Thanks to experts at our Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts and Animation (IDIAA), nurses at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana, could interact with the layout of their new hospital wing even while it was under construction. No hardhats were required.

IDIAA worked to create a virtual training program to familiarize nurses with the $87 million John W. Fisher Heart Center, which opened in 2009, housing an intensive care unit and a critical care unit, among other important functions.

In addition to adapting a new facility, nurses learned a new patient-based floor design. Rather than having a single nursing station surrounded by many rooms, the wing has individual nursing stations ensconced between two rooms.

"Our interactive training simulation showcases new, more efficient methods for working in a decentralized care unit as opposed to a centralized care unit," says John Fillwalk, IDIAA director. "Switching from a single hub to multiple nursing stations represents a culture shift for nurses, and we were able to help them work through that."

Using Quest 3D, a virtual reality program, Fillwalk and his team developed New Spaces, New Care, a training simulation that works like a computer game, allowing nurses to virtually explore their new environment, sit at their new workstations, view and walk into patients' rooms, examine charts, and access medicine cabinets.

"By working directly with hospital officials and the nursing staff, we were able to create a program to more quickly acclimate staff members to their new environment and help them focus on the most important component of their jobs—tending to patients," Fillwalk says.

This isn't the first collaboration between IDIAA and Ball State's nationally recognized School of Nursing. Working with the school and the university's Teleplex, Fillwalk recently helped create an interactive site for students in Second Life to help solve an ongoing challenge of developing and staging patient simulations for nurses in training.

"The IDIAA will continue to develop partnerships and seek out practical applications of Ball State's emerging media expertise like these projects," he says. "People can see firsthand the economic impact of construction. As we complete more projects like New Spaces, New Care, more and more people will understand the potential of emerging media and see how it can boost our economy."

Video courtesy of WRTV-Channel 6