At Rigshospitalet, a Danish hospital for patients requiring specialized treatments, kids that fear syringes are barely aware that their blood is being taken. This is thanks to a virtual reality game developed by Khora, a nearby virtual and augmented reality production firm. The Ballade på Badebroen (Trouble on The Jetty) game was the result of trying a variety of different games to test out which are the most distracting while avoiding too much body movement by the children.
The experience was designed so that clinicians working on the patient can hear the sounds emanating from the game, allowing them to talk with the child about what is going on in the virtual world rather than the real one. Only one hand is used to control the game, allowing the other one to rest on the side. Moreover, the action always occurs in the visual front, so that the child doesn’t turn to the side and keeps focused on the action ahead.
Here’s a split-screen video of a child getting a blood draw while playing Ballade på Badebroen:
Via: Rigshospitalet…
Link: Khora…