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With VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive just now hitting store shelves, we’re quickly learning the potential of virtual reality.
But it’s not just consumers who are seeing what the nascent platform can do, but academics as well. A study from Oxford University has found that VR can be used to help the 1 to 2 percent of the population that it says lives with severe paranoia.
Paranoia, defined as “unfounded fear that others are deliberately trying to harm you,” was seen to have drastically reduced in 30 patients that were put under VR simulations of social situations they would otherwise fear.
The study showed that the patients’ ameliorated feelings of paranoia carried over to the real world. You can see a more detailed explanation of the procedure and results in the video above.
