What You Should Know:
– Lee Health’s Golisano Children’s Health Center in Naples, FL has deployed a new immersive virtual reality treatment room to improve the chemo experience for kids with cancer. Today, children battling cancer can now receive their chemotherapy while traveling to outer space, going on a deep-sea diving adventure or being immersed inside a video game.
– The opening of the immersive treatment room took place earlier this year and is part of a comprehensive expansion of pediatric health care services at Golisano Children’s Health Center.
Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment Room
The goal of the room is to create a soothing atmosphere to help make the 2-to-6-hour chemotherapy treatments more comfortable for children. Inside the innovative treatment room, the walls are covered by floor-to-ceiling projections to give kids a 270-degree immersive experience while they undergo chemotherapy treatments. Children are able to choose from different backdrops, such as the beach, space or underwater, and then be completely immersed in their surroundings. The virtual experience also includes sounds and interactive elements. For example, in the space setting, kids can hit a button on the screen to interact with the astronaut, including making him dance. In addition to the different experience choices, kids can also use the room to watch movies, play video games or video chat with friends and family while receiving their treatment.
Children like 8 year-old Edwin Garcia who once hated chemo appointments now enjoy going to them.
“It has been like night and day for Edwin. He gets so excited going to his chemotherapy now,” said Keiry Flores, Edwin’s mother. “It’s amazing what this room does and just how life-like it is. I’ll never forget the first time he used the immersion room. They had the beach scene up and it’s like he forgot where he really was. He took off his shirt and settled in for his chemo. I couldn’t believe it!”
Golisano Children’s Hospital partnered with local company d3 Creative Studio in the development and design of the immersion room.
