Oculus VR has already begun exploring virtual reality's full potential starting with releasing an interactive real-life pediatric emergency simulation for medical education.
The project is a collaborative work headed by former Oculus VR team member Shauna Heller, a team of 18 developers, doctors from Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), AISolve, and BioFlightVR. Oculus VR funded the project under its initiative, "VR for Good."
Heller quit her job at Oculus VR to focus on developing educational and training applications for VR to maximize its potential and the completion of this project is definitely a big achievement.
"This is the power of virtual reality at its strongest—when it's solving problems, sharing knowledge, and helping medical professionals prepare to save lives," Heller said.
Pediatric Emergency Simulation
In order to recreate a realistic emergency situation, CHLA doctors worked closely with Heller's team to come up with scenarios based on actual case studies. The two companies on board the project, AISolve and BioFlight VR, also have experience in developing medical simulations.
In the simulation, the doctor-in-training is faced with a pediatric medical emergency but is surrounded with the necessary tools to diagnose and treat the ailing child.
The trainee is also surrounded with actual scenarios that come with such a medical emergency: paramedics telling them all the symptoms and emergency treatments given, nurses and technicians urging the trainee to make decisions based on the information received, and possible medicines for treatment that could save or harm the patient. It is also complete with distressed parents panicking inside the room.
"We're also seeing a similar stress response in the VR experiences compared to real-life ER situations," CHLA Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician Josh Sherman reveals.
Needless to say, the simulation will definitely keep doctors-in-training on their toes and prepare them for similar situations when it actually happens to real children. They could also use the application to further hone their skills.
Watch the video below to get a glimpse of the virtual emergency situation.
"BioflightVR was tasked with helping realize a grand vision—what the future of medical training could look like. I can't think of a better use for our team's talents then helping doctors and residents learn and train using these dynamic new technologies," BioFlightVR Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Rik Shorten said.
Both AISolve and BioFlightVR have now moved to other similar projects and Oculus VR is already looking forward to future projects under the "VR for Good" initiative.
