SpiderHand: Supporting Arachnophobia Therapy Using Motion-Controlled Robotic Manipulator

Although robots have become an everyday companion for medical personnel in various domains, few solutions have been crafted to facilitate therapy of psychological disorders. Treatment of phobias is one of the areas which could highly benefit from introducing device-mediated interactions. To address the challenges of arachnophobia therapy, we designed SpiderHand - robot-based system for quasi-direct interaction with unpleasant creatures. We first identified the challenges of cognitive-behavioral therapy through interviews with a professional therapist and elicited functional requirements through experimental inquiry. Then, we designed and implemented an operational research prototype of motion-controlled robotic manipulator including remote touch features. We contribute a complete implementation toolkit for constructing DIY robot manipulator and provide insights on designing interactive robots for psychological therapy.