1) Today I was privileged to take part in a Virtual Reality 360° Operation Study as a volunteer for a research project. The Principal Investigator was none other than Dr. Cuan Harrington, the surgeon trainee who was in charge of the Surgical Laporoscopy projects which we continuously engaged in previously. Anyway, this study aims to compare and contrast the effectiveness of 3D environments and 2D environments in medical/surgical education.
2) The best part? We got to test out some really cool VR Headsets, complete with a 10 minute video of a cholecystectomy (surgical removal of gallbladder) being performed. I started off watching the 2D version (on a 75in TV no less!), and four times during the video, a prompt would require me to answer a simple question on a piece of paper, before the video continued. At the end of the video, there was a short MCQ paper to access the information that I had been given.
3) Then it was the fun part - testing out the Samsung Gear VR Headsets. These were connected to the Samsung smartphone, and provided the user with an immersive virtual environment. It was a bit surreal in the beginning, since you physically look up down left and right to view the environment, just like in real life. The same method of evaluation was used, and after finishing the MCQ paper, there was an additional survey on comparing the two methods for the purpose of research. In my opinion, I stated that while the 3D environment was much more visually stimulating and ultimately more fun, surprisingly enough, I found the 2D conventional method of video to be more useful for studying.
4) The main complaint I had was the 3D environment required some time to adjust, and sometimes rotating the head was difficult in real time, when you didn't know where to focus on. The 2D video, on the other hand, had everything on one screen, so it was easy to know where to look. My suggestion for the next step in this research was to procure the use of the Oculus Rift (much more powerful in comparison) and incorporate physical movement i.e. walking into the research. This would allow the full spectrum of the virtual environment to be explored and accessed for it's efficacy as a teaching tool.
5) After a fascinating experience, I spent the rest of the night in the library (since I was already here). The following week promises to be packed with fun activities as well, and I can't wait for it. Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a lovely weekend ahead. Cheers! :D
Gemma and Athena, research students working on this project,
of which me and Zi Yan were lucky to be volunteers ^^
Dundrum Town Centre this morning
75" Flat Screen TV - that's more than enough to satisfy my video game needs XD
2D experience before moving on to the next room for the 3D one...
The Samsung Gear VR Headsets used :))
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