8D is working on a co-creative design process within the research partnership ‘VR4eVR’, which includes the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Royal Visio, and a range of healthcare providers and academic institutions. The goal of this collaboration is to use virtual reality to enhance care for individuals with visual impairments following a stroke. Our team will facilitate a co-creation process with end-users, physicians, and researchers to identify the requirements needed to achieve this goal and create a successful, sustainable healthcare product.
Around half of stroke survivors experience hemianopia, a form of partial blindness. This condition occurs when a part of the brain responsible for visual processing is damaged, leading to blindness on the left or right side of both eyes. Hemianopia can greatly affect activities such as navigating traffic, reading, working, shopping, and watching TV. Beyond the psychological and emotional impacts, it also affects overall health and social participation.
The VR4eVR collaboration (pronounced “VR forever”) brings together expertise in VR technology, brain research, visual rehabilitation, and serious gaming to improve care for this group. The main goal is to create a virtual reality home training program that enables individuals to rehabilitate at their own pace, in the comfort of their own environment. This initiative aims to support around 1,000 people each year, helping them gain greater control over their recovery and rehabilitation process. In doing so, it seeks to reduce the strain on healthcare systems and lower barriers to rehabilitation.
Another important objective is to involve family, colleagues, and professionals in the lives of those with partial blindness, helping them better understand the visual impairment. This increased awareness is expected to foster greater empathy, making social and professional participation more accessible for those affected.
This integrated approach aligns with our experience in developing creative interventions for healthcare. We believe that innovation thrives when it engages the surrounding community, even during the development process. Such involvement significantly increases the chances of successful implementation, and we are excited to contribute our expertise in co-creative design and implementation to this large-scale research project.
The VR4eVR consortium is led by Prof. Frans W. Cornelissen, Professor of Visual Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at UMCG. Other partners in the consortium include the University of Groningen, the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, Tilburg University, Utrecht University, Hanze University, and Royal Visio. In addition to funding from NWO, the project also receives financial support from the Visio Foundation.
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