The Impact of Design Factors on User Behavior in a Virtual Hospital Room to Explore Fall Prevention Strategies

Falls in hospitals pose a significant safety risk, leading to injuries, prolonged hospitalization, and lasting complications. This study explores the potential of augmented reality (AR) technology in healthcare facility design to mitigate fall risk.

Few studies have investigated the impact of hospital room layouts on falls due to the high cost of building physical prototypes. This study introduces an innovative approach using AR technology to advance methods for healthcare facility design efficiently.

Ten healthy participants enrolled in this study to examine different hospital room designs in AR. Factors of interest included room configuration, door type, exit side of the bed, toilet placement, and the presence of IV equipment. AR trackers captured trajectories of the body as participants navigated through these AR hospital layouts, providing insights into user behavior and preferences.

Door type influenced the degree of backward and sideways movement, with the presence of an IV pole intensifying the interaction between door and room type, leading to increased sideways and backward motion. Participants displayed varying patterns of backward and sideways travel depending on the specific room configurations they encountered.

AR can be an efficient and cost-effective method to modify room configurations to identify important design factors before conducting physical testing. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the effect of environmental factors on movement patterns in simulated hospital rooms. These results highlight the importance of considering environmental factors, such as the type of door and bathroom location, when designing healthcare facilities.