Insights on Emerging Technologies from IHIET
By Victoria Vavala
The International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies (IHIET) brought together presenters from more than 40 countries to discuss new and upcoming research in design and technology. As the Medical Research Coordinator for The DICE Group’s XR Lab, I had the opportunity to present our research analyzing the effects of virtual reality (VR) on medical education with DICE’s Chief Digital Officer, Neil Gomes.
Does Virtual Reality Have an Impact on Medical Education?
Medical learning has remained largely unchanged for decades, but modern students are more interested in hands-on education than traditional textbooks and lectures. This inspired us to find out if VR could improve the learning comprehension, retention and motivation of medical students and share those findings at IHIET.
After completing our research, we determined that the benefits of using VR for learning largely depend on the content. The most effective use cases took advantage of the intrinsic benefits of VR, such as an increase in spatial awareness and immersive interaction. Those that simply imported PowerPoint slides into a VR setting did not, and the results reflect this.
Given how much is still unknown, we plan to continue our research by conducting our own study comparing immersive medical VR content and traditional two-dimensional learning tools. As we continue to learn more about VR at DICE, I’m looking forward to being part of this conversation around its effect on medical education and sharing our findings through events and conferences like IHIET.
3 Emerging Ideas Presented at IHIET
Designing for Humans
Whether it was a presentation like our research on education, a deep dive into the ethics of AI design or a discussion on self-driving cars, the IHIET conference made it clear that design and technology are shifting towards human-centered design.
The rise of user experience (UX) design has led to an increased understanding of how to make good technology. New applications and devices aren’t created in a vacuum. The intended user is now part of the conversation.
For example, in the presentation Virtual Workshops on the Road, Daniel De La Flor Aceituno discussed the location updating effect: when we come up with a new idea, our brain stores a mental image of where we had the idea. That’s why sometimes you’ll get up to find something and only remember what it was when you return to your seat. Their research puts drivers into a driving simulation to get their honest and complete feedback on new concepts for cars, including self-driving ones.
From Communication to Community
The ubiquitous nature of mobile devices and social media has given us the ability to connect with information constantly. We can communicate with people on the other side of the world, but this overload of information can be isolating.
As Scott MacKinnon stated during his talk on Human Factors Perspective to Preventing Unruly Technologies, the time has come to move from the techno-social age to a social-technical age. Rather than promoting communication, new tech is gearing to promote community.
AugmentedBook, an eLearning AR platform, provides a resource for better teacher-to-student and student-to-student collaboration, both in and out of the classroom. The Factory2Fit system allows factory workers to better troubleshoot system alarms and ease the transfer of knowledge between employees. Even in the niche realm of Space Architecture, the next generation of space stations are being designed with the knowledge that habitat affects crew psychology: functionality should still provide space for human interaction and a sense of home.
Innovation is for Everyone
Technology is traditionally made for able-bodied users, but that’s changing. In Anya Evmenova’s presentation Designing Technologies for Neurodiverse Users, she highlighted a remarkable new application used with wearable tech that allows college students with intellectual disability disorders to achieve greater autonomy in their classes.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Christina Zavlanou presented her team’s research on age-related visual deficiencies. Her team used VR simulation to mimic macular degeneration and cataracts to uncover how visual impairment impacts a user’s response to pillbox designs. Her work embodies the idea that we should not design separately for the elderly, but instead make design elderly-friendly.
Closing Thoughts
As part of DICE’s XR Lab, our mission is to improve access, research and education around extended-reality in healthcare. Attending the IHIET Conference was inspiring to see that researchers around the globe share our sentiments that innovative technology should be available for all, that the possibilities are limitless when we work as a community and that at the end of the day, technology is most useful when it helps us be more human.
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Victoria Vavala
Victoria Vavala, the Medical Research Coordinator for the XR Lab at The DICE Group, designs and implements research studies around XR tech using a patient and provider-centered approach. As a proud Hufflepuff, she finds herself most at home baking, crafting and bringing a little magic into the world.
