Virtual Reality Prosthetics

Sheffield Hallam University’s Impact VR Lab, which leads pioneering virtual reality (VR) technology in healthcare to support amputees, burns victims and children with limb injuries to rehabilitate, has been recognised by the Prolific North Tech Awards.

The Impact VR team received the Tech for Good award and were also highly commended in the Best Health Tech Startup category at the awards ceremony.

The Impact VR Lab has developed immersive and interactive games which considerably improve the health, wellbeing and lifestyles of children and adults who have been affected by neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, orthopaedic trauma and chronic pain.  

The Impact VR team is currently developing games to help dysphagia patients, children diagnosed with the rare muscle-wasting disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and to support cognitive behavioural therapy in children and young people with social anxiety (SAD).  

Ivan Phelan, Principal Research Fellow and Director of the Impact VR Lab at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “Everyone involved in Impact VR is honoured to have been awarded the Tech for Good award along with a highly commended Best Health Tech Startup award at the Prolific North Tech Awards. 

“This award is a testament to the team’s hard work and dedication. They have strived to create innovative and engaging solutions that improve patient care.

“This would not have been possible without the continued support, collaboration and contributions from Sheffield Hallam University as well as the amazing staff and patients from Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust who have been instrumental.”

The Prolific North Tech Awards celebrate the incredible innovation of the North’s tech sector – rewarding the organisations, teams and individuals contributing to the region’s growth.

The awards took place in Manchester on Thursday 28 November.

In June we had a great afternoon with 30 Y6 children who had a chance to try out lots of the activities that will feature in our exhibition. See their blog for pictures of the project in action! We are also going to Rainbow Forge Primary in July. There’s lots going on!

See more at St Wilfrids Primary School Blog

On the evening of 14th April 2016 we invited the general public to join us at an interactive open event to find out more about how our brains control our movements, even when using prosthetic limbs.

With the help of prosthetics wearers James Young and Kevin Evison, we heard more about issues of design and function, and debated aspects of limb loss versus society’s views of ‘normality’.

Also during the evening we were able to spend some time with James and capture his experiences on film which we will incorporate into the exhibitions in the future.

@jamesahyoung

Our first schools event was held at UTC Sheffield in April and this enabled us to trial some of our activities and resources with secondary and primary school pupils. The day was attended by 57 primary school students from a local primary school cluster.

The students took part in 4 different workshops, a plenary and took a speed tour of the UTC. The workshops were Design it!, Explore It! (using the leap motion camera and models of the arm and brain), Solve It! and Film It!

For more details, read the UTC Sheffield news article

At the Explore Science and Engineering @ SHU event on 19th March 2016 we contributed a hands-on interactive stall staffed by team members Ivan Phelan and Andy Bullough where families could experience Virtual Reality and explore the psychological and physiological aspects of limb loss.