This thesis is focused on the development of games as a treatment for people who suffer from acrophobia, the fear of being in high-heighted situations. The purpose is to look over the immediate reactions of the players and study what effect first person gaming has on them in a short term. To achieve this, a series of three mini games is employed. Each game corresponds to a level. The first level is a tutorial which makes the player familiar with the game. In the second level, players are required to do a simple task. Finally, in the third level, the task is more pressuring and players need to be quicker to achieve the necessary goals. What is expected from this study is that the full control of the playable character makes the players feel immersed. Additionally, as the game progresses, the players will be more comfortable with heights. Last but not least, it is assumed that fast pace enhances immersion, a major factor of this study. As a result of our experiment, it is demonstrated that the control of the character from the player is a great tactic for immersion. Furthermore, it shows that the players start feeling better with heights even after one session. Finally, the study indicates that the fast pace enhances immersion, but over the time the increase of the pace has lower impact. These statements come as a result from the answers of the experiment‟s participants and will be shown in detail in this paper.

The non-associative framework on fear argues that evolutionary-relevant fears, such as heights and water, are largely innate and do not require associative conditioning experiences to develop (Menzies & Clarke, 1993a, b; Poulton & Menzies, 2002a). However, this framework has been criticized for its reliance on retrospective recall for empirical support (Mineka & Öhman, 2002), which has been found to be highly unreliable (Taylor, Deane, & Podd, 1999). Thirty height-fearful undergraduate students completed the Origins Questionnaire-II (OQ-II; Menzies & Parker, 2001) and were classified into one of the several associative and non-associative pathways of fear onset based on their responses. A control group of 43 non-fearful students completed a modified version of the OQ-II to report any past experiences with heights. To examine the stability of these responses over time, the same questionnaires for both groups were completed again three months (Time 2) and 12 months (Time 3) after the initial administration of the test, along with measures of fear severity. Results showed that neither associative nor non-associative accounts took precedence over the other in explaining the onset of height fear. Instabilities in pathway ascriptions were observed in 18.18% of cases over three months (between Time 1 and Time 2), and 27.27% of cases over nine months (between Time 2 and Time 3). The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed with consideration of some of the study’s procedural and instrumental limitations. In light of these limitations, this study identified a substantial role of non-associative pathways on the development of height fear, and provided further support for the limitations of retrospective recall for ascertaining the pathway to fear onset.

This thesis analyses the benefits of applying game elements to a Virtual Reality application for overcoming phobias, with a special focus on acrophobia, i.e. the fear of heights. Two different prototypes using the Oculus Rift head-mounted display were developed with a gradually exposure to heights. Both prototypes shared the same acrophobic scenario, but one included extra features from games such as engagement, motivation or goals. Twenty-four participants, divided into two groups of twelve, with moderate aversion to heights tested the prototypes. The participants’ heart rate and the time that they looked down from high altitudes were also measured and evaluated. The study showed slightly higher results regarding motivation for the prototype which included the additional game elements. Future studies should include a different head-mounted display, which would allow a longer time of play without motion sickness, and the participation of people diagnosed with acrophobia.