Barbara Rothbaum, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, along with Larry Hodges, associate professor of computing at Georgia Tech, and Ben Watson, Georgia Tech graduate research assistant, demonstrated their Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy software at the "Partners for Change: Building Quality State-Managed Mental Health and Substance Abuse Systems" conference in Washington, D.C., in September at the request of Tipper Gore. Mrs. Gore serves as mental health advisor to the president.
The researchers have received international attention since developing this new type of therapy using virtual reality to help people overcome their fears. Their research, published in the April 1994 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, involved a group of college students with acrophobia who were randomly assigned to receive either therapy involving a virtual reality system or no therapy. The group which received the virtual reality treatment was significantly improved after eight weeks. The virtual reality treatment exposed students to three virtual environments that gave them the sensation they were riding in an open elevator in the atrium of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel; standing on a set of four outdoor balconies at various heights; and standing on a set of three footbridges spanning a canyon.
The researchers also held a private demonstration of the "virtual elevator" for Vice President and Mrs. Gore. The conference brought together federal, state and other health officials to examine the quality and cost effectiveness of mental health and substance abuse services.