On a Journey Through the Metaverse with Great Ormond Street Hospital
This summer, we’ve been using our Metaverse skills for good, hosting VR sessions for young patients at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH) to give them the chance to discover worlds beyond the hospital doors, encouraging movement, play and creativity.
Passports at the ready, please
During the weekly sessions, the young people or ‘metaverse explorers’ try out a different experience, increasing in difficulty and in skills, from basketball and space exploration to art and dance. Every adventurer is given a sticker in their real-life passport as they complete each ‘mission’ (which they loved!) recording their journey through the Metaverse.
” We have been blown away by the level of interest and energy the children have brought to the sessions. Their laughter and excitement is utterly infectious and it’s been a breath of fresh air to apply the technology in this way, helping to bring just a sprinkle of magic to their day.”
Charlotte, volunteer from Digital Radish
🌍 Our patients have been going on incredible adventures over the past few weeks, exploring new worlds through virtual reality! Thanks to @DigitalRadish, they've experienced space travel, art, meditation, sports, and more, feeling like they're part of something extraordinary. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/qM47h9ZdvJ
— Great Ormond Street Hospital (@GreatOrmondSt) September 4, 2023
Play at GOSH
Around the corner from our office, GOSH is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, and we’ve been collaborating with the brilliant Out of Hours Play Team who organise activities to improve participants’ mood and wellbeing while in hospital. From our time there, we can see how important this is to the children, and how much the team brightens up their days.
The metaverse results in mega fun
So far 100% of Metaverse explorers and their families who left feedback said they enjoyed it, 100% said they would like to do more sessions like this and 89% of participants said participating in this activity made their day- encouraging numbers for the potential of the metaverse in hospital environments.
However, it’s been the quiet moments that have stuck with the team, like seeing a patient excited to return and hearing her parents describing her participation as “a breakthrough”, or adapting the experience to ensure a non-mobile patient could experience VR, something that she’d wanted to do for ages, but didn’t think was possible. That patient’s father said:
Our thanks to GOSH for giving us the opportunity, a HUGE thanks to all of the children who have taken part and made it so much fun. We’re all excited to see where this might go and we’ll be sure to bring you along for the journey.
” We initially went in not knowing what to expect; smiles, giggles or tears? Yet it’s been pretty much nothing but smiles and giggles. And wows! Their Metaverse skills seem to be getting better each week, and it won’t be long until they’re teaching us stuff! It’s absolutely my favourite part of the week.”
Matty, volunteer from Digital Radish
