(FUVEST - 2002 - 1a fase)IF PUBLIC speaking gives

(FUVEST - 2002 - 1a fase)

IF PUBLIC speaking gives you the willies, the chances are you’ll be just as scared of virtual people, experts have discovered. But ¹in the long run these “avatars” will help you overcome your fears.

Mel Slater at University College London, and his colleague David-Paul Pertaub have developed a VR environment to help people overcome their phobias. In their virtual seminar room, people have to give a presentation to eight computer-generated people who can appear by turns fascinated, bored stiff or just annoyingly neutral.

While it’s not the first time VR has been used to treat phobias, such as fear of spiders or flying, no one knew if the technique could also help people to overcome their social phobias.

To find out, Pertaub watched how people behave in seminars and programmed the virtual people to do the same things: crossing their arms, frowning, yawning and putting their feet on the table. “Our negative audience is very negative,” says Slater.

Then Slater and Pertaub compared the performances of 43 volunteers who gave a talk either to an attentive audience or to an unenthusiastic one. Surprisingly, the subjects responded as if the avatars were real.

21 July 2001• New Scientist • www.newscientist.com

¹“....in the long run” means