Abstract Description
Institution: Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service - Queensland, Australia
Background
Future Stories is an arts and health pilot project that aims to explore the potential outcomes of engaging children and their community of carers with virtual reality (VR) experiences.
Aim
The objective of the study was to pilot the use of participatory VR to determine early indicators of efficacy and establish the grounds for a larger funded research project.
Methods
The pilot engaged with adolescents who had extended stays at Queensland Children’s Health in Brisbane. The process included one on one creative workshops with the aim of adolescents devising their own VR experience. This included facilitators using iPads, writing apps, and illustrations to map out potential VR story worlds. This was a participatory process, in which participants become producers/story makers. The process was documented using still images and audio-visual recordings.
Results
Three adolescents were recruited to the study and developed their own VR story over a one-month period. Virtual reality stories related to a moon landing experience, a visit to a village in the Philippines where some of the patient’s family still live, and a visit to a skate park in the USA. Technology allowing, some of the VR videos will be shown during the presentation.
Conclusion
This study found that it was feasible to undertake an arts-based VR research project within the children’s hospital. The VR allowed the adolescents to engage in a process, which stimulated their imagination and thinking, and provided meaning within the context of their ongoing healthcare.
Presenters
Authors
Authors
Associate Professor Anthony Herbert - Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service , Lynne Seear - Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service , Professor Michael Balfour - University of New South Wales , Dr Jennifer Penton - Griffith University , Dr Jan Cattoni - Central Queensland University , Dr Margaret Gibson - Griffith University , Dr Neil Archer - Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service , Dr Susan Trethewie - Sydney Children's Hospitals Network , Kirstyleah Goymour - Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
