Towards an Affordable Virtual Reality Solution for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is an essential skill for medical professionals. Currently, CPR training is carried out using mechanical manikins which have drawbacks when it comes to the realism of the simulation, cost and durability. In the meantime, Virtual Reality (VR) has entered a new phase of wider availability and affordability in the consumer market. Therefore, a low-cost VR-based solution can now be proposed to address some of these issues with the mechanical manikin. Hence, this study presents an approach where the mechanical manikin has been augmented with VR. To test the viability and acceptance of this solution, a user based evaluation was carried out with a group of experts and novices in CPR. Despite their contrasting experience and knowledge of CPR, both groups have expressed favourable views towards the basic solution presented in this paper.