SimVox, the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) speaker from PCS instantly and affordably adds innovative patient communication training technologies to any low-fidelity manikin. Nine years ago, Amazon introduced the Echo smart speaker to the world, ushering in a wave of speakers with built-in AI assistants that you could speak to, and they would speak right back. Need to know the temperature outside, add an item to your grocery list, or simply play a game of Jeopardy? Alexa has your back. Flash forward to today and PCS has introduced a similar concept, albeit for healthcare simulation enthusiasts. This must-read article showcases the new SimVoX Ai Smart Speaker from PCS.
PCS SimVox is the smart speaker for your human patient simulator. Whether you have a simple manikin with zero electronics or the latest high-fidelity manikin with all the bells and whistles, you can use SimVox to enhance your simulation experience. Simply placing the SimVox smart speaker behind the neck of the manikin will breathe new life into any manikin by giving it the ability to speak and portray different patient care scenarios focused on communication.
SimVox is powered by the PCS Conversation Engine™, a cutting-edge technology that enables natural and realistic conversations between learners and simulated patients. SimVox is able to understand and respond back to learner queries with scenario specific responses, enabling simulation technicians or operators to focus on other key elements of managing a complex simulation scenario.
SimVox also opens up the ability to portray scenarios that a simulation tech may not be well versed in. Take for example an OBGYN scenario where only a male staff member is available to run the simulation. In some circumstances, they would be required to also play the voice of the biologically female patient. This could lead to the male staff member providing clinically inaccurate or inappropriate responses due to simply not having lived as a female. SimVox can take on the persona of this scenario with responses generated from a team of content experts who have extensive experience in the field of OBGYN and training AI models.
At the end of each scenario, teams are provided with feedback on their communication and how they performed. Perhaps they asked all pertinent questions but didn’t do so with any empathetic statements or assurances? That will be highlighted in the after-simulation summary so that they can know what went right, and what needs to be improved on next time.
Out of the box, SimVox is equipped with six different patient scenarios to run through focusing on gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immunology, respiratory, mental health and neurology. Each scenario has been created by our team of content experts made up of former standardized patient educators and clinicians who have designed the scenarios to be engaging, challenging, and educational.
Want to Create Your Own Simulated Healthcare Scenario?
SimVox Plus and SimVox Pro come with the next generation of the PCS Communication Engine that leverages generative AI based on tens of thousands of simulation sessions used to train a custom Large Language Model or LLM.
With its next-gen AI, SimVox Plus/Pro is able to understand practically any question and respond appropriately based on the scenario. This type of AI really shines when it comes to extending the scenario description, just as a reasonable human simulated patient would do. This capability enables the LLM to present scenarios as challenging as mental health patients or bad news scenarios. It can even pose questions back to the learner such as asking them to explain the side effects of a certain prescribed medication, or to assess their level of confidence in their diagnosis.
The next-gen AI also completely changes the way scenarios are authored. With a built-in and guided “Patient Concept” document, end users can create their own scenarios by populating background information on the patient such as the history of present illness, temperament, etc. Using this information, the custom-scenario is automatically generated and ready to run.
Quickly Create A More Complete Patient Simulator
If you’re looking to enhance the functionality of some of your existing low-fidelity manikins, SimVox Pro is the upgrade you’re looking for with a fully functional vital sign monitoring system. The included tablet that’s paired to the SimVox speaker displays all relevant vitals that are tied to the running scenario. In addition to communicating with the patient, learners using SimVox Pro can monitor vitals, request labs, and order medications for the patient. You can also adjust the vitals based on the patient’s condition and the learner’s actions.
SimVox Pro is the ultimate solution for creating immersive and realistic simulation scenarios that will help learners develop their clinical reasoning, communication, and empathy skills, complementing the strengths of your existing patient simulator manikins.
Learn more About PCS
PCS is a technology driven healthcare simulation company founded in 2015 by healthcare simulation industry veterans with over 100 years of combined experience. Leveraging the latest in artificial intelligence and machine learning, PCS delivers best-in-class conversational AI to healthcare students across its product portfolio of SimVox and Spark.
View the LEARN CE/CME Platform Webinar from PCS on Using Custom Virtual Patients: Enhancing Experiential Student-led Simulated Learning to learn more!
With PCS SimVox, simulation centers can turn any patient simulator into a patient communication simulator. PCS Spark, enables students to engage with virtual simulated patients on-screen, or in virtual reality from practically any location on the globe.
The affordable AI clinical simulation speaker SimVox is available to purchase now through the PCS website!
