A thrilling journey
Report of the global VR-haptic education meeting co-organised by the VR-Haptic Thinkers Team, University of Eastern Finland, and the University of Utah
I visited the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, for the first time this summer, and I can hardly believe it took me 26 hours to get there from Finland! But I made it to the capital city of Utah.
How did I get the chance to visit the Land of Mormons? In an ever-evolving digitised world, filled with distractions, dental educators have the difficult task of teaching the new generations of students. VR-haptic training allows educators to guide students in performing dental exercises within a haptically-enhanced digital world. This can reduce the mental burden on students due to fear of failure, and they can practice on their own time and pace, even outside of regular teaching hours.
Despite being digital, the acquired skills have been shown to transfer to the real world, giving educators more teaching tools before and during the more classical methods of practical dental education. The second VR-Haptic Thinkers Meetup was held on 7 June at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. It was given the theme of ‘VR-Haptic Dentistry, Pedagogy, and Curriculum Evolution’. It attracted a sizeable number of attendees from all over the world, with more than 29 different countries represented.
VR-haptics represent a shift in oral health education, complementing traditional simulation learning methods with standardised, immersive and interactive experiences
In recent years, new challenges and opportunities have arisen in dental education and research, which have needed to react to the rapid changes happening in VR-haptic education. The free-to-join, hybrid VR-haptic meet-up featured a robust programme for engaging with those of the dental community who are curious about the new technologies and developments in dental education.
I would like to thank Professor David Morton, Vice Chair of Dental and Medical Education, his team at the University of Utah for their help and our sponsors in ensuring the smooth running of our meet-up. I would also like to thank Dr Rebecca Stolberg, Vice President of Allied Dental Education and Faculty Development at ADEA, Dr Gül Gülsün, Chief of Innovation, Clinical Education and Public Health at ADEA, and Dr Ophir Klein, the 100th President of the International Association of Dental Research (ADR), for attending and elevating our meet-up.
In total, there were 17 presentations by dental and VR-haptics experts from around the world as well as
a table set up for interaction between dental educators and professionals and major VR-haptic companies. They included a presentation from Professor Barry Quinn, an early pioneer in haptically enabled virtual reality simulation education. The speakers advocated for the implementation of a VR-haptic research strategy and engaging with it wherever and whenever possible.
As there is much to be done yet before VR-haptic simulation adaptation will reach its optimum levels, significant new initiatives in dental pedagogy, curriculum development and research will be set up. The consensus is that it is important for the members of the global VR-Haptic Thinkers Consortium to be well-equipped to contribute to solving these challenges. VR-haptics represent a shift in oral health education, complementing traditional simulation learning methods with standardised, immersive and interactive experiences. Research has shown that the use of VR-haptics can also reduce the mental burden of students.
Szabi Felszeghy is a teacher at the University of Eastern Finland.