sitting in a chair receives an infusion of aducanumab
    Health & Medicine

    FDA approved a new Alzheimer’s drug despite controversy over whether it works

    By Laura Sanders
  4. mother in Bangladesh feeding malnourished child
    Health & Medicine

    Food that boosts gut microbes could be a new way to help malnourished kids

    By Jeanne Erdmann
  5. a photo of a protest in Washington, D.C.
    Health & Medicine

    After 40 years of AIDS, here’s why we still don’t have an HIV vaccine

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  6. A man and woman wearing face masks greet a young boy walking out of a school where four people, also in face masks, are standing in the doorway
    Health & Medicine

    After vaccinating 95 percent of adults, a Brazilian city is returning to normal

    By Meghie Rodrigues
  7. A young woman sitting at a kitchen table injects insulin into her arm
    Health & Medicine

    A repurposed TB vaccine shows early promise against diseases like diabetes and MS

    By Amanda B. Keener
  8. A woman in a mask and a disposable apron injects a vaccine into the arm of a man who is seated.
    Health & Medicine

    Vaccinating people in developing countries costs far less than doing nothing

    By Betsy Ladyzhets

From the Nature Index

Paid Content