Italian Researchers Develop Augmented Reality Device That Could Potentially Enable Laypeople To Perform Complex Medical Procedures

Credit: Mayo Clinic

Perhaps one of the most frightening things that can happen to a human being is being struck with Alzheimer’s disease. With an estimated 6 million Americans living in facilities that specialize in Alzheimer’s care and an aging Baby Boomer population, it’s possible that we’ll see this human ailment turn into an institutional problem in the next few years.

Los Angeles-based Embodied Labs is looking to alleviate some of this pressure with mixed reality.

They’ve developed a new program that helps train caregivers by simulating what it would be like to suffer from the disease. Using a VR headset, users are transported to a fictional reality where lights feel too bright, the print on grocery products is fuzzy, and family members openly show frustration with your behavior for reasons you can’t understand.

One of the characters in the program, Beatriz, is a 60-something year old math teacher with Alzheimer’s. When users don the headset, they experience what it would like to be in Beatriz’s shoes.

For instance, one of the scenes features her on a park bench with her grown daughter. Beatriz gets visibly flustered when she thinks that her daughter has stolen her purse.

Later in the simulation, she startled by the sudden movement of a shadow on the wall of her living room accompanied by a loud noise. A few seconds later, we realize that the shadow and noise were just distorted inputs from the ceiling fan.

Dr. Neelum Aggarwal of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, an Advisor to Embodied Labs, had this to say about the project:

You are there and you are observing this and you have a deep sense of feeling of what’s happening. We know when there’s an emotional connection to something, that whole experience is enhanced and virtual reality seems to be able to do this.”

When asked about specifically about caregivers, Aggarwal responded:

Caregivers of people with dementia often ask me, ‘What is she feeling? I don’t know what it’s like. My hope is we not only focus on providers and students that will become future physicians but let’s also use this with the caregivers to help them.”

With professional training likely to remain one of the chief uses of augmented and virtual reality technology, it’s possible that we’ll see more programs that tackle tough issues like this in the future. And if it’s more effective than traditional training methodologies, then it’s only a matter of time before it replaces them entirely.

What do you think of Embodied Labs’ new Alzheimer’s care training program? Let us know in a comment!