Interactive Video Wall introduces Play To Pediatric Patients
When children are admitted to a hospital for extended periods of time, they miss out on many of the experiences and pleasures that other kids take for granted. Suddenly, their world becomes much smaller. Their opportunities for play, discovery and social interaction are greatly restricted.
While their friends may be visiting the local zoo, playing on the beach or joining a baseball team, a child in a pediatric ward sees only his or her hospital room, treatment rooms and the hallways of the hospital. Interactions with friends are limited to occasional hospital visits or online chats. It is not difficult to imagine how a child’s emotional well-being can be negatively affected by a prevailing sense of isolation and fear. It is for that reason that Lusens developed technology and content that can be displayed in an interactive video wall at children’s hospitals, which displays immersive and engaging content children can play with.
Emotional State And Healing
Increasingly, Western medicine is recognizing the connection between mind and body and the role it plays in disease recovery. While there exists no definitive scientific proof of the healing benefits of a positive state-of-mind, the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Increasing opportunities for interactive play while in the hospital allows children to continue one aspect of their normal life and help reduce the fear and stress they may be experiencing.
A fully immersive interactive video wall in the playrooms of children’s hospitals and pediatric wards are a great way to promote play for the patients. The interactive experience can heighten a child’s imagination, boost his or her sense of wonder and discovery and provide an opportunity for interaction with other children, all the while encouraging body movement.
The Benefits Of Play
The specially designed games use technology that tracks movements and expressions, immersing the child in wondrous environments. They are taken to worlds real and imaginary, creating an experience that is educational, inspirational and fun. The interactive video wall technology allows several people to play with the wall simultaneously so that the experience can be shared with parents, siblings, friends or other patients, making it a social activity in an environment where those can sometimes be limited.
Playing can be beneficial in many ways. It can serve as a respite from the worry, fear and anxieties they may be experiencing. Interactive play gives children opportunities to make choices, which can help them retain a sense of control during a time when they believe they have very little of it.
Through play, children are the most likely to express some of the feelings they may be experiencing. Playtime can provide a release for the sense of anger, sadness, fear and anxiety the child may be feeling.
Another benefit to an immersive and interactive wall in the hospital playroom is that it provides patients a special, fun and unique thing that is available exclusively to them. It’s one of the few positive things in their lives that their friends don’t have.