Moderning methods: Virtual and augmented reality in healthcare

Shona Blackhall, learning and development product manager at Allocate, discusses the ways virtual and augmented reality technologies can help organisations reduce risk and modernise learning and training methods.

Over the past 20 years, significant progress has been made in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. They are increasingly used in real-world applications as their versatility continues to improve and impress. The gaming industry has led the way with, in 2018, a reported 171 million users. Now, other industries are switching on to the value of these evolving immersive technologies and, in particular, how they can transform upskilling and knowledge transfer.

Learning and workplace training in healthcare is no exception. Here, VR can provide healthcare providers with the ability to create and recreate scenarios in which employees can learn by doing, but without the potential consequence. The ability to remove the risk of making mistakes in real life is a major benefit to the healthcare sector and can be used in a variety of ways.

Organisations can, for example, create immersive scenarios of high-risk events, disasters and attacks as well as safety training and rescue training – an even medical and surgical training when used alongside simulated touch, smell and weight. VR can also be used in training to improve patient care, for example, providing students with the chance to ‘experience’ the heightened senses of autism, the sensation of partial blindness and the potential confusion of hearing loss.

Owing to the immersive and risk-averse nature of VR and AR, the National Institute of Health Research awarded £4 million in funding for the development of VR treatments for use in the NHS. The projects funded include a VR therapy package for patients with psychosis and a package for young people with social anxiety. Meanwhile, patients in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire are offered VR treatments and therapy for a fear of heights, which is producing positive results.

In addition to these funded projects, there is an array of experimental projects using AR and VR currently underway including remote ‘face-to-face’ consultations and simulated procedures so doctors can experience these from a patient’s perspective. For example, VR can enable trainee doctors to access and view areas inside the human body that would otherwise be inaccessible. Quite simply, medical professionals are now able to view every part of the body in minutes, while using 360 ̊CGI reconstructions to create training scenarios which replicate common surgical procedures.

Some healthcare providers are filming real-life surgery and combining this with CGIs of the anatomy being operated on to provide an immersive and interactive training experience.

While some of these concepts and uses may seem implausible, as it is still very early in the AR and VR lifecycle, it is difficult to know which will work and which will fail. And this is why it’s critical for the sector to stress test solutions for success and to ensure there are no risks to patients.

Similarly, it’s vital healthcare workers are suitably trained to use these new technologies. Learning and development departments must therefore consider the rollout of concepts as well as the delivery mechanisms in order to ensure they are able to capitalise on the impact of VR and AR.

The bottom line is AR and VR can play a significant role in healthcare as it looks to reduce risk and modernise its learning and training methods. However, healthcare providers need to understand the technologies’ capabilities – not mention learn how to analyse the data that comes with them – which means identifying partners that can help them on their journey to adoption.