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Virtual reality technology addresses cybersickness in nursing students

21 December 2020 | Story André Damons | Photo Supplied

Kat Walk Mini_web read more — The KAT Walk mini (Omni Directional Treadmill) used to reduce and eliminate cybersickness.

An officer at the School of Nursing Simulation Laboratory of the University of the Free State (UFS) is aiming to cure or minimise cybersickness in nursing students with a popular virtual reality gaming tool.

Bennie Botha, who is acting as head of the Information, Communication and Simulation Technology at the School of Nursing Simulation Laboratory, developed a virtual environment in which nursing students use immersive virtual reality to perform a simulation scenario. This is part of his master’s degree in Computer Science and Informatics under the supervision of Dr Lizette de Wet and co-supervisor Prof Yvonne Botma.

Botha received his master’s degree with distinction during the UFS virtual graduation in October.

Cybersickness

Botha had found that some people experience cybersickness (almost like motion sickness), which is a significant issue and difficult to address. This he would now try to address with a virtual reality gaming tool – the KAT Walk mini.

According to Botha this technology has never been attempted for health-care education and is mostly used in military and pilot training and is very popular as a gaming platform for hardcore virtual reality gamers.

“To test and provide a possible solution I am going to incorporate the KAT Walk mini (Omni Directional Treadmill – almost like the Ready Player One concept) into which students are strapped and they can physically walk and turn around without the need for large open spaces.

“With this I will try and determine whether it decreases or even eliminates cybersickness due to sensory mismatch while using immersive virtual reality. I wanted to provide possible evidence of what causes cybersickness and want to enable virtual reality as an educational tool, not just for gaming. I think immersive virtual reality has a bright future if the kinks (of which the biggest is cybersickness) can be minimised,” says Botha.

Getting funding

He successfully applied for funding in 2020 and received R150 000.

“I must say I was surprised when I got the approval letter. I thought that due to the economic status it would not go through, but I was really glad when I got the approval as this is my dream and I love working with virtual reality for health care. The grant has made my dream come true, especially considering that this sounds more like something from science fiction,” says Botha.

The project started in November 2017 when Botha first conceptualised the idea and took it to Dr De Wet. He then started it as a masters’ project in 2018 and completed it at the end of 2019.

An equal opportunity for students

Botha says immersive virtual reality gives students more time and a more accessible platform where they can practise their skills as it is easy to use and easy to set up compared to other modalities of simulation. But the biggest task is developing a usable virtual environment that gives students more time to practise and increase their theory and practical integration which is key to providing highly skilled health-care professionals.

“By seeking and possibly implementing the new research, I aim to provide students an equal opportunity to partake in immersive virtual reality simulation as it currently excludes people who are prone to high levels of cybersickness. This means they cannot benefit from the same opportunities as other students do.

“I believe it can help all nursing students in SA and Africa as it is much more cost-effective than high-technology manikins and is easier to set up and access with much less manual input required to make it work (apart from the initial development.).”

News Archive

Historians must place African history on world stage – Dr Zeleza

2017-05-30

From the left: Panellists Rev Henry Jackson,
Prof Irikidzayi Manase and Arno Van Niekerk at a book
launch and panel discussion on Africa Day hosted by the
UFS Sasol Library.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

“African historians must take seriously the challenge of placing African history in world history, and in the history of our species, Homo sapiens.”

With these words, Dr Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor of the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, stressed the continent’s challenge.

According to him the contest should continue to recover and reconstruct Africa’s long history. Liberating African knowledges can be done by: “Provincialising Europe that has monopolised universality, universalising Africa beyond its Eurocentric provincialisation, and engaging histories of other continents on their own terms.”

University celebrates Africa Month in various ways
Dr Zeleza delivered the ninth Africa Day Memorial Lecture, titled The Decolonisation of African Knowledges, at the University of the Free State (UFS). The lecture, hosted by the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), took place on 24 May 2017 in the Equitas Auditorium on the Bloemfontein Campus and was one of the ways in which the UFS celebrated Africa Month.

Scholars should immerse themselves in these thoughts
Dr Zeleza focused on two issues, which he said were interconnected. They were the unfinished project of decolonising African knowledges and the continent's positioning in global knowledge production.

He said Africa’s scholars and students should “immerse themselves in the rich traditions of African social thought going back millennia”. According to him the continent’s research profile still remains weak in global terms.

“It is imperative that the various key stakeholders in African higher education from governments to the general public to parents, and to students, faculty, staff, and administrators in the academic institutions themselves, raise the value proposition of African higher education for 21st century African societies, economies, and polities.”

“Colonialism is associated with injustice
and inequality, but what happens when
our liberators become our oppressors?”

Library celebrates with panel discussion and book launch
The UFS Sasol Library celebrated Africa Day by presenting a book launch and panel discussion on 25 May 2017, on the pertinent and current political theme of land redistribution with a comparative basis of land invasions in Zimbabwe.

Prof Irikidzayi Manase discussed his book White Narratives: The Depiction of Post-2000 Land Invasions in Zimbabwe, accompanied by Rev Henry Jackson who wrote Another Farm in Africa. A perspective of the economic implications of land redistribution in South Africa was discussed by panellist Arno Van Niekerk: Senior Lecturer of Economics at the UFS Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Inequality still an African problem
The content of the books are a stark reminder of the burning issues of inequality and loss of identity of those who lost their farms in Zimbabwe, a collection of memoirs by white farmers and their families. Rev Jackson gave a religious perspective on reconciliation, forgiveness and the question of land ownership, saying that healing of injustice begins with forgiveness of past transgressions.

Van Niekerk highlighted that while land issues were important, “social cohesion is affected by the economic decisions that will be made”. In closing, Prof Manase called for serious consideration of what the future may hold. “Colonialism is associated with injustice and inequality, but what happens when our liberators become our oppressors?”

The panel discussion was attended by staff and students of the university, and was lit up by robust discussions on possible historical and future solutions to the question of land, decolonisation and political power struggles in Southern Africa and lessons to be learned from Zimbabwe.

UFS celebrates Africa Month (24 May 2017)

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