Enhanced Reality for Healthcare Simulation

Salvetti, Fernando; Gardner, Roxane; Minehart, Rebecca D.; Bertagni, Barbara

Enhanced reality for immersive simulation (e-REAL®) is the merging of real and virtual worlds: a mixed reality environment for hybrid simulation where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time, in a real place and not within a headset. The first part of this chapter discusses e-REAL: an advanced simulation within a multisensory scenario, based on challenging situations developed by visual storytelling techniques. The e-REAL immersive setting is fully interactive with both 2D and 3D visualizations, avatars, electronically writable surfaces and more: people can take notes, cluster key-concepts or fill questionnaires directly on the projected surfaces. The second part of this chapter summarizes an experiential coursework focused on learning and improving teamwork and event management during simulated obstetrical cases. Effective team management during a crisis is a core element of expert practice: for this purpose, e-REAL reproduces a variety of different emergent situations, enabling learners to interact with multimedia scenarios and practice using a mnemonic called Name-Claim-Aim. Learners rapidly cycle between deliberate practice and direct feedback within a simulation scenario until mastery is achieved. Early findings show that interactive immersive visualization allows for better neural processes related to learning and behavior change.