HTC’s VIVE Focus Vision headset is the company’s new hybrid standalone PCVR headset. This headset demonstrates the evolution of HTC’s commitment to enhance the virtual learning experience for healthcare professional learners. The VIVE Focus Vision headset offers more features and has some key points that improve the immersive experience and are more useful to support learning. This HealthySimulation.com article will explore the VIVE Focus Vision headset and SimX’s VR application for healthcare professional learners.
VIVE Focus Vision Headset Features
The VIVE Focus Vision headset is a standalone headset or can be used for PCVR through a wired kit. There are many features that increase the immersive experience for the learner. These features improve the experience for learners and the efficiency of the simulation program.
The Auto-Interpupillary Distance (IPD) adjuster plus built-in eye tracking gives every trainee clear visuals automatically when they put on the headset. In simple terms, this is the distance between the wearer’s pupils and in the headset is the clearest spot on the two lenses in the headset – which equates to clear vision in VR. This reduces downtime for multi-user training with a reduction in the need to adjust headset visuals between users.
A built-in sub-battery provides up to 20 minutes of battery life. The main battery provides two hours of power. This requires the battery to be exchanged for a fully charged battery multiple times during a full day of simulation. The sub-battery gives the simulation operations specialists enough time to swap out for a fully charged battery without the requirement to shut down the training experience. This decreases the downtime in the simulation environment and improves efficiency.
The ruggedized frame helps to keep the device safe when used by multiple people day in and day out. The durability of the VIVE Focus Vision headset can withstand tough treatment. This can decrease the downtime in a simulation program caused by the need to service equipment.
VIVE Focus Vision Headset Improves Comfort
There is increased comfort with the VIVE Focus Vision headset, with 30% more air intake, which provides a cooling system that keeps the learner comfortable longer. In addition to the cooler system, the headset has a balanced weight that alleviates face pressure. This is accomplished by a counter-balanced battery in the back of the headset.
The VIVE Focus Vision headset runs at a 90Hz refresh rate in standalone mode and up to 120Hz through its PC-connected DisplayPort cable. This minimizes the ‘glitch’ feeling in the visual display and offers a smooth VR experience. This greatly minimizes some discomfort and motion sickness that some VR users experience. This increases the usability for more learners in the simulation program.
The VIVE Focus Vision headset provides a hygienic experience for all learners. The headset has a removable, cleanable gasket. The Focus Vision face gasket attaches magnetically and is easy to remove and wipe down or swap out for a clean one. This process maintains hygiene during training sessions between users to decrease the downtime between sessions. The easy-to-clean lenses can be easily wiped down with a microfiber cloth. This can decrease the workload of the simulation operations specialists with the VR training experiences. The headset has dual 16-megapixel color cameras for depth-corrected mixed reality that allows for full-color pass-through.
The VIVE Focus headset and hand controllers provide haptic feedback to the learners based on the healthcare simulation program used. The haptic feature allows the learner to feel the rumble of the VR patient interaction. The VIVE Focus Vision, when used with SimX, impresses the learners with the ability to feel the VR patient’s pulses to provide a more realistic learning opportunity.
HTC VIVE Survey
HTC VIVE’s survey of 400 healthcare and social assistance professionals on the state of XR training in the sector found:
-
91% agreed that XR enhances educational plans and empowers training coordinators to be more effective.
-
86% agree that those who complete VR training programs are more confident and develop muscle memory to be successful.
-
75% agree that incorporating XR allows trainees to complete the program in less time.
Effortless Calibration for Maximum Learning Efficiency for Healthcare VR Simulations
One of the standout features of HTC VIVE’s Focus Vision headset is its auto-pupil distance calibration (Auto-IPD). This technology ensures that headsets are ready to go almost instantly for each unique learner, with a significant reduction in setup time and an improvement in image quality, which directly reduces potential motion sickness. For SimX, this particularly helps during scenarios with multiple learners in the virtual environment.
With SimX’s ability to support four or more learners from around the world simultaneously, seamless setup becomes critical. The auto-calibration feature eliminates the need for manual adjustments, allowing educators and learners to focus on what matters most: immersive, interactive, and impactful training. With the minimization of downtime, HTC VIVE headsets help SimX deliver more efficient sessions, enhance engagement, and increase overall participation, no matter the location or learner count.
View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Scope & Scale XR Technologies Across Multiple Healthcare Simulation Programs to learn more!
From Local to Global: Scaling VR Training with HTC VIVE and SimX
The combination of VR’s speed, scale, and immersive realism helps to address the global challenges in healthcare training, such as staff shortages, rural access, and cross-discipline collaboration. The incorporation of VR breaks barriers in global health education with HTC VIVE’s lightweight hardware and SimX’s diverse simulation cases to create opportunities for training in low-resource environments.
SimX is the world’s most comprehensive virtual reality medical simulation training platform and home to the largest library of VR-simulated patient encounters. Developed by clinicians for clinicians, SimX is currently used to train doctors, nurses, EMS, healthcare providers, and military personnel to prepare through more accessible, immersive, and affordable simulated patient encounters. This patented software enables students, instructors, and observers to work together in the same room or from across the world. SimX is a cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) medical simulation platform designed to transform the way healthcare professionals learn, practice, and master critical skills. With immersive, interactive case-based scenarios that are used by healthcare professionals over a wide range of medical disciplines, SimX enables lifelike patient interactions without the risks of real-life training. The platform provides users with hands-on experience in clinical decision-making, teamwork, and communication, all in a flexible, repeatable, and safe VR environment.
HTC VIVE’s hardware allows SimX’s software to be deployed to larger organizations or underserved regions for applications in emergency preparedness, nursing, or global health initiatives. SimX and HTC VIVE work together to create scalable, future-ready solutions for healthcare education and beyond, with a focus on advanced features, which include eye-tracking, high-fidelity simulations, or haptic integration.
With the scalability, ease of use and international access, interdisciplinary training in VR decreases a lot of the logistics required for successful deployment of interprofessional education (IPE). SimX’s IPE capabilities and HTC VIVE’s technology enhance multi-provider training to unite learners from diverse specialties in a shared VR environment to practice team-based care. Research has demonstrated that interprofessional training, effective teamwork, and communication improve patient care and outcomes.
Research Demonstrates the Effectiveness of VR Training
Price Waterhouse Cooper conducted a study on the efficacy of VR training and found that VR-trained employees completed training up to four times faster than classroom learners and e-learners. VR-trained employees were 275% more confident to act on what they learned after training.
A study from the Yale University School of Medicine found that VR-trained surgeons were 29% faster and made six times fewer errors. Surgical residents learning gallbladder dissection showed significant improvements when training using virtual reality.
A study from Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, found that VR training is 83% less expensive and 50% faster than traditional in-person simulation. Institutions and students leveraging virtual reality for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training experienced a significant reduction in cost and time of training.
A study from the Miami Children’s Health System found that students who trained using virtual reality were able to retain nearly 80% of what they learned when tested after one year.
