The University of Ulm now opened the Virtual Reality Lab. What is that?
Grab: At the request of the students, we set up the Virtual Reality Lab and implemented it thanks to the financial support of the studies advisory committee. As part of a teaching project, we converted a study room at the hospital and permanently installed three VR headsets. During study times that are overseen by didactically trained tutors, students can use the VR Lab of their own volition to study – typically in the afternoons or on weekends. Having said that, the idea is to also embed it in curriculum events in the future.
We have an application with the spatial view of the heart for example. We created the model to illustrate various cross-sections of the heart that - although visible in a 2D echocardiogram – are difficult to envision within the structure of the heart. As with ultrasound, the associated structures and functions such as blood flow or oxygen supply are illustrated three-dimensionally. This allows users to actually immerse themselves in the virtual heart.
What accomplishments do you expect to see from medical students that are perhaps not achievable with other methods?
Grab: We expect success not just in situations that require strong spatial intelligence but also in stressful situations where many things happen simultaneously. We want to avoid the leap from the lecture hall into the operating room so to speak. There has to be something that comes in-between. The VR Lab creates a link between theory and practice. Take the example of the mundane act of drawing blood: we usually prefer it, if someone first practices on a simulator before poking us in the arm.
That being said, there are limits to virtual reality as it pertains to knowledge acquisition or theoretical teaching. For example, it’s impossible to take notes at the same time. That's why it only makes sense to illustrate processes or situations where students already have acquired the respective theoretical knowledge.