Projects: Digital Signs Sync’d With Audio, Lighting Ease Sick Kids’ Fears

July 11, 2016 by Dave Haynes

James and Connie Maynard Children's Hospital at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC

James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, NC

The James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, SC is using a combination of digital signage players and screens, synced with audio  and mood lighting, to run a sensory-driven solution in treatment rooms that are designed to defuse the anxiety of the kids and ease the worries of their families.

“In the treatment room, you’re very limited to how child-friendly you can make it,” says Susan Sugg, Manager of Child Life Services. “Before, there was a physical limitation, and technology hadn’t evolved to the point it has today.”

The rooms are called diversion rooms and are used for procedures such as MRIs that require a child to remain stationary and possibly restrained for periods of 15-30 minutes or longer.

Systems integrator KONTEK created four diversion room experiences at the kids’ hospital, using synchronized video content, 360-degree lighting and audio. The set-up uses SpinetiX HMP200 players as the source for the four videos at the heart of the diversion experience: a spaceship launch, an undersea theme, and two sand art paintings.

The experience is all controlled through touch panels with controls to play, pause, and stop the video. For the spaceship video. a caregiver just touches the spaceship icon on the tablet, and celestial hues of purples and blues illuminate the walls as the screens on the ceiling display a futuristic space shuttle. There is a low rumble from the spaceship’s engine and a muffled voice over the intercom initiates the countdown. Instead of the stark, sterile hospital room, an exploration of space begins and the journey continues with flashes of bright colors as the spaceship revs past asteroids, neighboring planets, and nearby galaxies.

Along with the obvious advantage of soothing children’s fears, this approaches is also yielding some tangible clinical benefits. In many cases, the diversion elements alone will sufficiently relax the patient so that medical sedation is not necessary. The experience can also enable better images in less time and with reduced radiation exposure, leading to a safer and more efficient procedure. This video shows one of four diversion experiences.

Very cool.

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