Virtual Human Standardized Patients for Clinical Training
Abstract
A virtual revolution is ongoing in the use of simulation technology for clinical purposes. When discussion of the potential use of Virtual Reality (VR) applications for human research and clinical intervention first emerged in the early-1990s, the technology needed to deliver on this "vision" was not in place. Consequently, during these early years VR suffered from a somewhat imbalanced "expectation-to-delivery" ratio, as most users trying systems during that time will attest. Yet it was during the computer revolution in the 1990's that emerging technologically-driven innovations in behavioral healthcare had begun to be considered and prototyped. Primordial efforts from this period can be seen in early research and development (R and D) that aimed to use computer technology to enhance productivity in patient documentation and record-keeping, to deliver cognitive training and rehabilitation, to improve access to clinical care via internet-based teletherapy, and in the use of VR simulations to deliver exposure therapy for treating specific phobias. Over the last 20 years the technology required deliver behavioral health and medical training applications has significantly matured. This has been especially so for the core technologies needed to create VR systems where advances in the underlying enabling technologies (e.g., computational speed, 3D graphics rendering, audio/visual/haptic displays, user interfaces/tracking, voice recognition, artificial intelligence, and authoring software, etc.) have supported the creation of low-cost, yet sophisticated VR systems capable of running on commodity level personal computers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 24, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1171588
Entities
People
- Albert Rizzo
- Thomas Talbot
Organizations
- University of Southern California