A free platform has been released online that allows speakers to practice in front of thousands of virtual spectators to help the anxiety that many feel when presenting to the public.
Dr. Chris McDonald, founder of the Overlooking Technology Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, who created the platform online, said the approach was an attempt to reduce long waiting or the high costs that people often face when seeking help.
“Most people have a form of anxiety in speech [but] Few people reach treatment. So what I was trying to do with this project is to fix these barriers. “
the Virtual reality rhetoric The statute employs exposure treatment – the idea that facing fears can help reduce them – along with breathing exercises and eye movements that help slow the heart rate and suppress the response of fear.
People who use technology can practice speaking in various virtual reality settings (VR), from an empty semester or small fans of realistic and scratching figures, to a court of 10,000 spectators, with the option to add deviations such as flashing cameras and high strikes.
McDonald said the latter was an example of “treatment for excessive exposure.”
He said: “The idea behind this is that this will give them additional flexibility and the ability to adapt – you can think about it like a psychological equivalent to training with weights or running with weights or at high altitudes,” adding that hope is that presenting the younger real life audience will feel as if it is “stepped” compared.
McDonald said that the platform – which includes educational materials, counter -feeding mechanisms and scenarios such as job interviews – works on both Android and iOS operating systems and can be accessed through a laptop, VR headphones or via a smartphone that can be included in a cheap mountain.
A recent study published by McDonald In the Border Magazine in the virtual reality It indicates that the platform can be useful. The research included 29 teenagers from China, each of them delivered a 30 -minute session where they alternated between using a VR system with a simple breathing exercise, after which they presented a one -minute text in English to 34 people in real life.
The percentage of students who said they were pale speakers from 65 % before the experiment decreased to 20 % after presentations, while the percentage that described themselves as confident from 31 % to 79 % increased. More students said they enjoyed speaking the audience after using the platform.
McDonald, another study that has not yet been published, included 18 students who had not had to make a personal presentation later on all the participants who found a week of self -guidance to be useful, for example in feeling more confidence or the ability to manage nerves, said McDonald said, for example, that all the participants who found a week of self -guidance to be useful revealed, for example, in feeling more confidence or the ability to manage nerves.
While McDonald said more experiments were planned with control groups and larger numbers of participants, tens of thousands of people used the platform as it was developing. “I don’t just want to build something effective. He said,” I want to build something that can be used. “
Dr. Matteo Sella, a psychologist and leader of the virtual reality laboratory in Kings College London, who did not participate in the work, said the platform based on concepts of traditional treatment, which makes him easier to implement.
But Cella said that there is excessive exposure to risks that can enhance people’s avoidance to talk about the audience, and that there is a need for strong random experiences to evaluate the system, noting that the published work has not provided many ideas about its effectiveness.
He said: “There is a lot of enthusiasm and energy to solve problems from digital creators to face urgent mental health challenges in our society, but unfortunately many products have poor absorption and short life due to their very rapid development and limited evidence.”
Dr. Kim Smolman of Cardiff University also said that more work was needed. “It is a promise to see an open source innovation in this field, especially in how to enhance VR and access to the development of skills and potential therapeutic content. However, as with any emerging technique, it is important to evaluate its influence in the real world, how people use it, and whether it really improves confidence and reduces anxiety, and what are the unintended effects.”
adxpro.online