Medical Technologies CoRE launches in Auckland
... The third project is the brainchild of Callaghan Innovation's Marcus King. Earlier in the year, Callaghan Innovation initiated the concept for virtual reality training for those people who are new to wheelchair use.
In conjunction with the Burwood Spinal rehabilitation unit and industry partners Envivo and Stickmen Media, a simulator was developed that allows trainees to learn how to drive their wheelchairs in a virtual environment. The CoRE has since provided funding to help with clinical validation.
The virtual simulator was so successful that Stickmen Media are now taking it to market. Stickmen Media chief executive Brook Waters says for people leaving hospital with spinal injuries, the transition to using a power wheelchair can be a difficult - and dangerous - learning curve.
"Their lives are different, their bodies are different, they are looking at the world from a different angle, and they actually tend to do themselves - and their homes - quite a bit of damage when they get out"...
