It’s 2016, ‘Back to the Future’ day has come and gone, and whilst we are still working on the hoverboard there are certainly some impressive futuristic technologies rapidly developing.
A particularly fascinating advancement can be seen in the new leap forward with virtual reality (VR) headsets – and, where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
VR isn’t necessarily ‘new’, as the technology has been around since the 1980s, but the more recent developments are appearing in a lot of exciting places – from gaming, to ‘in movie’ apps allowing you to enjoy an old episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix in your Alpine Chalet.
There’s another market using VR more and more, and gaining a wide range of benefits, and that’s healthcare and healthcare communications:
- Medical and surgical training – used in a plethora of ways, a particularly successful example is in CPR training. VR showed an 80% training retention rate, compared to 20% by traditional methods. VR and augmented reality (AR) are also being used for surgical training, enabling doctors to experience medical procedures in preparation for real life surgeries, reducing training costs and improving patient safety
- Exposure therapy – used for treating phobias in a safe, controlled environment
- Treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – again in a safe environment, VR allows people to experience situations that may normally trigger their PTSD, helping them learn coping mechanisms
- Pain management – for example, patients who had suffered severe burns were invited to play the immersive game SnowWorld; significant reductions in pain levels were reported, compared to conventional treatments
- Opportunities for the disabled or infirm – there are many apps giving people with limited abilities experiences they may otherwise not have access to, like exploring the world in a way that might be difficult or impossible in real life, to learning to play the piano with their eyes.
One particularly powerful, and increasingly popular, use for VR in healthcare communications is to provide an immersive patient experience. Shire’s ‘In My Shoes’ campaign is one such example.
Just:: was able to support Shire in overcoming the challenge of breaking down misconceptions around ADHD, building true empathy of the worlds experienced by individuals living with the disorder. Oculus Rift technology enabled the creation of three different ADHD scenarios in first-person worlds, allowing the user to perceive the emotions and reactions from those around them. Surround sound added to the immersive experience, spotlighting specific messages. Users could take the place of:
- Ben, a 10 year old boy, during a basketball lesson
- Ellie, a 16 year old girl, taking an exam
- Peter, a 32 year old man, preparing for a work meeting
Another example is GSK’s Excedrin® Migraine Experience. What’s so impressive about this use of VR is that it really creates empathy for people living with a condition that is often dismissed as ‘just a headache’. VR forces users to realise how horrendous a migraine can be, even without the intense pain that comes with it.
The power behind these campaigns comes from the unfortunate truth that we can often fail to relate to problems that don’t directly impact us. VR creates an experience that places the user in the position of the patient, creating some understanding of the burden of disease.
As the technology becomes more ‘everyday’, competitors must keep the idea exciting and make experiences even more realistic. Subpacs support more physical immersion, and HTC’s Vive and PlayStation®VR are already increasing interaction by incorporating hand controllers.
The impact of VR in healthcare communications should not only be measured by the direct effect of the technology but also by its potential reach. Traditional PR events are held and only the people present will get the full experience, but with further developments in VR, people from all over the world will be able to log on for unified and profoundly immersive events.
Therefore, as the authenticity of VR experiences become evermore impressive, and as the technology becomes more accessible, it’s an exciting time in the world of healthcare communications.
The more realistic our comms toolkits become, the more effective our ability to genuinely and honestly communicate with people everywhere will be – hopefully resulting in a more understanding world and better healthcare outcomes.
“I don’t know if you or I could identify what our last tweet or post was or the billboard we saw on the way to work. But I do remember my first concert, when I got my driver’s license, and kissing my wife goodbye this morning. When we experience something, it’s embedded in us in a way that’s fundamentally different than reading something or looking at something passively.” – Kelly Vaught, owner of BeCore