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In the context of health professions education (HPE), simulation can be defined as an educational technique that allows interactive and immersive activities by recreating all or part of a clinical experience without exposing patients to any associated risks (including ethical and safety risks, amongst others) [1]. Although simulation-based training has been widely adopted as a part of HPE, significant and increasing setup, fixed per year, and variable per course hour costs raise a prohibitive barrier of entry [2]. However, current advances in immersive technologies including those pertaining to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), are providing innovative tools to design immersive solutions that are available to a wide range of users through consumer-level hard-ware [3]. The field of simulation is currently seeing a great effort and emphasis on the use of VR, AR and serious games, that is, video games applied specifically to learning and training, to better motivate and engage the trainee in an ethically safe and cost-effective manner. With respect to trainees, stronger engagement has been associated with academic achievement [4]. In contrast to traditional teaching environments where the teacher controls the learning (e.g., teacher-centred), serious games and virtual simulations present a learner-centred approach to education, so that the trainee controls the learning through interactivity thus permitting an active, and critical learning approach [5]. Serious gaming can potentially bridge the simulation and gaming worlds by harnessing the educational value of technology-enhanced simulation to convey specific technical, psycho motor, and cognitive skills to trainees alongside the motivational, inter-active, and engaging benefits inherent in games [6]. The recent availability of consumer-level VR and AR (immersive) technologies are blurring the line between the physical world and the simulated or digital world

We are pleased to announce the First Immersive Technologies and Serious Gaming for Medical Education, a workshop dedicated to immersive technologies (AR/VR), serious gaming, and virtual simulation to health professions education. The venue will provide an opportunity for the demonstration and study of the ways in which immersive technologies, serious gaming, and virtual simulation are transforming the health professions educational landscape. It is a platform for disseminating innovative research and development work, applying lessons learned, and developing new ideas through audience interaction. The workshop brings together researchers, developers, industry/business, and government partners for formal and informal engagement and examination of emergent features of immersive technologies, serious games, virtual simulations, and the potential impact to health professions education and society as a whole that they present.

References

1. D. Perkins, “Simulation in resuscitation training,” Resuscitation, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 202–211, 2007.
2. Zendejas, A. T. Wang, R. Brydges, S. J. Hamstra, and D. A. Cook, “Cost: The missing outcome in simulation-based medical education research: A systematic review,” Surg., vol. 153, no. 2, pp. 160–176, 2013.
3. M. Gaba and A. DeAnda, “A comprehensive anesthesia simulation environment: Re-creating the operating room for research and training,” Anesthesiology, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 387–394, 1988.
4. J. Shute, M. Ventura, M. Bauer, and D. Zapata-Rivera, “Melding the power of serious games and embedded assessment to monitor and foster learning,” in Serious Games. Mechanisms and Effects, U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, and P. Vorderer, Eds. New York, NY, USA: Routedle Publishers, 2009. A. J. Stapleton, “Serious games: Serious opportunities,” in Proc. Australian Game Developers’ Conf., 2004, pp. 1–6.
5. de Ribaupierre, B. Kapralos, F. Haji, E. Stroulia, A. Dubrowski, and R. Eagleson, “Healthcare training enhancement through virtual reality and serious games,” in Virtual, Augmented Reality and Serious Games for Healthcare, M. Ma, C. Lakhmi, L. Jain, and P. Anderson, Eds. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2014, pp. 9–27.

Through exciting and thought ­provoking demonstrations and presentations from leaders in academia and industry, the workshop will address a variety of topics including novel developments and applications in all areas related to immersive technologies, and serious gaming to health professions education. Potential topics include but are certainly not limited to the following:

• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
• Serious gaming
• Virtual simulation
• Wearables
• Biometrics
• Gamification
• Big data
• Privacy and security
• Cloud-based computing
• Mobile
• Artificial intelligence
• Human factors and user experience (engagement, immersion, usability, etc.)
• Human-computer interaction
• Play
• Societal, psychological, behavioral, and cultural implications
• Business and economic implications and monetization

In the context of health professions education (HPE), simulation can be defined as an educational technique that allows interactive and immersive activities by recreating all or part of a clinical experience without exposing patients to any associated risks (including ethical and safety risks, amongst others) [1]. Although simulation-based training has been widely adopted as a part of HPE, significant and increasing setup, fixed per year, and variable per course hour costs raise a prohibitive barrier of entry [2]. However, current advances in immersive technologies including those pertaining to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), are providing innovative tools to design immersive solutions that are available to a wide range of users through consumer-level hard-ware [3]. The field of simulation is currently seeing a great effort and emphasis on the use of VR, AR and serious games, that is, video games applied specifically to learning and training, to better motivate and engage the trainee in an ethically safe and cost-effective manner. With respect to trainees, stronger engagement has been associated with academic achievement [4]. In contrast to traditional teaching environments where the teacher controls the learning (e.g., teacher-centred), serious games and virtual simulations present a learner-centred approach to education, so that the trainee controls the learning through interactivity thus permitting an active, and critical learning approach [5]. Serious gaming can potentially bridge the simulation and gaming worlds by harnessing the educational value of technology-enhanced simulation to convey specific technical, psycho motor, and cognitive skills to trainees alongside the motivational, inter-active, and engaging benefits inherent in games [6]. The recent availability of consumer-level VR and AR (immersive) technologies are blurring the line between the physical world and the simulated or digital world

We are pleased to announce the First Immersive Technologies and Serious Gaming for Medical Education, a workshop dedicated to immersive technologies (AR/VR), serious gaming, and virtual simulation to health professions education. The venue will provide an opportunity for the demonstration and study of the ways in which immersive technologies, serious gaming, and virtual simulation are transforming the health professions educational landscape. It is a platform for disseminating innovative research and development work, applying lessons learned, and developing new ideas through audience interaction. The workshop brings together researchers, developers, industry/business, and government partners for formal and informal engagement and examination of emergent features of immersive technologies, serious games, virtual simulations, and the potential impact to health professions education and society as a whole that they present.

References

1. D. Perkins, “Simulation in resuscitation training,” Resuscitation, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 202–211, 2007.
2. Zendejas, A. T. Wang, R. Brydges, S. J. Hamstra, and D. A. Cook, “Cost: The missing outcome in simulation-based medical education research: A systematic review,” Surg., vol. 153, no. 2, pp. 160–176, 2013.
3. M. Gaba and A. DeAnda, “A comprehensive anesthesia simulation environment: Re-creating the operating room for research and training,” Anesthesiology, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 387–394, 1988.
4. J. Shute, M. Ventura, M. Bauer, and D. Zapata-Rivera, “Melding the power of serious games and embedded assessment to monitor and foster learning,” in Serious Games. Mechanisms and Effects, U. Ritterfeld, M. Cody, and P. Vorderer, Eds. New York, NY, USA: Routedle Publishers, 2009. A. J. Stapleton, “Serious games: Serious opportunities,” in Proc. Australian Game Developers’ Conf., 2004, pp. 1–6.

S. de Ribaupierre, B. Kapralos, F. Haji, E. Stroulia, A. Dubrowski, and R. Eagleson, “Healthcare training enhancement through virtual reality and serious games,” in Virtual, Augmented Reality and Serious Games for Healthcare, M. Ma, C. Lakhmi, L. Jain, and P. Anderson, Eds. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2014, pp. 9–27.

Bill Kapralos, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada.

Alvaro Uribe Quevedo, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada.

We invite submissions of extended abstracts in all areas that fall within the scope of the conference. Submissions must present original, unpublished research or experiences. Submissions under review elsewhere MUST NOT be submitted to the workshop. Submissions should properly place the work within the field, cite related work, and clearly indicate the innovative aspects of the work and its contribution to the field along with (even a brief) discussion regarding the potential economic and/or business implications of the work. Paper length is restricted to a maximum of two pages. All accepted submissions will be scheduled for an oral presentation followed by a discussion and Q&A session during the workshop.

Submission Formatting

All submissions must adhere to IEEE formatting: Portable Document Format (PDF) formatted in two-column conference style. Please see the IEEE proceedings template available via the following URL:

http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html