The project seeks to design and evaluate highly realistic virtual healthcare environments so that children scheduled for gastro-intestinal (GI) procedures and their parents can experience visual and auditory environments that they will encounter on the day of surgery. The overall goal of the project is to help pediatric patients and their parents overcome the environmental triggers of anxiety and stress prior to surgery. Through VR, these patients and their parents gain firsthand experiences of preoperative, operative, and postoperative environments they will encounter on the day of their procedure. Additionally, their input about the rooms they experience will help in the design of future surgery environments. Collaborators: Prisma Health and Clemson University. PI: Anjali Joseph. Project period: 2021-2022
