VR Isle Academy: A VR Digital Twin Approach for Robotic Surgical Skill Development

TL;DR

This paper presents VR Isle Academy, a cost-effective, portable VR simulation platform for robotic surgical skill training that improves user performance through immersive, real-time error assessment and hands-on practice.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, device-agnostic VR training system with real-time error monitoring, enhancing surgical skill development at minimal cost.

Findings

Significant reduction in error metrics with increased training sessions

Effective improvement in robot-controlling skills of untrained users

Demonstrated efficiency and immersion of the VR training platform

Abstract

Contemporary progress in the field of robotics, marked by improved efficiency and stability, has paved the way for the global adoption of surgical robotic systems (SRS). While these systems enhance surgeons' skills by offering a more accurate and less invasive approach to operations, they come at a considerable cost. Moreover, SRS components often involve heavy machinery, making the training process challenging due to limited access to such equipment. In this paper we introduce a cost-effective way to facilitate training for a simulator of a SRS via a portable, device-agnostic, ultra realistic simulation with hand tracking and feet tracking support. Error assessment is accessible in both real-time and offline, which enables the monitoring and tracking of users' performance. The VR application has been objectively evaluated by several untrained testers showcasing significant reduction in error metrics as the number of training sessions increases. This indicates that the proposed VR application denoted as VR Isle Academy operates efficiently, improving the robot - controlling skills of the testers in an intuitive and immersive way towards reducing the learning curve at minimal cost.