Virtual Reality at the UKE: Promoting Reality-Based Training

Since 2020, the Jung Foundation has been supporting the UKE Foundation in funding a project promoting the establishment of VR technology for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine Hamburg.

In 2019, the Medical Faculty of Hamburg initiated a pilot study to compare conventional, mentor-instructed group CPR training with individual VR training. The study concluded that in some areas, the learning outcomes from VR training were significantly improved compared to conventional training. VR goggles and special sensors that recognise users’ hands enable more realistic teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, making virtual reality a promising tool in medical teaching. Due to the promising educational success of the VR training, the Faculty of Medicine decided to permanently incorporate VR technology into their student training at the UKE in the future. The Jung Foundation is funding a follow-up study to reduce identified weaknesses in the technical-haptic area of the VR training. During the one-year research project, the UKE and the Hamburg-based start-up company VIREED will first develop a new and improved version 2.0 of the VR software, including both technical and content-related changes. In a follow-up study, first-year students will test the new version 2.0 of the VR software. The randomised study will look for any evidence of inferiority of the VR group compared to the conventional group in terms of no flow time, quality of cardiac massage and outcome in the summative, standardised test at the end of the course. Furthermore, the study aims to demonstrate an improved learning outcome in the VR group. The long-term goal of the study is not only to establish VR technology as an integral part of teaching at the Medical Faculty of Hamburg, but to make it available to the wider population in order to provide good training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

As an active member of the Board of Trustees of the UKE Foundation, the Jung Foundation assists the Board and makes recommendations regarding the allocation of funds.