Actionable quantification of fear of public speaking for VR-based treatment and training

Fear of public speaking (FPS) is the most prevalent Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), in all professional and educational areas. Existing models investigate FPS from psychological and therapeutic perspectives, being suitable as assessment tools supporting psychotherapeutic interventions. They are not focused on actionable items that can be simulated in a computer environment for treatment or training. This paper introduces a comprehensive and actionable understanding of FPS factors, used to support the user-centric design of VR system for both FPS treatment, and public speech skills training. Our selection and investigation of FPS stressors was based on a literature study and discussions with performing arts experts and mental health professionals experienced in anxiety disorders followed by a questionnaire with 28 items run on 359 individuals. The paper analyses the results of this survey, identifying the primary FPS stressors, and evaluating their significance and correlations with demographic factors. Based on these, a preliminary design of a VR system for FPS treatment and public speech training was performed, and evaluated, from a user-centric perspective, using the same set of respondents. The evaluation showed strong appreciation for all system features, contributing both an actionable quantification of FPS and a user-centered VR training and treatment solution.