IKONA: Virtual Reality Platform for Healthcare Education and Training

IKONA has developed a Virtual Reality (VR) platform and proprietary content library with immersive learning modules to transform the patient experience and to train the next generation of healthcare providers. IKONA currently works with organizations serving in chronic diseases and senior care; current VR modules are focused on educating patients and providers on diabetes management, kidney care, falls prevention, memory loss, wellness and resilience. These modules generate unique and immersive experiences that broadly engage multiple learning and performance centers of the brain. IKONA’s unique approach to healthcare education combines cutting-edge technology with evidence-based research in the cognitive neuroscience of learning processes and industry expertise. IKONA has deployed personalized strategies that have led to positive results in both training professional caregivers (i.e. increasing their knowledge understanding) and educating patients (i.e. reducing stress and increasing confidence to consider new treatment modalities). Consistent use eventually leads to effective changes in behavior, and reduced stress and anxiety. IKONA’s VR platform can be easily adapted to fulfill the needs of the Armed Forces as we collaborate with defense stakeholders. Some of our existing VR modules can already be used to meet current defense needs to improve the daily life of service members with mental health conditions like anxiety (e.g. we already have a wellness and resilience module focused on relaxation through deep breathing) or to enhance education around diabetes management. Additionally, within only 2-months, we can develop new VR content customized to specific experiences in the Air Force and incorporate it directly into the platform. By creating specific training situations with end-users, analyzing the learning experience data, we can make further improvements based on this data. For example, VR contexts and eye gaze patterns that predict effective learning can be identified and leveraged during the final product development in Phase II. When optimizing our platform for customer specific requirements, we can easily enhance the VR experience and use performance metrics to generate individualized training experiences.