Metaverse helps paramedics and rescuers to have a safe career

Turku University of Applied Sciences and the Rescue Department of Southwest Finland have launched a development project that utilises the metaverse, a new megatrend in technology, to support paramedics and rescuers in their early career. The project is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF+).

Photo by Kristian Eloluoto / Southwest Finland Rescue Department

The emergency care and rescue sector is an essential part of the overall safety of society. The work of paramedics and rescuers is extremely demanding and hard. The working environment is completely uncontrolled and the challenges to safety at work are widely recognised. In the health sector, a third of recent graduates are considering a change of sector because of the workload and there is a shortage of rescuers.

The two-year AidVerse – Paramedics and rescuers on a safe career path with the Metaverse project aims to improve the performance and retention of professionals by improving the transition from education to working life and the wider career path.

– The success of the transition phase is important for the individual worker’s growth and well-being at work, as well as for improving the retention of sectors suffering from labour shortages, says Jani Paulin, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Emergency Medicine at Turku University of Applied Sciences.

The project will co-create AidVerse, a virtual learning environment based on metaverse technology. The learning environment will enable a new approach to quality induction, mentoring and occupational safety.

– Interactive and collaborative learning in virtual reality, using artificial intelligence, combined with real data from real alarm tasks, is cost-effective, time- and location-independent learning, Joonas Hänninen from the Rescue Department of Southwest Finland emphasises.

A trusted learning environment allows training both remotely, with a partly reduced real-life experience, and on-site in a laboratory (AidVerse-Lab), enabling hands-on practice and the use of real treatment tools combined with augmented reality and real data.

AidVerse also enables different forms of interaction between learners, teachers, and mentors, for example. AidVerse is suitable for use in single-worker training, in pairs of work and mentoring, and even in larger multi-agency exercises involving hundreds of actors.

The project will use the metaverse technology developed by Turku University of Applied Sciences, the commercial rights of which are currently owned by ProVerse Interactive Oy. The technology has been used in several projects coordinated by Turku University of Applied Sciences, including Nokia Corporation and Meyer Shipyard.

In this project, AidVerse will also be verified to ensure quality. Effectiveness in learning and its measurement are at the heart of the project. Biometric sensors and other technological solutions will allow objective data to be collected, analysed and thus further develop the activities. The AidVerse development project, coordinated by the Turku University of Applied Sciences, will provide support for the transition phase between study and working life and the early years of work, enhancing staff well-being and retention in safety-critical fields.

The article was published on the previous turkuamk.fi website on 21.5.2024.