Start VR and St John Ambulance Victoria launch VR cardiac arrest training service ‘SJx’

May 20, 2019 – Start VR has announced it has launched a virtual reality First Aid training service ‘SJx’ for St John Ambulance Victoria in Australia. According to the company, the interactive VR solution reduces training time by 75%, enabling students to receive life saving certification within one hour.

Optimised for use with the Oculus Go headsets, SJx offers businesses a portable VR-based training solution, along with an immersive projection-based group training solution for groups of up to twenty people. Students are presented with real-life simulation of a medical emergency and are led through the various stages of CPR training. Students identify hazardous objects, make time-critical decisions and engage with the environment to achieve their First Aid certification.

The SJx platform consists of three parts:

Student App – Highy immersive real-life simulations delivered as interactive and cinematic VR training experiences on Oculus Go headsets and iPad devices;

Trainer App – Manages student attendance and assessment, synchronises media playback and ensures the roll-out of training;

Installation App – Designed for playback on large format projectors, groups of up to twenty students are invited to BYOD (bring your own device) to undertake their written assessments.

The training experience is built on Start VR ’s internally developed Startgate XR publishing platform. Startgate XR provides synchronised media management, analytics and allows for the remote management of content published to VR and AR headsets.

Start VR CEO, Kain Tietzel commented: “We’re seeing ever increasing investment and activity from our HR & training customers as they move from pilot programs to fully deploying VR solutions. St John Ambulance Victoria are taking it to the next level by delivering a portable solution that ensures consistent premium training experiences, which are more efficient and economical. This life saving training solution, enables businesses to train their staff on-site (a huge boost to productivity) and reach remote and busy communities who would otherwise find it difficult to receive training.

Tietzel added: “Our studio team have produced a suite of content that is interactive, cinematic and engaging, and through our Startgate platform, St John Ambulance Victoria can rollout their SJx initiative at scale… It’s a compelling illustration that highlights how the commercialisation and enterprise implementation of XR has arrived.”

The new training course will accredit the Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation certificate to Victorian students using real-life 360-degree video scenarios and an integrated questionnaire.

CEO of St John Ambulance Victoria, Gordon Botwright said: “With thousands of people dying from cardiac arrest each year, it’s crucial that we make the process of undertaking first aid training accessible. Using Start VR’s invaluable expertise in virtual reality, we are able to ensure our students receive the highest quality learning experience while significantly cutting down the time it takes to deliver a market-leading first aid course in Australia.” He added, “We are excited to pave the way for a new evolution of first aid training in Australia to improve cardiac arrest response times and ultimately, survival rates.”

Image and Video credit: Start VR/St John Ambulance Victoria/YouTube