IRVINE, Calif., May 13, 2014 – EON Reality, the world’s leading provider of Virtual Reality software, systems, and applications, today announced that its software powers the Virtual Reality simulations at the University of Toledo’s newly opened three-story, 65,000-square-foot Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center (IISC) on UT’s Health Science Campus.
The newly opened University of Toledo’s Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center (IISC) incorporates a Tri-Center Concept – including the Virtual Immersive Reality Center, Advanced Clinical Simulation Center, and Progressive Anatomy & Surgical Skills Center.
In this center, health-care professionals practice important caregiving skills and procedures using simulations and learn to work as teams in a virtual hospital equipped with realistic human patient simulators. The center also includes the introduction of 3D and Virtual Reality environments to medical education.
“Academic medical centers are expected to be on the leading edge when it comes to integrating technology into curriculum,” UT President Lloyd Jacobs said. “Graduates in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, therapy and the other health professions will be far ahead of their peers as they start to treat patients. The result will be fewer medical errors and better patient outcomes.”
While individual technological components of the UT facility may exist at other simulation centers, UT is among the first to bring together this range of simulation technologies in what Boyers calls the “tri-center concept.”
“These resources will be available to all colleges on the UT campus, offering transformative opportunities for students in other disciplines — spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences and engineering,” said Dr. Pamela Boyers, executive director of the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center. “All of this amazing technology is not limited to studying medicine; for example, modeling and simulation are already used extensively in other industries such as oil and gas, manufacturing and aviation.”
High resolution body part in the 5-wall system (left) and an Oilrig on Toledo’s curved wall (right).
The Virtual Immersive Reality Center features the world’s first 5-sided, seamless, LED, immersive environment and is supported by the EON Icube software solution. With 34 projectors and powered by 17 computers, Toledo’s immersive system sports five “walls”, (back, left, right, floor, and a ceiling). The Center also incorporates a large curved interactive 3D CADwall (70″ cubes in a 3 x 6 configuration) running EON Concave software, and two smaller 3D CADwalls (70″ cubes in a 2 x 2 configuration) utilizing EON Icatcher software.
With these 3D Virtual Immersive Reality environments, health-care learners and other users are, for example, able to “fly through” high definition images of the human body, virtually manipulate cells and organs, work on an oil rig, or design a new kind of automobile.
The Advanced Clinical Simulation Center on the IISC’s second floor includes simulated hospital rooms, an intensive care unit, trauma suite, operating room, a labor and delivery room, pediatric, and ambulatory rooms. An integral part of UT’s training setup is the debriefing rooms alongside the simulation suites. These debriefing rooms are to review simulation performances which aim to encourage team problem solving and to improve patient care.
The Progressive Anatomy and Surgical Skills Center, located on the IISC’s third floor, features several surgical skill suites with numerous surgical skills stations and advanced procedural training labs.
In addition to supporting faculty and students at the University, the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center also works closely with several global industry collaborators, the U.S. military and other health-care organizations.
“Working collaboratively with experts in fields other than health-care helps us broaden our knowledge and skills as we expand our capabilities. Our goal is to provide the best possible education and training so that patients are the beneficiaries of the safest, highest quality and cost-effective care,” Boyers said.
About The University of Toledo’s Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center The Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center’s goal is to positively impact patient safety and improve the quality of care by training health care professionals using simulation models and simulated clinical settings. The ultimate goal is to create a new model for the education of health care professionals. This model includes preparation for team training; electronic learning; competency assessment; and outcomes measurement as routine components of training for all health professionals.
In addition, the UT-IISC will serve as a hub for innovation and the fostering of partnerships with industry to create and develop new products, processes and procedures that enhance patient care. For further information, visit https://www.utoledo.edu/centers/iisc/
About EON Reality
EON Reality is the world’s leading provider of Virtual Reality software, systems and applications. EON Reality provides state-of-the-art 3D display technology for immersive and stereoscopic viewing, from portable tablet PCs and glass free stereo display systems to curved-screen and immersive rooms consisting of multi-channel projection walls. The technology foundation for developing interactive digital content includes importing the most common 3D animation formats into EON’s authoring software and creating modules and applications that can be viewed on various display systems. EON’s technology solutions enable all organizations to more effectively visually communicate, collaborate and accelerate knowledge transfer. For further information, visit www.eonreality.com.
