Overnight hackathon shows the promise of virtual reality as a health care tool
During an overnight event held at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, teams of biomedical engineers, computer scientists, physical therapists and even toy designers took part in “Hacking Virtual Medicine,” a design, development and coding marathon that challenged participants to create virtual reality health care solutions for patients and providers.
Using game design software and smartphones enhanced with cardboard 3-D viewers on Oct. 3-4, six teams addressed problems of disease management, social isolation, on-the-job training and doctor-patient communication.
To build empathy — and encourage treatment compliance — a USC team simulated what diabetic patients might experience if they lose their eyesight due to disease progression. California Institute of Technology contestants captured the chaos of a code blue emergency in a hospital room to prepare budding physicians before they experience the real thing. And a trio with day jobs at the Walt Disney Co. designed a way to immersively display internal organs so doctors can better explain what is going on inside of bodies.
“I really feel like we are at the beginning of something big,” said Jay Iorio, director of innovation at the IEEE Standards Association. “This collaboration marks the start of bringing a really transformative technology to bear on health care, building a community of technologists and content creators, and working together to create new realities for the future.”
The event was sponsored by CBC, ICT and the IEEE Standards Association, with support from USC D-Health @HTE and Doctor Evidence.
See the full story here: http://news.usc.edu/87102/overnight-hackathon-shows-the-promise-of-virtual-reality-as-a-health-care-tool/