Creating a Hospital in 3D to Explore Possibilities

Here is an example of using a 3D world as a back drop for creating a video to highlight desired changes or to show a “What-If” scenario. As the article Virtual Worlds Case Study–Second Health states:

The explicit outcomes of the project were three videos, each portraying the way a medical situation would be handled under a wholly new system of healthcare — one based on the central idea of wellness as opposed to illness.

To that end, an entire hospital was built in Second Life that filled an entire sim. It was fully equipped, and included every manner of bed, gurney, and tool used by medical staff, including sophisticated diagnostic equipment from digital sonography to CAT scans and MRI suites; fully-equipped examination rooms, offices, and operating theaters; and suites for anesthesia, arthroscopic surgery, trauma, and cardiac catheterization.

Animations were created to simulate heart attacks, limps, and the ways in which care givers would interact with their patients. All the uniforms used by these care givers had to be precise, and instantly recognizable by residents in the UK. Of particular importance was to represent life in a contemporary city in the UK, and avatars had to be created to represent all manner of people, large and small, fit and not-so-fit, and representing a wide range of ethnic groups and races in both their form and clothing. The hospital continues to be used for medical and other training.

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