Embracing the future of immersive technologies for medical education
The technologies of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), video games, virtual worlds and social networks have become collectively known as immersive technologies and are able to engage users of all ages. The continuous increase in computational processing power and accompanying decrease in the size of electronic components has led to the decreasing cost and rising availability of consumer-level immersive technologies have helped advance the adoption of virtual simulation in recent years. Projections for the growth of the VR hardware industry are staggering, with some suggesting that the market will grow to $50 billion by 2021.
This is driven largely in part by video game early adopters although VR and AR are rapidly entering into the medical education and healthcare fields. Within the medical field, VR and AR are not so much technologies of the future but rather, of the present where researchers, medical professionals and educators are finding innovative ways to leverage immersive technologies and transform both healthcare teaching and practice. In fact, over time, it is anticipated that immersive technologies and VR/AR specifically, will play a large role in various medical-based applications including education and training. In this presentation a brief overview of the application of immersive technologies in medical education will be provided. Emphasis will be placed on the benefits and limitations of existing technologies, what currently can and cannot be, and various open problems that must be addressed before the application of immersive technologies becomes more widespread in medical education.
Bill Kapralos is an Associate Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. His current research interests include immersive technologies, serious gaming, multi-modal virtual environments/ simulation/ reality, the perception of auditory events, and 3D (spatial) sound generation for interactive virtual environments. He has led several large interdisciplinary and international virtual simulation/serious gaming research projects and he is currently leading the serious gaming theme within the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Interactive and Multi-Modal Experience Research Syndicate (IMMERSe) initiative. Bill is a recent recipient of an Australian government 2018 Endeavour Executive Fellowship to conduct research in Australia. He is a past recipient of an IBM Centers for Advanced Studies Faculty Award, a past co-recipient of a Google Faculty Award, and a past recipient of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship to conduct research in Japan.
Chair: Prof. Fabrizio Lamberti