Immersive Spatial Planning in Healthcare: Developing a Pipeline to Automatically Convert Computer Aided DesignData to...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare facility design
• Virtual Reality applications
• Medical informatics

Background:

• Equipping medical facilities, such as intensive care units, is costly and time-consuming.
• Inaccurate 2D plans can lead to expensive post-construction adjustments.
• Optimal planning environments are crucial for healthcare professionals like physicians and nurses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an automated pipeline for visualizing Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data using Virtual Reality (VR).
• To improve the spatial imagination and decision-making efficiency during the planning phase of medical facilities.
• To offer a user-friendly and efficient tool for spatial planning in healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Development of a fully automated pipeline to convert CAD data into VR visualizations.
• Testing the pipeline with CAD data from existing Intensive Care Units.
• Focus on immersive VR experience for enhanced spatial understanding.

Main Results:

• Successful visualization of CAD data from Intensive Care Units using the VR pipeline.
• The VR approach significantly improves spatial imagination and decision-making efficiency.
• The pipeline demonstrated simple usage and fast conversion of CAD data.

Conclusions:

• The automated VR pipeline is a valuable tool for spatial planning in healthcare.
• It addresses the limitations of 2D plans by providing immersive 3D visualizations.
• Future work includes developing CAD plugins for direct VR interaction with models.