Mobile Virtual Reality Design for Healthcare Training in Low Resource Settings

Poor quality newborn care, mostly during the period around delivery, accounts for nearly 1 million neonatal deaths each year globally. Many of these deaths occur in low and low-middle income countries where healthcare professionals may lack the skills to provide newborn resuscitation and care. This study focused on the development of mobile virtual reality simulations to support continuing education for health professionals in low resource settings on essential newborn care. As part of the prototyping process, the study team developed a dedicated usability test application for experimenting with the mechanics and user interface elements required to perform a variety of actions required to develop virtual simulations on essential newborn care (vENC). This study leveraged iterative testing and user feedback to design intuitive and engaging mobile virtual simulations for healthcare users in a low-middle income country setting in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper shares the lessons learned on mobile virtual reality design for users in low resource settings.