Design and Development of an Augmented Reality Mobile Application for Medical Training

The ageing population has led to increasing demand for additional medical staff and training resources. However, the cost of medical training equipment is costly. Considering that augmented reality (AR) technology has been shown to enhance training experience and trainer-trainee interactions in various sectors, the aim of this project is to develop a low-cost AR mobile application framework, which is expandable for use in various medical training modules. On the displays of the trainers' and trainees' mobile devices, the application overlays AR effects that simulate physiological symptoms onto a training manikin. Under the control of the trainer, the effects can be changed for evaluating the trainee's timely responses. Initial trials focused on anesthetic injection-induced rash effects. The application was tested on three mobile platforms under different environmental settings, and was found to function satisfactorily.