Devices & Diagnostics, Health IT, Startups

An mhealth platform uses augmented reality to help people confront fears, anxiety

A team of physicists, psychologists and developers have produced a mobile health platform to make […]

A team of physicists, psychologists and developers have produced a mobile health platform to make virtual reality and augmented reality more accessible as a self-help tool for treating phobias. Phobious, part of DreamIt Health Baltimore’s inaugural class, has developed a smartphone-enabled tool and is planning a September launch for its consumer product, which includes goggles and an iPhone or Android app.

Phobious comes to Baltimore by way of Barcelona. In addition to the consumer-facing tool, a clinician-facing track is under development. The consumer-facing platform will concentrate on phobias from insects and public speaking to needles. The company plans to market it without any guarantees of its effectiveness in curing these phobias. But it also plans to seek FDA clearance and a CE Mark from European regulators to use the device for treating post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders.

The military has reported some success in using virtual reality for treatment. Several other companies have developed virtual reality software, notably Oculus Rift, which Facebook recently acquired. Phobious co-founder Dani Roig is one of two physicists with the company who used to suffer from a fear of flying. He argues that virtual reality technology as a behavioral health tool has generally proved too challenging for most companies to roll out in terms of cost and complexity, which has hindered wider adoption.

Oculus may very well change all that, but Roig is undeterred. Phobious is collaborating with psychologists at Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University to advance its product. Roig adds that one advantage of its platform is that it doesn’t require users to be in the therapist’s office: they can be at home. It’s currently seeking $750,000 in part to help it fulfill a goal of launching its consumer product this September and getting the device into the hands of behavioral therapists.

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