Tolerability and Acceptability of Autonomous Immersive Virtual Reality Incorporating Digital Twin Technology for Mass Training in Healthcare

Matthew W Zackoff; David Davis; Michele Rios; Rashmi D Sahay; Bin Zhang; Ian Anderson; Matthew NeCamp; Ingrid Rogue; Stephanie Boyd; Aimee Gardner; Gary L Geis; Ryan A Moore

doi:10.1097/SIH.0000000000000755

Tolerability and Acceptability of Autonomous Immersive Virtual Reality Incorporating Digital Twin Technology for Mass Training in Healthcare

Simul Healthc. 2023 Nov 13. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000755. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Matthew W Zackoff¹, David Davis, Michele Rios, Rashmi D Sahay, Bin Zhang, Ian Anderson, Matthew NeCamp, Ingrid Rogue, Stephanie Boyd, Aimee Gardner, Gary L Geis, Ryan A Moore

Affiliation

¹ From the Division of Critical Care Medicine (M.W.Z.), Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Center for Simulation and Research (D.D., M.R., I.A., M.N., I.R., S.B., A.G.), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; Divisions of Biostatistics and Epidemiology (R.S., B.Z.) and Emergency Medicine (G.L.G.), Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; and Heart Institute (R.A.M), Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH.

PMID: 37947844
DOI: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000755

Abstract

Introduction: As part of onboarding and systems testing for a clinical expansion, immersive virtual reality (VR) incorporating digital twin technology was used. While digital twin technology has been leveraged by industry, its use in health care has been limited with no prior application for onboarding or training. The tolerability and acceptability of immersive VR for use by a large population of healthcare staff were unknown.

Methods: A prospective, observational study of an autonomous immersive VR onboarding experience to a new clinical space was conducted from May to September 2021. Participants were healthcare staff from several critical care and acute care units. Primary outcomes were tolerance and acceptability measured by reported adverse effects and degree of immersion. Secondary outcomes were attitudes toward the efficacy of VR compared with standard onboarding experiences.

Results: A total of 1522 healthcare staff participated. Rates of adverse effects were low and those with prior VR experience were more likely to report no adverse effects. Odds of reporting immersion were high across all demographic groups, though decreased with increasing age. The preference for VR over low-fidelity methods was high across all demographics; however, preferences were mixed when compared with traditional simulation and real-time clinical care.

Conclusions: Large-scale VR onboarding is feasible, tolerable, and acceptable to a diverse population of healthcare staff when using digital twin technology. This study also represents the largest VR onboarding experience to date and may address preconceived notions that VR-based training in health care is not ready for widespread adoption.