MED1stMR consortium holds its first physical meeting in Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland  15th to 16th December 2021

The second MED1stMR consortium meeting took place from 15th to 16th December 2021 in Zurich. We are looking back to a great meeting with exciting presentations, lively discussions and an impressive virtual reality (VR) demo.

MED1stMR plans to create an enhanced virtual environment and a training solution that combines VR with haptic objects such as simulation mannequins and the measurement of stress data of first responders. The aim is to implement artificial intelligence-based scenario control into a mixed reality solution to ultimately improve the performance of medical first responders while maintaining their resilience.

In Zurich, representatives from all partner organisations got together online and on-site due to the hybrid nature of the meeting. Johanniter Austria and Johanniter International were present with three delegates. The aim of the first day was to give an overview of the current status of the work packages that have already started. The project is currently in the phase of intensive requirements analysis with the end users, and the interim status from the observations, interviews and co-creation workshops was presented and discussed together. Furthermore, the planning and outlook were made regarding the technological developments for the biosensors, the manikin and the mixed reality system. Also, the high-fidelity manikin and its functions were demonstrated by the partner D2D. Afterwards, we had a common dinner respecting the COVID-19 rules at the meeting venue that was accompanied by networking and knowledge exchange in an informal setting. The project partners discussed all ideas and plans created throughout the day.

The second day started at the Fusion Arena Virtual Reality Center organised by our technology partner Refense. The goal of the day was to allow all partners to try the VR system and get an impression of its current capabilities and limitations. In a parallel session, the consortium leader AIT demonstrated their recently developed VR co-creation tool used for the end user requirement workshops. Biological sensors of our partner PLUX were presented in a short demo. The day ended with a discussion and feedback session on the meeting experience – all partners look forward to a fruitful collaboration in the coming years of MED1stMR.