At the very beginning while I was researching about MRI scanners and VR headsets, I failed to find any real competitors or even applications that related to my idea. However, I did come across researchers at King’s College London, who developed a virtual reality system that is intended to distract and calm patients who find MRI scans challenging, including children and other vulnerable individuals. With this, the patient wears a specialised VR headset during the scan and can interact with the system merely by moving the eyes(eye tracker), allowing them to play games or select various options, including watching videos or interacting with a caregiver or companion over a video link. The technology is intended to make the scans more enjoyable for patients and reduce the likelihood that a scan will be unsuccessful because a patient moves or requests to exit the scanner.
The researchers designed a VR headset that is MRI compatible and completely blocks any peripheral light from entering, helping the wearer to forget their surroundings. The system also disguises noise and vibrations coming from the scanner by passing them off as incidents in the virtual world, such as noise and vibrations from construction work. I
The video below will help explain:
This was a really interesting design system and the use of eye tracker is a game changer, as a joystick or a controller would not be suitable for a scan, as it requires movement which can affect the outcome of the scan. I am glad that this exists, so I can really develop my idea from this and learn how patients respond to this type of design in a scan. However, this idea is designed for VR headsets in a MRI scan, which was my initial idea. But after some thought I decided to create an app to prepare patients of an older age for their scan before physically having it. Possibly from their own home. In the end, this wasn’t a proper competitor but it did share the same purpose and solution, by using VR to make patients forget that they are in a scanner by transporting them somewhere else, using virtual reality.