VR flight experience reduces fear of heights by action-based prediction of safety
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)Peer-Reviewed Publication
A research group led by FUJINO Misako and HARUNO Masahiko at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), has demonstrated that experiencing active flight in VR allows individuals to predict that they can transition to a safe state even if they fall from a height, thereby reducing fear responses. This discovery challenges the traditional understanding that fear extinction necessarily requires repeated exposure to fear-inducing stimuli.
In this study, the researchers compared a group of participants who actively experienced low-altitude VR flight (Flight Group) with a control group who passively watched recordings of the flight experience. The Flight Group showed significantly greater reductions in both physiological (skin conductance response, SCR) and subjective (self-reported fear score, SFS) fear responses when walking on a virtual plank at high altitude compared to the Control Group. Furthermore, among the Flight Group participants, those who more strongly felt "I can fly, so falling is not dangerous" exhibited a greater reduction in fear responses.
These results suggest that "action-based prediction" can reduce fear responses without relying on repeated exposure, potentially offering a new approach to fear extinction.
The findings were published online on May 13, 2025, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences