The potential impact of 3d telepresence technology on task performance in emergency trauma care

Abstract

Emergency trauma is a major health problem worldwide. To evaluate the potential of emerging 3D telepresence technology for facilitating paramedic -physician collaboration while providing emergency medical trauma care we conducted a between-subjects post-test experimental lab study. During a simulated emergency situation 60 paramedics diagnosed and treated a trauma victim while working alone or in collaboration with a physician via 2D video or a 3D proxy. Analysis of paramedics' task performance shows that the fewest harmful procedures occurred in the 3D proxy condition. Paramedics in the 3D proxy condition also reported higher levels of self-efficacy. These results indicate 3D telepresence technology has potential to improve paramedics' performance of complex emergency medical tasks and improve emergency trauma health care when designed appropriately.

How Can Wii Learn From Video Games?

“…This notion of learning vicariously through an avatar in a video game creates the link between presence and efficacy because, in this case, the avatar is an embodied version of the self, being controlled by the self. A recent study examining presence technologies in telemedicine demonstrated that self-efficacy predicts task performance, and perceptions of presence have a positive impact on future tasks (Soderholm et al, 2007). Therefore, if game players had high perceptions of presence in a video game and were to see their avatar putting a golf ball well in a video game, then they are likely to believe that they themselves would be able to succeed in putting golf balls in a real-world task similar to their avatar.…”

Decision making tasks in time-critical medical settings

“…Telepresence technology could be used to sustain this practice and enable richer communication. Soderholm et al [9] evaluated the potential of such technology for facilitating paramedic-physician collaboration during resuscitation and found fewer harmful procedures when the technology was used.…”

Exploring the potential of video technologies for collaboration in emergency medical care: Part II. Task performance

“…Our sincere thanks to the study participants; Jim Mahaney for his expert technical assistance; the team developing the 3D technology; Chris Wiesen and Steve Poltrock for their helpful suggestions regarding statistical analysis; Ann‐Sofie Axelsson for comments on an earlier draft; and the anonymous reviewers. Some task‐performance statistics were reported in an earlier conference article (Söderholm, Sonnenwald, Cairns, Manning, Welch, & Fuchs, 2007). This research is supported by the National Library of Medicine; Contract N01‐LM‐3–3514, 3D Telepresence for Medical Consultation: Extending Medical Expertise Throughout, Between and Beyond Hospitals.…”