Needle Phobia in Adolescents (VRNF)

Virtual reality simulation showing a hand lighting colorful flames, with a person standing in a museum-like setting, surrounded by historical X-rays and displays from 1938 to 1974.
Virtual reality scene with toy penguins on a desk, a syringe in hand, and office background.
Virtual reality simulation of medical procedure in a clinical setting with a focus on venipuncture.
Virtual reality scene in a simulated office with cartoon penguins, a teddy bear, a sharps bin, computer, and desk items.

The VR Needle Fears project was targetted at adolesents who had moderate to severe fears of needles and medical procedures.

The aim of the application was to follow the current gold standard for needle fears therapy but in a standalone, fully self-administered virtual reality program. This meant that all activities had to serve this goal and also be used without any external intervention.

The final stage was giving the user a vitual vaccination and also a blood test

Look At Needles

Pick up Needles

Use Needles

Get Injection

What I did:

  • Wrote C# code in Unity for all activities

  • Optimised Application for Quest 3 deployment

  • Conducted User Research at several points in development

  • Designed activities in application

  • Managed deployment for different testing rounds

University of Oxford logo on blue background with crest and white text

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