Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Background: Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) has the potential to solve logistic challenges when treating specific phobias. However, VRET has yet to see a large-scale implementation in clinical settings despite positive findings in treatment trials. This may partly be due to attitudes and lack of experience among clinicians, but also because of expensive and stationary VR solutions.
Objective: This study tested whether modern, wireless, commercially available VR equipment with controller-free hand tracking could induce and reduce discomfort using scenarios designed for fear of heights. Also, the study tested if clinicians’ attitudes toward using VR in therapy changed after trying it themselves.
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Education agencies reorganised into mega-directorate
The ministry is merging smaller governmental units on 1 July to create a large directorate for higher education as part of an ongoing process of reforms in the educational system in Norway from kindergarten to lifelong learning, the ministry has announced.
Following the announcement on 4 February, the following units are being merged:
• DIKU, the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education, with 130 full-time staff and headquarters in Bergen.
• Skills Norway, the present Directorate for Lifelong Learning, with 170 staff members and offices in Tromsø, Bergen and Oslo.
• Parts of UNIT, the Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research, which has 200 employees and headquarters in Trondheim and an office in Oslo.