The 2nd webinar on Immersive reality in child health, organised within the one-year educational program set by the EPTRI Paediatric Medical Devices Platform, was held on 14 November 2023. More than 40 attendees had the opportunity to delve into the latest developments in empirical studies surrounding the utilization of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality among child populations.
Our first speaker was Ivan Phelan. Ivan is the Director of the Impact VR Lab at Sheffield Hallam University (UK) whose pioneering virtual reality solutions in healthcare have supported a range of unmet needs. Ivan showcased compelling evidence of how virtual gaming experiences can significantly influence and improve real-world motor skills and performance among young patients.
The second speaker of the webinar was Prof. Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss. Tamar is a professor emeritus at the University of Haifa, Haifa and an executive research advisor at The Helmsley Pediatric & Adolescent Rehabilitation Research Center, ALYN Hospital in Israel. Prof. Weiss provided the audience with a closer look at the broader applications of virtual reality in healthcare and how VR technology is being harnessed to support and accelerate patient recovery across various medical contexts.
Our last speaker was Emilia Biffi, a researcher at the Scientific Institute Eugenio Medea in Italy. Emilia shared the best practices for applications developed for the clinical setting and their translation towards immersive training at home.
The webinar slides and recording are available here.