Fighting Lupus: An Explanatory VR Experience

The rare disease Systemic Lupus Erythematodes (SLE) has been incurable up until now and can lead to life-threatening organ damage. However, a relevant and hitherto successful breakthrough has been achieved with CAR-T Cell therapy. How can this complex illness and its therapy be explained as understandably as possible to non-experts? How can one advise patients before and during treatment, support the therapy process and thereby verifiably aid healing? It is with precisely this in mind that Erlangen University Hospital struck a new path: with the VR experience “Fighting Lupus”.

As the content is highly complex, onliveline made use of the advantages of experiencing and discovering in a virtual reality and created a multilevel experience in which doctors and patients step together into a virtual space. In rooms with specific scenes, the participants follow a learning path through wards, CAR-T Cell laboratories and the human body. They experience in detail what the disorder is, what symptoms it causes, why an increasing load of medicines does not lead to improvement and how the treatment works in the blood vessels.

Apart from its informative use for those affected, the VR experience is also used by medical and care staff for further training purposes. A stand-alone solution for patients is planned. It is an unusual communication format that actively supports the therapy process and healing.