At the recent Augmented World Expo (AWE) Asia meeting, delegates heard how Pfizer had trained large numbers of its Covid vaccine production staff using VR. They chose VR because the production line needed to be operating 24/7 during the pandemic and so could not be stopped for training purposes. The company deployed 500 Meta Quest 2 headsets loaded with a … Read More
Bringing an SmPC to life through Immersive Media
The summary of product characteristics (SmPC) for a pharmaceutical product is a legal document full of important facts and information but not known for its literary flair. Neither is it the sort of thing you would take to bed for a relaxing hour or two. If you were to take a straw poll of biopharmaceutical marketing and medical staff, you … Read More
Feeling our Way towards the Future: Haptic VR and immersive pharmaceutical training tools
Recent breakthroughs and innovations in haptics hardware for VR have significant implications for pharmaceutical companies, particularly in the areas of training, education, and patient care. The use of Extended Reality (XR) technology, which includes Virtual Reality (VR) and haptics, is gaining traction in the healthcare industry, with a focus on medical education, clinical skills training, and patient education. For pharmaceutical … Read More
Embracing a New Reality: Meta Quest 3, a Breath of Fresh Air in VR
Yesterday, the Empathetic Media Health team took delivery of several new Meta Quest 3 headsets and we immediately set about testing them – in advance of upcoming client meetings. We very rapidly realised that the Meta Quest 3 is a game-changer, bringing a breath of fresh air to the immersive tech scene. This new headset redefines the experience of wearing … Read More
Immersive Healthcare: The Revolution of Medical Training Through VR, AR, and MR Simulations
In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the convergence of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) is ushering in a new era for medical training. These immersive technologies are poised to redefine the way medical professionals learn and hone their skills, presenting a multitude of benefits that extend from the safety of training environments to the exploration … Read More
Virtual Reality for Mental Health
Mental health has become one of society’s biggest issues with around one in seven people now taking antidepressants. Whether this is caused by events such as pandemics, wars and economic difficulties, social media reporting of such events or simply a greater awareness and tendency to self-diagnose, there is a tsunami of potentially ill people in need of therapy. There is … Read More
Are We Living in a Virtual Reality?
The idea that our human experience might be a virtual reality creation, produced by higher beings or our future selves, might sound like the plot of a science fiction novel or something straight out of the Matrix! However, recent advances in technology have given this theory a fascinating twist. Virtual reality (VR) experiences that we can create ourselves are now … Read More
Meet the new Meta Quest 3 Headset: A Bold Step Towards Mixed Reality
Earlier this week, at the start of the annual Meta Connect developer conference, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed the details of the much-awaited Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset. Like previous versions of the headset, the Quest 3 will cover the wearer’s eyes like a pair of ski googles, with spatial audio piped from embedded speakers in the device’s … Read More
The (R)evolution of Virtual Reality in Medicine and Pharma: from Outsider to Insider
Virtual Reality (VR) has made extraordinary progress since its inception, moving beyond the early days of 360-degree videos to the interactive, standalone (not requiring an external PC, just the headset) VR experiences we enjoy today. Companies like Meta (formerly Facebook) have been at the forefront of this transformation, continually investing in VR technology and integration across various sectors, including healthcare. … Read More
How are large pharma companies using immersive technologies?
As immersive technology becomes more widespread, here are a few examples of large pharmaceutical companies using it for training of HCPs and patients as well as for R&D. This list doesn’t represent an exhaustive account of all use cases but gives a flavor of what’s happening in the sector. Pfizer: Pfizer has been using VR for training purposes. They developed … Read More