The Wide Area Virtual Environment: A New Paradigm for Medical Team Training

摘要

Medical simulation can provide safe, consistent, and repeat-able learning opportunities to learners without risk to patient safety. There is an increasing awareness of the value that simulation brings to learning. The Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE) is an 8,000 sq. ft. facility designed to provide an immersive virtual environment for medical team training. It combines computer generated 3D stereoscopic images, standardized patients, human patient simulators and theatrical effects to render training scenarios with an unprecedented level of realism. The WAVE represents a novel application of human-computer interaction. It forms the basis for a synergistic amalgamation of live, virtual, and constructive simulation for medical instruction. In this paper, we discuss the design, construction, and use of the WAVE.