虛擬現實的正面應用案例

索爾·羅杰斯

The use cases of virtual reality （VR） expand each day. It never fails to amaze me how powerful and versatile1 the medium is.

Here are just some examples of how this immersive medium is being put to good use.

Raising donations

Inspired by the bravery and courage of the incredible children fighting cancer at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital， VR for Good2， Facebook， and St. Jude came together to create a VR experience that celebrates the real stories of survivors of childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Created by BBDO3 and developed by Flight School4， St. Jude Hall of Heroes is intended to help raise donations by giving donors the chance to see where their money goes and the people that it helps. The project uses VR as a storytelling and empathy machine.

The experience is set on floating islands， each island has towering statues （heroism in battle is traditionally marked with a statue） that represent St. Jude patients and their stories. Users can walk up to these statues and hear from the patient about his or her fight against illness.

Relieving pain during childbirth

A small study has suggested that expectant mothers who use a calming virtual reality experience during labor could see their pain levels reduced. In a half-hour test conducted by Dr. Melissa Wong， an obstetrician-gynecologist5 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles， participants were asked to score the pain level of their contractions6 on a scale of 1-10. Those who used the VR headsets with the “Labor Bliss” visualization for up to 30 minutes during contractions reported an average reduction in pain of 0.52， whereas those who didnt wear the headsets experienced a pain increase of 0.58.

While this is a small study， it does pave the way for offering the technology as an alternative to other pain relievers during childbirth.

Training for high-risk situations

Doctors and nurses in the emergency room （ER） work in a high pressure， high-stress environment， which sometimes involves making critical decisions. These emergency， low frequency， high stakes procedures are “life or death” cases and require a highly-skilled， highly experienced doctor. However， because of their relative rarity， the expertise7 needed is difficult to acquire.

Medical professionals have traditionally trained on mannequins8 and cadavers9， however， this method of training cannot fully replicate the other pressures that come into play10 in a real emergency. Two doctors from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles （CHLA） teamed up with AiSolve and Bioflight VR to address this issue， by creating a virtual trauma room11 that more accurately represents how real-life emergencies may play out.

Within the experience， doctors are debriefed12 by the Emergency Medical Technicians （EMTs） on the patients condition， then they have to check vital signs， assess medication and carry out the best course of action. This is all done under a time constraint—as with a real emergency—so it requires doctors to focus and keep calm under pressure. This training tool enables trainee doctors13 to prepare for the real thing， without the fear of failure and its consequences.

Educating on racial bias

REM5， a virtual reality Lab in St Louis Park， Minnesota is using the power of immersive technology to allow students， teachers， artists， and community groups explore subjects such as racial and gender bias.

Amir Berenjian， the Co-Founder of REM5， explained， “We want to use virtual reality for good. We dont ever want to view VR as a solution， but rather as a tool for this work. The real work comes when the headset comes off.”

As part of diversity and inclusion training， REM5 put around 800 Cargill employees through the New York Times 360-degree video documentary， “Traveling While Black”. The documentary gives users an immersive experience on the challenges black people in America still face to this day. Viewers are taken on an emotional journey where they meet various African Americans and hear their first-hand experiences with racism， told through interviews and poetic cinematic recreations.

Feedback from users has been very encouraging， with many noting how much more impactful it is to experience a documentary in 360-degrees， rather than simply watching it on a TV screen.

Breaking barriers in the transgender community

Authentically Us—the first documentary VR series from Facebook and Oculus—allows viewers to step into the lives of three transgender activists who are smashing glass ceilings14 and taking action to make communities safer for LGBTQ+ people15 everywhere. Users follow Aiden Crawford， Shannon Scott， and Acton Seibel in a 360-degree video as they campaign to change legislation， raise awareness， and challenge politics.

Over three episodes， viewers come face to face with the everyday challenges a transgender person faces to live free and equal， through the viewpoints of three transgender identities： transmasculine， transfeminine and gender non-binary16.

Authentically Us has， at its core， a powerful message： those who identify outside of the gender binary are everyday people who have always been a part of our communities.

虛擬現實（VR）的應用案例與日俱增，這種功能強大、用途廣泛的工具總能讓我感到驚奇。

以下介紹幾個利用這種沉浸式媒介的正面案例。

募捐

圣祖德兒童研究醫院中一群了不起的孩子在抗癌中表現得勇敢無畏，受此啟發，VR for Good、臉書和圣祖德醫院聯合創建了一款VR場景體驗，歌頌這些患癌兒童及其他致命疾病幸存者的真實故事。

為了幫助募捐，由BBDO制作、Flight School開發的名為“圣祖德英雄堂”的VR場景體驗，給捐款人提供了一種途徑，讓他們能夠清楚捐款的流向和所幫助的人。該項目利用VR進行故事敘述，激發人們產生共情。

該VR體驗的場景設在浮島上，每座島上都有數座高聳的雕像（通常用來紀念戰場上的英勇表現），代表著圣祖德醫院的患兒和他們的故事。用戶可以走近這些雕像并傾聽他們的抗病歷程。

減輕分娩的疼痛

一項小型研究表明，臨產孕婦在分娩時使用具有鎮定作用的VR場景體驗，可以減輕疼痛。梅利莎·王是位于洛杉磯的西達賽奈醫療中心的一名婦產科醫生，她組織了一項半小時的測驗，其間，要求參與者對自己宮縮的疼痛程度進行打分，分值1至10。結果顯示，在宮縮期間，佩戴配備《生產的幸福》可視化場景的VR頭盔達30分鐘的人，疼痛平均減輕了0.52，而那些未佩戴頭盔的人感受到的疼痛增加了0.58。

盡管這是一項小型研究，但它確實能推動VR技術應用于分娩，使其作為其他止痛方案的替代選擇。

針對高風險情境的培訓

急診室的醫生和護士在高壓力、高度緊張的環境中工作，有時需要做出一些重大判斷。這些緊急、低頻、高風險的手術關系生死，因此需要技術嫻熟、經驗豐富的醫生。然而，由于這類人才相對稀缺，所以所需的專業技能較難培養。

傳統上，醫學專業人員利用人體模型和尸體進行訓練，然而，這種訓練方式無法完全重現那些在實際緊急情況中面臨的其他壓力。為了解決這一問題，洛杉磯兒童醫院的兩位醫生與AiSolve和Bioflight VR兩家公司合作，創建了一個虛擬創傷手術室，該虛擬手術室能更準確地展現實際緊急情況會如何發生。

在虛擬場景中，急救醫療技術員首先向醫生匯報患者的情況，隨后醫生需要檢查患者的生命體征、評估用藥方案并實施最佳的治療措施。同真實的急診一樣，上述所有程序都有時間限制，因此要求醫生集中注意力并能在壓力下保持鎮定。該培訓工具能夠讓實習醫生為實戰做好準備，同時不必為失敗及其后果感到懼怕。

種族歧視主題教育

REM5 VR實驗室位于明尼蘇達州圣路易斯公園，它利用沉浸式技術，能夠讓學生、教師、藝術家和社區團體探討種族歧視和性別偏見等話題。

REM5的聯合創始人阿米爾·貝雷尼安解釋說：“我們想要將VR用在好的方面。我們并未將VR視為解決問題的辦法，而是將其視為一個尋找解決辦法的工具。真正的工作開始于摘下頭盔之時。”

作為多元化和包容性培訓的一部分，REM5讓大約800名嘉吉員工體驗了《紐約時報》參與制作的360度視頻紀錄片《身為黑人》。該紀錄片能夠讓使用者沉浸式體驗美國黑人時至今日依然面臨的挑戰。通過訪談和富有詩意的電影再現，觀眾將踏上一段情感旅程，其間他們將遇見形形色色的非裔美國人，傾聽他們關于種族歧視的切身經歷。

觀眾的反饋令人非常振奮，許多人表示，比起單純地通過電視屏幕觀看這部紀錄片，以360度的視角親身體驗更具沖擊力。

打破對跨性別群體的隔閡

由臉書和Oculus共同推出的首部VR系列紀錄片《真實的我們》，能夠讓觀眾走進三個跨性別活動者的生活。他們正打破“玻璃天花板”并采取行動讓社區對于性少數群體來說更為安全。當艾登·克勞福德、香農·斯科特和阿克頓·賽貝爾為修改立法、提高大眾意識或抗議政策而奔走時，觀眾可以在360度的視頻中緊跟他們的腳步深入體驗。

在總共三集的《真實的我們》中，觀眾可以從三個跨性別身份（跨性男、跨性女和非二元性別）的視角，目睹一個跨性別者為了自由且平等地生活所面臨的日常挑戰。

《真實的我們》傳遞的強有力的核心主旨是：二元性別以外的人就是普通人，也向來是我們群體的一部分。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）