Therapists are using VR headsets to cure phobias

Vice News correspondent Dexter Thomas is absolutely terrified of heights. But a tiny startup called Limbix thinks they can cure him — with a VR headset.

Now that virtual reality is getting cheaper, it’s becoming a more accessible option for things like exposure therapy. It allows, for example, a therapist to take their patient to a plane, or a cave full of spiders, or a street corner where they were mugged ten years ago — all without the cost and danger of “in vivo” treatment.

Dexter Thomas went to Palo Alto to test out what some people are hoping will be the next big thing in therapy.