Purpose The data which is available to surgeons before, during and after surgery is steadily increasing in quantity as well as diversity. When planning a patient’s treatment, this large amount of information can be difficult to interpret. To aid in processing the information, new methods need to be found to present multimodal patient data, ideally combining textual, imagery, temporal and 3D data in a holistic and context-aware system.
This demo depicts a low cost virtual reality set-up that may be used for medical training and instruction purposes. Using devices such as the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra, an immersive experience, including hand interactivity can be given. Software running on a PC integrates these devices and presents an interactive and immersive training environment, where trainees are asked to perform a mixed bag of both, simple and complex tasks. These tasks range from identification of certain organs to performing of an actual incision. Trainees learn by doing, albeit in the virtual world. Components of the system are relatively affordable and simple to use, thereby making such a set-up incredibly easy to deploy. Professionalism and communication skills are important aspects of medical training, and virtual patient applications can offer cost effective, easily accessible platforms for communication practice which complement flexible, student-driven medical school curriculum design. Further, numerous virtual and augmented reality platforms have been introduced recently. This paper explores potential advantages and disadvantages Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR AR) technologies offer to the development of a virtual patient application specifically for communication practice - the Emotive Virtual Patients - with a natural user interface. VR AR technologies may offer highly interactive, immersive virtual patient experiences that tie to our research goals, improve presence and create a more fertile environment to practice empathy, however they may also present platform-specific challenges. A potential virtual patient design framework is discussed, and the unique benefits and limitations of VR AR devices are analyzed. We put our research in the context of other virtual patient research, and hypothesize what benefits in terms of presence and natural user interfaces VR AR may provide. This paper introduces a computer-based system that is designed to record a surgical procedure with multiple depth cameras and reconstruct in three dimensions the dynamic geometry of the actions and events that occur during the procedure. The resulting 3D-plus-time data takes the form of dynamic, textured geometry and can be immersively examined at a later time; equipped with a Virtual Reality headset such as Oculus Rift DK2, a user can walk around the reconstruction of the procedure room while controlling playback of the recorded surgical procedure with simple VCR-like controls (play, pause, rewind, fast forward). The reconstruction can be annotated in space and time to provide more information of the scene to users. We expect such a system to be useful in applications such as training of medical students and nurses.  Objective: To examine the accuracy and effectiveness of a novel virtual reality (VR) simulation tool in capturing Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) Background: Despite its frequency, there remains confusion regarding diagnosing PDP. This may reflect knowledge gaps of its spectrum (i.e., illusions, hallucinations, delusions), overlapping non-motor issues (i.e., vivid dreams, dementia), failure of patients caregivers and healthcare providers (HCP) to discuss PDP, or an inability to “see what patients see” in visual hallucinations. With VR technology, one can simulate experiences not possible in “real life,” and these simulations may provide useful educational tools. Design methods: We developed a novel VR simulation of PDP using Oculus rift technology and descriptions by patients, caregivers, and HCP. The simulation, which included two hallucinatory scenarios, was presented at the 2015 AAN and Movement Disorder Society meetings. Viewers at the latter meeting completed an IRB-approved questionnaire, using a 5-point Likert-scale (“very unlikely” to “very likely”), to rate the simulation’s accuracy of capturing PDP symptoms and impact, effectiveness as a teaching tool, influence on medical practice, and side effects. Results: Questionnaires were completed by 502 602 (83.4[percnt]) viewers (56.8[percnt] Movement Disorder specialists, 40[percnt] Allied HCP Other). Both VR scenarios accurately (“likely very likely”) captured PDP symptoms reported by patients and caregivers (76.4[percnt], 67.6[percnt], respectively) and their impact on patients and caregivers (78.4[percnt], 66.2[percnt], respectively). The scenarios were “likely very likely” to be effective teaching tools for HCP (87.5[percnt]) and caregivers (90.8[percnt]), though slightly less for patients (76.1[percnt]). About 50[percnt] of respondents would “likely very likely” change their medical practice. Few experienced difficulties using the simulation, though mild motion sickness was occasionally reported. Conclusions: Using virtual technology, viewers were able to experience PDP first-hand. The PDP VR simulation has potential as an educational tool for not only HCP, but also caregivers and patients. Greater awareness of PDP may help reduce diagnostic confusion and associated stigma. Disclosure: Dr. Goldman has received personal compensation for activities with Acadia, Teva and Pfizer as a consultant and Advisory Board Member. Dr. Goldman has received research support from NIH, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Rush University Medical Center, Parkinson9 Dr. Stebbins has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fredericks has nothing to disclose. Dr. Upchurch has nothing to disclose. Introduction Virtual reality (VR) and head mount displays (HMDs) have been advanced for multimedia and information technologies but have scarcely been used in surgical training. Motion sickness and individual psychological changes have been associated with VR. The goal was to observe first experiences and performance scores using a new combined highly immersive virtual reality (IVR) laparoscopy setup.