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Project

Addressing stutter-related speaking anxiety in virtual reality

Virtual Reality (VR) has the advantage of providing an environment that is life-like but that can also be manipulated. Despite its many opportunities, VR is not yet implemented in stuttering interventions. In dynamic VR environments, therapists can control and manipulate factors that may contribute to the disorder. Difficult speaking situations could be practiced. While VR has received some attention as a therapy tool for individuals who stutter, the VR environments have been static. The reason for this may be that knowledge concerning interactional, social factors that contribute to stressful situations is lacking. With this project, we collect preliminary data on two main objectives. The first main objective is to compare the effectiveness of VR to real-life practice in stuttering therapy, while controlling for potential individual factors such as trait anxiety. The second main objective is to collect empirical data on parameters from the social interaction – in particular non-verbal responses - that shape social anxiety and stutter-related anxieties and stress.

Date:1 Oct 2020 →  Today
Keywords:Virtual Reality, VR, Exposure, Stutter, Therapy
Disciplines:Speech and language therapy
Project type:PhD project