On Friday 17 May 2019, the Human Interface Technologies (HIT) Team delivered a virtual reality (VR) workshop at a ‘Tomorrow’s World’ conference, organised by Redmaids’ High School in Bristol. This workshop showcased how study and research in this field can lead to careers in healthcare and the defence industry.
Virtual reality technology is currently being used to care for terminally ill patients and this is just one the many hands-on workshops featured in the School’s conference aimed at helping girls find out more about careers in medicine.
Delivering the conference closing keynote, Professor Bob Stone, Director of the HIT Team, described how VR and Mixed Reality technologies are being used in a range of healthcare applications, from helping intensive care patients to training future defence paramedics to save lives on the battlefield.
A recent collaboration between the HIT Team, Postgraduate Engineering student Elza Mathew from the University of Birmingham and Consultant Dr Sheila Popert, led to the innovation of the VR application in the support of palliative care patients which included narration by Sir David Attenborough. Delegates at the conference will also be able to experience the results of this unique project.
The ‘Tomorrow’s World’ conference was attended by a record number of students from state and independent schools from across Bristol and surrounding counties. Now in its ninth year, the event encourages girls in GCSE studies to consider exploring career options in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).