VR to be used in Healthcare Education?

VR could be used in healthcare education, a recent research has found.

18:20 06 July 2021

A new report released by the University of Leeds suggests that Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) could be used in healthcare education and training. 

 

The research, which is entitled ‘Immersive technologies in healthcare training and education: Three principles for progress', has been published with significant input from the University of Huddersfield, a range of academics, health professionals and technologists. 

 

The Huddersfield contribution to the report stems from Yeshwanth Pulijala, a former Huddersfield researcher, and Professor Eunice Ma, now with Falmouth University. 

 

“Yeshwanth had an interest in technology and education, and in using VR for dentistry training. Matthew was looking at soft skills and situation awareness, which could be applied to investigating how dentists were able to keep a track of what was going on around them. They were similar subjects, although with different emphases, and so it seemed a natural area for collaboration.”

 

Professor Peebles explains, “It’s about developing a set of principles and guidelines for the use of immersive technology in medical treatment. Immersive technology is becoming increasingly popular and, as the technology is advancing, it’s becoming clear that there is great potential to make training more accessible and effective.

 

“It is important, however, that research is driven by the needs of the user and existing evidence rather than the technology. Rather than thinking ‘we have a new bit of VR or AR kit, what can we do with it?’, we should be looking at the problem that needs solving – what are the learning needs, so how do we use technology to solve it?