UK researchers have developed an innovative smartphone app that can help you overcome your fear of spiders by showing you daily pictures of the creepy-crawlies.
The creators of the Phobia Free app claim arachnophobes can be cured of their fear by exposure to more and more realistic spider pictures over time.
The app has reportedly been reviewed and approved by the National Health Service (NHS) England, 'metro.Co.Uk' reported.
Arachnophobia - an acute fear of spiders - affects six per cent of the population and is one of the most common phobias in the world.
The app, created by UK-based company Virtually Free, has been devised with the help of specialist psychiatrists.
The app uses a novel interactive method to help people overcome their fear through relaxation techniques and in app gameplay while setting goals and tracking progress.
Users of the app confront their fear by progressing from cute spiders all the way up to an augmented reality tarantula that looks and behaves like the real thing.
It is hoped by the time a user is exposed to the tarantula their fears will be under control.
"We will continue to innovate and improve Phobia Free and in the near future our app will be looking at other animal phobias that afflict people across the UK," said Virtually Free co-founder Dr Andres Fonseca.
