Horror Comfort

An interactive game that helps alleviate the fear of scary movies.

Overview

Months ago, at a private party, one of my friends complained about having nightmares after watching scary movies, while the rest of us also recalled memories of some after-effects brought by the horror movies, including sleeping loss, elevator-phobia, etc. I wonder if there can be an effective special treatment to this severe but often ignored fear, and how modern technology can be applied in this psychology-based treatment.

Cognition and exposure are the main concepts used. By forcing users to face their fear directly, and rebuild a less horrible or even funny definition of fearful sources, this product help users effectively deal with their fear.

The product comprises of a screen used as a movie player and a game system, a 3D depth camera, and a wristband. During the process of watching a movie, the wristband detects and records the heartbeat and body temperature fluctuations of users, generating the break points where users feel scared, and automatically controls the movie-playing system’s volume and background music. The wristband continues working to recognize when and to what extent the user feels afraid. Once the threshold is reached, the screen will be turned on and the user will be reminded to play the game. Based on motion sensing and augmented reality technology , the game gives users a realistic experience of interacting with fearful movie scenes and characters, which mitigates their fear.