Pain Distraction for Children Through VR- or Audio-haptic Soundscapes in Situ

In this pilot study we compare two prototype applications developed in collaboration with Rigshospitalet, the main hospital in Denmark, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR)- versus an audio-haptic based solution, as a pain distraction tool for children aged 5 to 8 during needle-related medical procedures. Both prototypes were developed with a narrative where children help a farmer find hidden animals. The final prototype underwent testing in situ, at Rigshospitalet's clinic for blood tests. Here, participants' pain levels were assessed using the Wong-Baker FACES Scale [9] and the Visual Analogue Scale [5]. Both prototypes saw participants report reduced pain perception, skewing more in favor of the VR prototype. However, the audio-haptic prototype showed similar levels of reduction in pain perception when effective. The study concludes that both VR- and audio-haptic based distraction are viable methods, that each cover a group's needs within medical procedures involving young children (those who need to not see the procedure, and those who do), and that these should be further developed and implemented in said medical procedures.