KindVR: Real problems, virtual solutions
KindVR: Real problems, virtual solutions
KindVR: Real problems, virtual solutions
The feelings that come with a hospital stay can be overwhelming—especially for children. KindVR combats the real-life pain and stress that often accompanies pediatric medical procedures and conditions through virtual reality (VR) therapy.
The company was founded in 2014 by game developer Simon Robertson after he began researching studies showing how VR helped reduce burn victims’ pain during dressing changes. “That got me really motivated to start seeing this not just as an entertainment toy but rather a tool in a clinical setting,” he says. After volunteering in the Child Life Specialist department at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, Calif. to learn more about patients and procedures, he worked alongside hospital staff to develop custom VR software for a variety of medical situations. “It took a lot of love, a lot of knocking on doors, [and] a lot of meetings introducing virtual reality,” says Simon.
Today, KindVR is used in more than 75 different children’s hospitals and clinics across the United States, creating virtual environments that are distracting and engaging enough to reduce pain and anxiety and can even help keep the patient in the correct position for certain procedures. For the KindVR team, it’s been rewarding to see the shift VR has inspired in what was once a negative experience for a child. “It’s a moment of trauma that has been completely flipped on its head,” says Simon.
As it’s grown, the company has relied on FedEx to ship to hospitals safely and dependably. “FedEx...scaled with my business as we grew,” says Simon. With FedEx, KindVR has been able to navigate international shipping and provide convenient, cost-effective returns for hospitals to exchange outdated equipment for newer technology. “As VR technology improves, we want to make sure that our hospitals are using the lightest and the most adaptable [technology] for patients’ headsets,” he says. Printing with FedEx Office® has also been a huge benefit for KindVR. “We’re working with immunocompromised patients,” adds Simon, “and having laminated how-to play guides is really important because we wipe everything down with germicide wipes.”
As a 2023 FedEx® Small Business Grant program winner, the company plans to use their funds to build a new VR application that can help reduce the trauma of lumbar punctures, as well as a few other procedures.
To Simon, celebrating accomplishments like this are an important part of being a business owner. “It’s really easy to have lots of wins as an entrepreneur and dismiss them and kind of move on,” he says. “So, finding a way to celebrate, that’s really key.”
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