JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Traditional methods of delivering Advanced Life Support (ALS) training and re-accreditation are resource intensive and costly. Interactive simulations and gameplay in Virtual Reality (VR) technology can complement traditional training processes as a cost-effective, engaging and flexible training tool.

Objective:

This exploratory study aimed to explore the specific user needs of clinicians engaging with a new interactive ALS-SimVR (Advanced Life Support Simulation in VR) application to inform the ongoing development of such training platforms.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced clinicians (n=10, age M=40.9 years old) following a single playthrough of the application. All clinicians were directly involved in the delivery of ALS in both the clinical and educational settings (M=12.4 years ALS experience; all with minimal or no VR experience). Interviews were supplemented with an assessment of usability (using heuristic evaluation) and presence.

Results:

The ALS-SimVR training app was well received. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed five main areas of user needs that can inform future design efforts for creating engaging training VR apps: affordances, agency, diverse input modalities, mental models and advanced roles.

Conclusions:

This study was conducted to identify user needs of clinicians engaging with ALS-SimVR. However, our findings revealed broader design considerations that can be crucial in guiding future work in this area. While aligning the training scenarios with accepted teaching algorithms is important, our findings reveal improving the user experience and engagement requires careful attention to technology specific issues such as input modalities.