Creating Low-Cost 360-Degree Virtual Reality Videos for Hospitals: A Technical Paper on the Dos and Don’ts

This article will provide a framework for producing immersive 360-degree videos for pediatric and adult patients in hospitals. This information may be useful to hospitals across the globe who may wish to produce similar videos for their patients. Advancements in immersive 360-degree technologies have allowed us to produce our own “virtual experience” where our children can prepare for anesthesia by “experiencing” all the sights and sounds of receiving and recovering from an anesthetic. We have shown that health care professionals, children, and their parents find this form of preparation valid, acceptable and fun. Perhaps more importantly, children and parents have self-reported that undertaking our virtual experience has led to a reduction in their anxiety when they go to the operating room. We provide definitions, and technical aspects to assist other health care professionals in the development of low-cost 360-degree videos.