Reduce Your Fear of Spiders with Virtual Reality

This post is sponsored by Samsung

Spiders are gross. Particularly when one is sneaking down in front of you from the ceiling, and you have no idea how the hell it got there in the first place. Spiders in groups are even worse. Ew.

Thing is, that although many people think of spiders as shitty creatures, some people suffer from actual phobia of spiders. The fear of spiders, AKA arachnophobia, is a serious psychological condition. It means that something is giving you anxiety to such an extent that it's difficult to lead a normal life. Some phobics do crazy stuff to avoid spiders at all costs. Like not attending their best friend's wedding because it's in Australia, or avoid gardens, parks, alleys, and people's homes thinking that a spider might be lurking around the corner. Some people suffering from arachnophobia can even vomit excessively only by looking at an image of the bug.

Luckily, there's a new app specifically developed to reduce the fear of spiders –compatible with virtual reality (VR). With the Itsy app and Samsung's Gear VR headset, people with extreme fear of spiders will get exposed to spiders through the app – which is based on cognitive behaviour therapy – and get help with their issues. Samsung tested this by inviting people who are afraid of spiders – one person from each of the four Nordic countries. The experiment, called Face Your Fear, showed very good results. In the end, the participants were more chilled around spiders than before the experiment.

Psychology school dropout William Hamilton is the CEO and co-founder of mental health startup Mimerse. He believes that virtual reality can help thousands of people overcome their fears every day, compared with the average three a day at a regular psychologist's office. Instead of treating a couple of patients per day IRL, Hamilton is developing a therapy tool on a much larger scale in VR – et voilá: Itsy.

The Itsy app is Mimerse's first public demo. It's funded by the Swedish government and developed together with Samsung. It's the first VR therapy game developed to reduce the fear of spiders.

The game has 10 levels. The phobic will initially meet a cute little itsy in boots and a helmet. Eventually, a realistic Mexican red knee tarantula will come along as the spiders get scarier and more lifelike. You'll hear a soothing female voice, explaining facts about spiders – think, your mum.

For severe cases, it can take up to three hours to complete. Not days. Not months. Hours.

Fear can really mess with our lives. Hopefully, this is a smarter and more efficient way of dealing with phobia. Also, by analysing interaction data, get real statistics of what is working and to what extent, the Itsy app might be able to eliminate arachnophobia completely. Maybe you'll realise that the shitty little spider isn't that bad after all. Hamilton hopes that his company can cure other phobias and mental health conditions in the future, too – even eating disorders.

Find out where you can get hold of Samsung's VR headsets here. Download Mimerse's Itsy app here. For more information about the Samsung experiment, check out the teaser here.