back

Trimbos

Learning method:

Serious gaming

The case

From research report to VR-glasses

How do you make sure that (student) care workers learn to help people who have dementia in a personalized manner? How can you make sure they get the experience they need and that they can put themselves in the shoes of the patient who is battling dementia – even before even getting started in the job? TinQwise Immersive is developing an interactive VR experience with the Trimbos-institute, so care workers can empathize and get a feeling for the assistance they will be providing. That’s the power of immersive learning.

This project, and therefore this case, is still ongoing. Keep an eye on this page for the latest developments and updates!

Kick-off

To experience by himself what it is like to have dementia, TinQwise Immersive’s fellow-owner Jean-Luc Laval joined the staff of a nursing home on the job. Here were people who have been battling Alzheimer already for twenty years.

“It was such an intense experience. We wanted to capture this feeling, and we wanted the app to capture how we’ve experienced in the nursing home during those days, so people can learn from it”, Jean-Luc said.

Development

Currently the team is working hard on creating the characters and other 3D models. It’s a time-consuming task to get the details just right: the expression and emotion in someone’s face are extremely important. Because the realistic appearance is what makes it easier to empathize with the virtual patient. One of the other main tasks is the development of spaces within the game, such as the hallways in the hospital. Trimbos is responsible for the contents of the scenarios, so the game will work properly for people who work in nursing homes, but also for professionals in a hospital or those who provide home care.

Updates

1. Subsidy awarded!
Trimbos Institute and TinQwise were informed that the MIT subsidy that they have applied for has been granted to this joint venture! The goal of the MIT-regulation is to stimulate innovation in medium to small businesses across regions. For the next 1,5 years, we’ll be working on an innovative VR-app for employees who work in dementia care.
2. Join the staff in a nursing home

For every single immersive learning project, we find it crucial to experience for ourselves how it feels to be working among the employees so we can translate that feeling to our VR-app. We’ve been able to join teams in nursing homes for two days in Huizen and Heemskerk, which was a striking experience. Very useful and wonderful to see how health care professionals deal with the patients who need their help.
3. Design session for technique

Which technique will we be using? We’re looking for the best resources to match every single goal and we do extensive target audience research. We’ve run surveys at health care companies, their employees, managers and close family of patients. With these results we develop characters, user insights and make informed choices.
4. 3D characters coming to life
Our 3D artist started designing the characters and bringing them to life. Realistic figures walk past you in VR and respond to touch. But also sounds and voices play an important role in immersive learning, which we are currently working on.
5. First contents design session

Looking for design principles, app flows and user stories. We’ll continue in two weeks for now, we’ve gained a lot of insights for our VR-solution for dementia care!
6. 3D assets to fill up spaces
Together with our 3D modeler we’re working hard on filling up the spaces. What are the most common things in a nursing home? Old tables, specific kinds of chairs, a mirror, a specific type of closet. Everything to ensure that the VR experience becomes as realistic as possible.
7. Did you know?

Did you know that a lot of nursing homes will allow the old front door of the new patient to be brought into the nursing home? That’s how people can feel more at home in a new environment.
8. First user testing
The wireframes, mood board and first scenarios are ready for a user test. During this test we involve potential users and share our designs and scripts with them.
9. Cardboard VR test
During the user test potential users get to wear card board VR glasses with the first version of the app. In a virtual nursing home they will be offered a couple of options to choose from. We’re very interested in their opinions!