Yale Center Aims to Improve Pediatrics with Immersive Technologies

Launched after the success of the XR Pediatrics laboratory, the new Yale Center for Immersive Technologies aims to leverage extended reality (XR) and game technology to improve pediatric health outcomes amid new research efforts.

Previously, the Yale School of Medicine launched a lab known as the XR Pediatrics, which succeeded in developing clinical applications for behavioral interventions for young patients.

To build upon this, the Yale School of Medicine created the Yale Center for Immersive Technologies. This effort primarily aims to provide the Yale community with access to extended reality tools, expertise, and training.

The center will focus on the use of XR game technology to create clinical interventions for pediatric patients and for collaborative research efforts within public health, computer science, medical education, and other fields.

Further, the center will host events and a symposium, in partnership with the International Virtual Reality Healthcare Association, to discuss immersive reality technology best practices and goals.

“With the ever-evolving landscape of technology, youth now have access to unprecedented platforms using virtual, augmented, and mixed reality where they can innovate, learn, and socialize. While these technologies provide new approaches to healthcare, education, and treatment for youth, there is also an essential need for corresponding advancements in health and safety measures. It is our responsibility to protect our youth from potential pitfalls and hazards related to immersive technologies while still empowering them to fully harness the potential of these exciting digital playgrounds," said center Co-director Kimberly Hieftje, PhD, an assistant professor at Yale Pediatrics and director of XRPeds, in a press release.

Slated to open later in the summer of 2023, the center also aims to provide XR applications for youth at risk of experiencing health disparities associated with race and ethnicity, age, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and disability.

“XR technologies have an adoption rate that meets and often exceeds those of other modern digital revolutions such as color TV, mobile phones, and the internet. Like any technology, XR is not inherently good or bad, but understanding how it affects and is best used with young populations is a pressing issue,” said center Co-director Asher Marks, MD, a Yale Medicine hematologist and oncologist and director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, in the press release. “We look forward to assessing the potential dangers and benefits of these technologies with the continued support of industry partners as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Department of Public Health (DPH) as well as our colleagues here at Yale in the Department of Pediatrics and beyond.”

The rise of technology use in healthcare has led to many efforts within the pediatric care arena.

In January, Seattle Children’s added a virtual care service for urgent symptoms such as allergies and colds. Known as Virtual Urgent Care, this effort consisted of adding telehealth to its urgent care delivery model.

To help manage high patient volumes, this program gave patients the option of remaining in their homes and using digital devices to communicate with providers.

In May 2022, Boston Children's Hospital began working with Summus Global to add virtual pediatric care strategies to extend access to specialists.

Summus Global specializes in virtual care and aims to assist families worldwide through pediatric specialty care. Through its partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital, it will create strategies to improve virtual care and specialist access as well as support the hospital’s Second Opinion Program.