Feeling ghost food as real one: Psychometric assessment of presence engagement exposing to food in augmented reality

In the last decade, the use of technology is considerably increased. A propriety that makes technologies effective tools is to elicit high levels of sense of presence similar to real one experience. Augmented Reality is a new paradigm involving virtual elements in the real world enriching reality with valuables information. This study investigated the flux of the sense of presence and the state anxiety to food stimuli exposure across reality, pictures, and Augmented Reality in twenty-two healthy subjects. The results showed that subjects were clearly able to distinguish the three types of domains, reporting high levels of presence engagement both in reality and Augmented Reality condition. Furthermore, all food stimuli were able to relax subjects, regardless the exposure condition. In conclusion, our preliminary findings suggest initial evidences of the potential of AR in a variety of experimental and clinical settings, representing a new challenge for the assessment and treatment of psychological disorders.