JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Immersive technologies provide therapeutic adjuncts for pediatric care. However, accessibility and inadequate training limit implementation. Standardized instruction with no-cost software licensing may improve healthcare providers’ facility with immersive technologies.

Objective:

This retrospective review examined immersive technology utilization in pediatric healthcare. Immersive technologies included virtual reality (VR) and projectors.

Methods:

We developed immersive technology instructional guides for pediatric healthcare and tracked anonymized usage through monitoring software. The primary outcome explored utilization across sites with no-cost software licenses. The secondary outcome reported specific application types at a single site by sessions and minutes. Descriptive statistics analyzed the data.

Results:

Data were collected from 19 sites from January 2022 to June 2022. 32% of sites used 10 or more VR units. Of sites that had projectors, 50% used five or more. The mean and 25-75% range of minutes used per month of all sites combined was 2,199 (51-1,058) minutes. Secondary results indicate active VR (977 total sessions) and passive projector streaming (1,261 total sessions) were the most popular application types by session, while active projector (66,849 total minutes) and passive projector streaming (32,711 total minutes) were the most popular by minutes.

Conclusions:

Context-specific technological instruction coupled to no-cost licenses may increase access to immersive technology in pediatric healthcare settings, particularly among adult learners.