Make a Reality

Inspiration

Many children fear medical procedures, especially injections, making hospital visits stressful. Inspired by magic fantasies and immersive storytelling, we wanted to create a VR experience that transforms fear into excitement. By incorporating game mechanics and mixed reality elements, we aim to desensitize children to medical procedures while keeping them engaged, empowered, and entertained.

What it does

Make a Reality is a magic simulation that helps children overcome their fear of injections through an immersive, interactive experience. The VR system integrates medical elements subtly, using mixed reality techniques like reflections, environmental changes, and interactive encouragement from fictional characters. By shifting focus away from the injection itself, we engage the child in an empowering role where they take control of the situation.

How we built it

We combined VR development with psychological research on desensitization and distraction techniques. Our development process included:

VR Environment Design: We created a dynamic cityscape setting to accommodate different preferences.

Mixed Reality Integration: By simulating environmental cues (wind, rain, reflections), we immersed the child in the experience.

Game Mechanics: Mini-games like "Fireball Target Practice" with a wizard were added to divert attention and keep engagement high.

Medical Psychology Principles: We applied techniques like positive reinforcement, guided focus shifts, and self-administration to give children control over the experience.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing Distraction vs. Desensitization: Some children prefer not to see the injection, while others want full awareness. We had to design an adaptable system to accommodate both.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

-> Successfully integrating real-world sensory triggers into the VR experience (e.g., the feeling of cold gel mimicked by a rain effect).

-> Designing a system that empowers children, making them feel like heroes instead of patients.

-> Creating an engaging, interactive experience that has the potential to reduce medical anxiety.

What we learned

The importance of user control in medical VR applications—allowing children to initiate actions themselves makes a huge difference in comfort levels. Furthermore, psychological techniques like the "3 Yes" method and cognitive reframing can be seamlessly incorporated into game mechanics.

VR is a powerful tool for transforming real-world fears into engaging, positive experiences.

What's next for Make a Reality

Test and refine the experience with children and medical professionals to improve usability.
Expand the scenarios to cover other common medical fears, such as MRIs or blood tests.
Add new minigames, new levels and new magic.
Integrate AI-based eye-tracking and gesture recognition for enhanced accessibility, especially for children with speech or developmental disorders.
Partner with hospitals to bring the project into real-world pediatric care settings.

Research

Current research supports the effectiveness of VR in managing pain and anxiety in pediatric patients. A meta-analysis by Gao et al. (2023) demonstrated that VR significantly reduces pain, anxiety, and fear in children undergoing needle-related procedures. The authors recommend incorporating VR as an effective method to enhance young patients' well-being (Gao et al., 2023).

Similarly, a study by Wang, Guo, and Xiong (2022) found that VR-based distraction effectively decreases pain, fear, and anxiety associated with needle procedures. These findings highlight VR’s potential to transform children’s medical experiences and make the process less distressing (Wang et al., 2022).

Furthermore, a child-centered approach, as described by Kleye et al. (2023), suggests that actively involving children in personalized distraction strategies not only reduces their emotional distress but also significantly shortens the time required for the procedure (Kleye et al., 2023).

Our project aligns with this perspective by integrating an immersive virtual reality solution designed to fully engage children’s attention during injections. By relying on evidence-based research, our initiative aims to improve young patients’ experiences, alleviate their anxiety, and assist healthcare professionals in performing procedures more efficiently.

We believe that integrating VR into pediatric healthcare represents a major step forward in humanizing medical procedures and paving the way for child-friendly practices.

References

Gao Y, Xu Y, Liu N, Fan L. Effectiveness of virtual reality intervention on reducing the pain, anxiety and fear of needle-related procedures in paediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Adv Nurs. 2023 Jan;79(1):15-30. doi: 10.1111/jan.15473. Epub 2022 Nov 3. PMID: 36330583. Wang Y, Guo L, Xiong X. Effects of Virtual Reality-Based Distraction of Pain, Fear, and Anxiety During Needle-Related Procedures in Children and Adolescents. Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 19;13:842847. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.842847. PMID: 35519646; PMCID: PMC9063726. Kleye I, Sundler AJ, Karlsson K, Darcy L, Hedén L. Positive effects of a child-centered intervention on children's fear and pain during needle procedures. Paediat Neonatal Pain. 2023 Feb 6;5(1):23-30. doi: 10.1002/pne2.12095. PMID: 36911787; PMCID: PMC9997124.