We have EPIC News!
We are excited to finally announce that we have been chosen to receive an EPIC MegaGrant for our creative virtual reality work on the NorQuest IV Medication Administration.
What is a MegaGrant?
We use Unreal Engine (a game engine) to develop and design our virtual reality, and augmented reality experiences. Unreal Engine is owned by Epic Games, who have created the EPIC MegaGrants program to support game developers, educators, and media creators that use their engine to do amazing things.
The program encourages technological advancement, innovation, and creativity in the community.
The Project
We were approached by NorQuest College to use virtual reality to support their Licensed Practical Nurse program. The desired outcome was an experience that would allow students to practice the procedural steps in preparing IV medications for administration to a patient. This is a particularly tricky and high-risk procedure involving many pieces of apparatus, multiple locations, the understanding of doctor’s orders and medical documentation, as well as a fair bit of manual dexterity.
Experience it for yourself!
With the development of this immersive virtual reality experience, there was a desire to create an open world that would closely mimic the real hospital environment. With the help of the Unreal Engine and the VRExpansionPlugin, this allowed us to create highly detailed and intuitive VR interactions with the various tools and props found in the medical procedure. A great deal of work was put into the development of these interactions and physics to make sure the experience was as close to reality as possible for the student.
We also custom developed the game logic in such a way that it allowed for the students to move through the procedure in a more fluid and realistic way. The student’s entire session data is recorded and then reported back to them highlighting what they did correct and any steps they may have missed in the scenario. This tracking system is extremely robust and encourages the user to repeat the procedure until they achieve a perfect score.
Thank You!
We are immensely grateful to EPIC Games and Unreal Engine for their support and recognition of our work. We look forward to continuing and growing our work, knowing that the applications for this technology are endless.