“The Oculus Best Practices guide may be the most substantial thing ever written on applied sensorimotor neuroscience”

-From the Twitter of neuroscience expert, Beau Cronin

Whew. That’s a mouthful.

Here’s why it’s true…

Virtual reality tricks your brain into believing you’re somewhere else. For that to work, it has to be pretty convincing. And, it has to be delivered in a way that’s compatible with your eyes and your brain.

Once your sight is on board, your brain actually experiences the environment you’re seeing.

A while back, some crazy creative individuals wanted technology to be immersive… and the Oculus Rift was born!

This funky looking eyewear transports you into a new world.

Have you had a chance to put one of these things on?

You can turn your head, look around, and get a full 360 view.

People who love video games already imagine themselves inside their digital worlds. The day the Oculus Rift sits on a shelf in Target may be more exciting to them than Christmas morning.

But what about people who don’t care much for that stuff?

Gaming is just the tip of the iceberg for this bad boy.

Another great application?

Exposure therapy, for overcoming fear.

Picture this: you put the goggles on, open your eyes, and you’re on top of the Empire State Building. You look around, and then you look down. Your heart starts beating faster. You feel your palms clam up a little. Cars look like ants.

You remember that you’re in a safe environment. You keep looking around. This is actually pretty cool! Your pulse slows back down to normal, and you start enjoying the view.

VR is phenomenal, because your brain believes what it sees. Even if you’re on the ground floor of a building in California, you can experience the bone-chilling fear of falling off the Empire State Building.

You know you’re completely safe, so you calm yourself. In doing so, you overcome the visceral emotion associated with being that far off the ground.

When VR is a seamless experience, your eyes convince your brain of a new reality. You don’t have to go to New York to tame your overactive fear response.

You can actually conquer a fear of heights while sitting on your couch.

That’s amazing!

The more we get to know our brains, the better we get at shaping them. If you’re afraid, and someone says “it’s all in your head” — they’re kinda right!

Whether you use simulated exposure therapy, or hypnotic reprogramming, your subconscious mind can be trained.

What fear would you love to throw out the window?