VR for Healthcare Training

Student prototypes of collaborative VR simulations for cardiac surgical education, with Dr. Tyler Wallen at Geisinger (2023–24).

In 2023–24 I worked with students and Dr. Tyler Wallen, a cardiac surgeon and global surgical educator at Geisinger, on prototype VR simulations for healthcare training. The idea was that a trainee and an experienced surgeon could meet in the same virtual operating room, wherever each of them is.

• Summer 2023: Brad Schultes ’24 and Austin Beal ’24 prototyped a shared, multiplayer VR medical room. The work was funded by a Ciffolillo Healthcare Technology Inventors Program grant ($10,000).
• 2023–24: a senior design team I mentored extended the prototypes with a mixed-reality 3D heart model and guided VR training scenarios.