Healing Heroes

Inspiration

Emergencies happen when we least expect them, and the ability to act swiftly and effectively can mean the difference between life and death. Yet, many people lack the confidence or skills to respond. We wanted to create an engaging, accessible way for people to practice essential medical techniques in a collaborative environment. The Apple Vision Pro's immersive AR capabilities and iPhone's widespread accessibility inspired us to bring these platforms together to research how we can use such technological collaboration learn and engage with health.

What it does

Healing Heroes is an immersive cross-platform game where the Apple Vision Pro user plays as a patient, while iPhone users act as rescuers. The gameplay focuses on performing CPR rhythms, teaching timing and coordination in an engaging, real-time experience. Players collaborate to stabilize the patient by sending hearts from their devices to restore the heart rate, making learning both interactive and unforgettable.

How we built it

We began by prototyping ideas using platforms like Styly and ShapesXR, which allowed us to conceptualize and iterate on the immersive AR and collaborative gameplay. Once the concept was solidified, we built the Vision Pro experience using visionOS, incorporating AR elements such as dynamic patient vitals. On the iPhone side, we implemented SharePlay to synchronize gameplay, ensuring players could collaborate seamlessly. SharePlay enabled a unique real-time connection between devices, allowing CPR rhythms on iPhones to directly impact the Vision Pro user’s experience.

Challenges we ran into

One major challenge was integrating SharePlay into the iOS gameplay, ensuring it functioned reliably for real-time multiplayer experiences. Synchronizing actions like performing CPR rhythms on iPhones and reflecting them instantly on the Vision Pro required overcoming technical hurdles with latency and data consistency.

Designing for the Vision Pro’s immersive interface was another unique challenge. Balancing realism with accessibility while maintaining an engaging experience for both AR users and iPhone players pushed us to iterate constantly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we’re most proud of is achieving seamless cross-platform play between the Apple Vision Pro and the iPhone. One of the Vision Pro’s biggest limitations is its availability, but our design allows only one Vision Pro to be needed per group, making the game accessible and scalable.

Another milestone is creating a truly innovative cross-platform visionOS app, which is rare in the current ecosystem. By combining the power of immersive AR with intuitive iPhone gameplay, we’ve built a unique experience that bridges devices in a meaningful way.

What we learned

We learned the importance of user-centric design when developing for cutting-edge platforms like the Vision Pro. Ensuring accessibility and fun for both AR enthusiasts and casual iPhone users was a key takeaway. Additionally, integrating devices with such different capabilities taught us valuable lessons in optimizing performance and creating seamless multiplayer experiences.

What's next for Healing Heroes

The Healing Heroes app inherently lends itself to expansion. Both in terms of other adding minigames and expanding the target audience of our app to include institutions that already teach basic medical practices and are looking for a way to improve their overall experience.

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