By Trevor Simpson (Principal Lecturer – College of Social Science) – Staff Profile & Sean Morton (Principal Lecturer – College of Social Science) – Staff Profile
The 360 camera is a new technology that we hadn’t really used before and we were interested to see what it gave our learners that a traditional video camera doesn’t. We worked closely with the digital developer team to pilot the use of a 360 camera whilst recording a straightforward clinical scenario.
We teach to scenarios similar to this all the time with the emphasis usually being on the use of communication, clinical skills, clinical judgement and professional values. We mounted the 360 camera over the pre-frontal bone area of the mannequin to simulate the 360 view a patient would have if they were situated in the scenario. This unique perspective (ie the lived experience) is something that we often discuss in a Health and Social education context, but we rarely use technology to deliver it in a simulated clinical scenario – so this was unique and interesting for us. One area that is interesting in this video is the impact the sound has on the experience for the viewer – the key question being, is it important where the sound comes from – ie does sound also need to be directional or surround in origin?
The most important learning for us thus far is that the technology is relatively straightforward to use, the important aspects of making a video of this type is maintaining a clear objective and undertaking meticulous story-boarding and casting – which is the same for conventional video shoots, but the planning and concept vision for the use of 360 video needs to always be in the foreground as the team plans the execution of the shoot.
In order to view the video in 360 degrees, please use Google Chrome or the YouTube app on a handheld device.
We can already see other opportunities for the use of a 360 video medium in our suite of clinical exercises and this is a something we intend to explore as we develop our expertise. These are exciting times for us here – we think we’ve got something unique and un-tapped and we want to see what we can do with it as we begin to understand the medium more. The most important outcome is to understand the end-user experience and how the video enhances the projected learning outcomes of a range of users.
Trevor Simpson is a Principle Lecturer and Sean Morton is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Social Care.