Healthcare professionals from a number of NHS organisations are reported to be taking part in a project to promote the use of immersive and emerging technologies in healthcare.
Alex Barclay, associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art and founder of the non-profit Fuzzy Studio, said that individuals from organisations including Moorfields Eye Hospital, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have become involved in the year-long Fuzzy Open initiative.
It is bringing together around 300 clinicians, strategists, human centred designers and games developers in mixed discipline teams to work on a range of challenges.
These are aimed at creating proof of concepts and business cases for new applications of digital technology to deliver “more human, empathetic experiences and systems” in healthcare.
Current challenges include: building workforce resilience in healthcare; helping parents with autistic children; detecting lung cancer earlier in the clinical pathway; improving heart health in marginalised communities; and reducing mental health issues in first time mothers.
Testing ideas
Barclay said: “The initiative is an experiment designed to test the idea that breakthrough innovation in healthcare can only be achieved by using teams made up of experts from different disciplines and backgrounds – a team that brings diverse perspectives and ways of thinking and which is as multi-dimensional as the problems they are looking to solve.”
He added that the Fuzzy Open initiative is open for more professionals to sign up to take part.
It also includes a series of talks on what could be done in the space.
