Author : Zeal Ganatra and Dharmesh Mistry

Use of technology has been very helpful in the field of psychology. Virtual reality is somewhat established for the treatment of phobias. Augmented Reality due to its advantages over traditional therapy and virtual reality has been introduced for treatment. In this paper we study two systems that use augmented realty to treat phobia of cockroaches and spiders. First is Visible Marker Based Augmented Reality System in which the patient is able to view the marker during treatment, and the second is Invisible Marker Based Augmented Reality System in which the marker is invisible to the patient undergoing therapy. We have compared both the Systems for its advantages over each other. Finally in the paper we conclude that Invisible Marker Based Augmented reality system is better, because the patient has more surprise element and anxiety levels, which are necessary for therapy than in Visible marker Based System.

Keywords: Augmented Reality, Visible Marker Based Augmented Reality System (VMARS), Invisible Marker Based Augmented reality System (IMARS), Phobia, Therapy.

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.4, No.5 (Oct-2014)