Inside the Effort to Expand Virtual Reality Treatments for Mental Health

A June 21, 1995, headline on page 11 of the New York Times read: “‘Virtual Reality’ Conquers Fear of Heights.” The article told the story of Chris Klock, a junior at Georgia Tech, who donned a head-mounted display once a week for seven weeks, and was transported to a 3-D environment simulating various altitudes. He stared down from a 20-story balcony, traversed narrow bridges suspended above water, and ascended 49 floors in a glass elevator—all without leaving the therapy room run by clinical psychologist Barbara Rothbaum. Klock was one of 17 students to complete Rothbaum’s experiment, which was the first controlled study...