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Oculus Rift seems to have removed my fear of heights

Teddy0k
Explorer
Hello rifters,

I've always had a fear of heights, so spending time in the rift on the coaster or doing jumps in rift racer has been giving my quite a thrill.

I've been on holiday recently and went on a zip line across some waterfalls, a bit like this;



Very strangely, I didn't feel any kind of fear or heights or vertigo or anything really. I'm quite certain that if I'd done this in the past, I would have felt quite giddy.. but I didn't feel anything!

Has anyone had any similar experiences?
32 REPLIES 32

Boots
Honored Guest
I have a fear of moths :lol: I'm sure removing that fear would not be detrimental to my survivability

Christiaan
Protege
"Walky" wrote:
"brantlew" wrote:
The Oculus Rift has permanently cured my fear of Italian villas.


Two words: Clown simulator :cry:


double thumbs up! This would equate to a contribution to humanity. 😉

Walky
Explorer
"Boots" wrote:
I have a fear of moths :lol: I'm sure removing that fear would not be detrimental to my survivability

I HATE moths too!, more than any other damn bug. I even uploaded a video some time ago about this:

Knitschi
Honored Guest
"Teddy0k" wrote:
Hello rifters,

I've always had a fear of heights, so spending time in the rift on the coaster or doing jumps in rift racer has been giving my quite a thrill.

I've been on holiday recently and went on a zip line across some waterfalls, a bit like this;

Very strangely, I didn't feel any kind of fear or heights or vertigo or anything really. I'm quite certain that if I'd done this in the past, I would have felt quite giddy.. but I didn't feel anything!

Has anyone had any similar experiences?


I heard that other people with fear of heights don't experience it when they hang in straps like the ones used for zip lining.
It is the same thing with paragliding. Many people who are afraid of heights have no problem with dangling on a parachute. For most, the fear rather comes when standing close to a cliff.

saluk
Honored Guest
That's truly terrifying. I wonder if vr can help us mothophobics...

ReT
Honored Guest
Oh how I hope this is true/possible. 😮

All i need now is a skydiving spider simulator and all my fears shall be gone! :mrgreen:

Nedo
Explorer
"Knitschi" wrote:
It is the same thing with paragliding. Many people who are afraid of heights have no problem with dangling on a parachute. For most, the fear rather comes when standing close to a cliff.


I second that, i have no problem paragliding, i feel safe, i know the wings hold me, they are part of me.
But standing somewhere in the mountains close to a cliff without my wings attached, i really dont like
the feeling 😮 i'm not sure if that can be cured, its inside our brain for self protection.
Order DK1 Mar 30, 2013 / Order DK2: Mar 19, 2014 / Order CV1: Jan 6, 2016 / Order HTC Vive Feb 29, 2016

Teddy0k
Explorer
"Knitschi" wrote:
It is the same thing with paragliding. Many people who are afraid of heights have no problem with dangling on a parachute. For most, the fear rather comes when standing close to a cliff.
Interesting, I'll have to do some more research. Like go stand on top of a tall building or something.

Wish me luck!

LaurentMT
Honored Guest
"nedo" wrote:
"Knitschi" wrote:
It is the same thing with paragliding. Many people who are afraid of heights have no problem with dangling on a parachute. For most, the fear rather comes when standing close to a cliff.


I second that, i have no problem paragliding, i feel safe, i know the wings hold me, they are part of me.
But standing somewhere in the mountains close to a cliff without my wings attached, i really dont like
the feeling 😮 i'm not sure if that can be cured, its inside our brain for self protection.

I had the same experience with parachutism.
I think vertigo is created by a divergence between proprioception and sight. With proprioception, our brains "knows" where the ground is supposed to be (just under our feet which are at a certain distance from our eyes) but our eyes say something totally different to the brain (the ground is very far away). So the brain raises an alert. With paragliding, there's no divergence and no alert is raised.

As you wrote, vertigo (and motion sickness) are natural reactions for self protection. We should be glad to experience them.

SMOK3Y
Honored Guest
I have a Fear of Spiders but there aint no F'n way im playing anything with spiders in it :!: