Team Name
VRx
Timeline
Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
Students
- Josue Blanco
- Jonah Branch
- Tam Maria Doan
- Vincent Nguyen
- Chris Socolich
Sponsor
- RaeAnna Jeffers, Health Sciences Librarian
- Jennifer Roye, Assistant Dean of Simulation and Technology
- UTA Computer Science Dept.
- UTA Nursing Dept.
- UTA Library Department
Abstract
Nursing students at the University of Texas at Arlington lack hospice care experience. Although this experience is not one that nursing students are strictly required to have, caring for patients in their last phases of life and experiencing their death is typically something that students do not encounter until after they graduate. Creating a VR simulation of hospice care will provide students with experience to determine what actions to take to care for their patients up until death.
Background
Currently, the nursing students at University of Texas at Arlington may lack experience in handling the death of a patient. As death is a large part of nursing and health care in general, despite how gruesome it may sound, it is important that students familiarize themselves with it. This is not only for their sake as students thinking about pursuing a career in health care, but also so that once they graduate and begin seriously working in the field, they will already have an understanding of what to do when death occurs. Learning how to cope with it and knowing how to handle the situation should any of their patients die is an invaluable skill for their profession that will reflect their professionalism and, in the case of delivering this news to the patient’s family or close friends, their level of empathy.
By creating a VR simulation of hospice care wherein the patient eventually passes, UTA’s nursing students will not only gain experience in caring for patients near the end of their life but also realize what happens once death occurs and what actions should follow. Ideally, this VR simulation will teach students how to care for a patient who is elderly in age or not as physically able or well as a healthier, younger person. Along with that, the simulation will also allow students who have not personally experienced the death of another person – or if they have, the death of their patient – to experience what death is like for professionals in their field of study. Additionally, by providing nursing students with this experience, they will be able to make an informed decision on whether this major or career path is right for them.
Project Requirements
- The Virtual Reality tool shall remain in compliance with the Texas Administrative Code Title 22, Part11, Chapter 215. The Virtual Reality tool shall remain in compliance with The Regents Rules and Regulations of the University of Texas at Arlington.
- Removal of the dead patient’s body
- Converse with the family member NPC
System Overview
The Engine layer is like the “main loop” of the whole program. It collects user input and updates the game state based on that input once for each frame. It updates the game state by telling the Entity layer what actions the user takes. The Engine layer does not need to interface with the Component layer.
The Entity layer is used to describe the amount of information that goes into the entities for the game. The main subsystems in this layer are: Player, NPC, Patient, Camera, Entity handler, Listener, and General objects. This layer will also communicate with the Engine layer and the Component layer for which entities to update.
The Component Layer deals with the attributes of the subsystems handled by the entity handler in the Entity Layer and their behaviors in the world. The subsections in the Component Layer are the component_manager, interactivity_scripts, movement_scripts, physics, and collision. The component manager manages the other subsystems and communicates with the entity handler in the Entity Layer.
Results
Future Work
- Add voicelines to family member NPC
- Complete the removal of the patient’s body from the home
Project Files
Project Charter (link)
System Requirements Specification (link)
Architectural Design Specification (link)
Detailed Design Specification (link)
Poster (link)
References
N/A
