AstraZeneca’s Traveling Heart Failure Simulator

Apple’s website features AstraZeneca’s Heart FXPod, a “53-foot-long mobile van outfitted with five virtual reality stations that offer a complex multimedia demonstration involving custom devices and interactive feedback.” So far, the van has logged over 70,000 miles in the field, traveling to medical centers and physician’s conferences. Each of the van’s five simulators runs on a single 6.5″ x 6.5″ x 2″ Mac Mini. The Heart FXPod is designed to allow physicians to feel the fatigue, elevated heart rate, and shortness of breath experienced by patients with congestive heart failure:

Inside the completed Heart FXPod, seated physicians watch an interactive video featuring Hank, a CHF patient, as he tries to take a walk in the park. As Hank’s condition worsens, he has a harder time walking, and consequently, the physicians have a harder time pedaling. When Hank tires even more, the physicians start feeling the effects of CHF as their pneumatic vests tighten, constricting their breathing. They even experience Hank’s elevated heart rate by way of an audio system built into the chair that is so effective it feels as if their own hearts are racing. “It’s an interesting physiological experience,” says Raymond. “After going through the simulation, many doctors said, ‘Wow, I had no idea it was this intense this early on.’”