Testing Augmented Reality for Cue Exposure in Obese Patients: An Exploratory Study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Binge eating is a significant factor in obesity etiology and severity.
• Cue exposure with response prevention (CERP) is a therapeutic approach for binge eating.
• Augmented reality (AR) offers a novel method for cue exposure, yet research is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if AR food stimuli evoke emotional responses comparable to real food stimuli.
• To investigate emotional response differences to food cues between obese and control participants.
• To compare emotional responses across different food categories (high-calorie savory, high-calorie sweet, low-calorie).

Main Methods:

• Assessed emotional responses in 15 obese and 15 control participants.
• Utilized real, photographic, and AR food stimuli (high-calorie and low-calorie).
• Measured state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), hunger, happiness (Visual Analog Scale), palatability (VAS), heart rate, skin conductance, and facial muscle activity.

Main Results:

• AR food stimuli were perceived as palatable as real stimuli and elicited similar arousal.
• Obese participants reported lower happiness post-exposure compared to controls, psychologically and physiologically.
• High-calorie savory foods were rated more palatable and induced greater arousal than low-calorie foods across all participants.

Conclusions:

• AR holds promise as a tool for cue exposure therapy in binge eating treatment.
• Obesity is associated with altered emotional and physiological responses to food cues.
• Food characteristics, particularly high-calorie savory content, significantly influence emotional and arousal responses.