Using VR to Present a Mobile MRI Unit in Confined Physical Space: Reporting Results of a Field-Deployment at a Radiology Exhibition

We investigated the suitability of virtual reality (VR) to exhibit spacious medical equipment in a limited exhibition space. The basis of our research was a previously field-tested VR system populated with a real-size model of a mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit. The VR-based system, which already used external sensors to a linked physical wheeled chair with the virtual environment, was modified with teleportation features and equipped with eye-tracking capabilities. These changes allowed us to use the system in more confined spaces. Next, we deployed our system during a three-day-Iong medical exhibition where sixty-eight attendees used our cyber-physical solution, out of which five agreed to participate directly in the in-depth user study. We report the results of these field-tests and system evaluation in a non-laboratory, real-world environment of medical exhibition.