An immersive Virtual Reality training for infection prevention with visualized germ transmission.

ViRTUE -
Experience
hand hygiene

Get it on Steam
ViRTUE

We make germs visible.

ViRTUE is a Virtual Reality training application for hand hygiene. During the training you perform a range of tasks in a simulated patient visit. By activating the germ view you can see in real time, or at the end of the visit, whether and where your actions transferred germs.

The training is easy to understand. Wearing a VR headset, you act inside a realistic hospital environment and experience first-hand what your actions cause.

Meta Quest 3 VR headset
Features

Learn hand hygiene
in 20 minutes

ViRTUE makes germ transmissions visible and reproducible.

With our training, you will gain more confidence in hand hygiene in no time.

  • Quick and fun learning experience
  • Germs from various sources (environmental and patient germs)
  • Visualisation of patient zones
  • Real-Time feedback and analysis of work processes
  • Customizable training scenarios
  • Replay of the patient visit for error analysis
Simulation

The virtual patient visit

ViRTUE's hand hygiene training takes place in a virtual patient room. Here you can make mistakes without risk and analyse them afterwards. Practise when to disinfect your hands in order to avoid germ transmission. Your tasks include greeting the patient, measuring body temperature, auscultating the heart, and recording the measured values.

Recording measurements in VR
Temperature measurement result
Hand disinfection in VR
Normal view in ViRTUE Germ view in ViRTUE Patient zones in ViRTUE

Visualization of germs & patient zones

ViRTUE registers every contact with environmental and patient germs and simulates how they are distributed.

You can choose whether the germs and indication zones are visible or invisible.

Measurable results

Replay

Using the replay function, you can review your own patient visit afterwards. This allows you to analyze critical moments in your workflow.

Monitoring

To maximize learning, a second person accompanies the user during the virtual visit. The second person sees on their screen what the user sees in VR, can control the training and interact with the user.

VR training in action ViRTUE monitoring screen

Supervised by experts

ViRTUE is a product of University Hospital Zurich. It was developed by Ateo in collaboration with the Department of Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention at USZ.

PD Dr. med. Aline Wolfensberger

PD Dr. med. Aline Wolfensberger

University Hospital Zurich

Senior Attending Physician for Infectious Diseases and Hospital Hygiene

PD Dr. med. Walter Zingg

PD Dr. med. Walter Zingg

University Hospital Zurich

Head Physician for Infectious Diseases and Hospital Hygiene

Prof. Dr. Lauren Clack

Prof. Dr. Lauren Clack

University of Zurich

Professor, Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care

Learn more about us
FAQ

Questions & answers

01. What is ViRTUE?

ViRTUE is a Virtual Reality training application for hand hygiene that delivers a lively and interactive learning experience. Wearing a VR headset, you dive into a three-dimensional hospital environment and can practise correct hand hygiene during a visit with a virtual patient.

02. What are the benefits of ViRTUE?

ViRTUE lets you perform patient visits repeatedly while observing germ transmission in real time. In our realistic virtual environment you immediately experience the consequences of your actions, without putting the health of real patients at risk.

Thanks to the replay feature, ViRTUE lets you review your own patient visit afterwards. This supports detailed analysis of errors in indication and deepens your understanding of hand hygiene.

03. How does hand hygiene work in ViRTUE?

In ViRTUE, three types of germs are visualised: environmental germs and one germ type per patient. Our system enables precise analysis of these germs.

Your virtual hands can carry different germ types at the same time. Every time you touch a surface, you spread those germs.

For germ-free hands, three disinfection dispensers are available in the patient room. The goal is to disinfect your hands at the right moments, for example after opening the door to the room, where environmental germs are present, and before starting the visit with the patient.

The germ view can be toggled on and off.

04. Which hardware do I need to use ViRTUE?

ViRTUE is a desktop VR application for Microsoft Windows.

Minimum hardware requirements:

  • Operating system: Windows® 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel i5 5th generation
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1060 4 GB or equivalent
  • Storage: 1 GB of disk space

VR headset

ViRTUE supports all VR headsets compatible with SteamVR that have hand controllers (e.g. HTC Vive, Vive Pro, Valve Index, Meta Rift S, Meta Quest 1, 2, 3 and Pro using Quest Link or Air Link).

05. Where can I get ViRTUE?

ViRTUE is available directly on Steam. There you can buy a licence and download the software right away.

Go to Steam page

06. I already own ViRTUE. Where do I find the manual?

We keep a detailed online wiki that walks you through hardware setup, installation, and running a patient visit. It covers everything you need to get the most out of ViRTUE.

Open the ViRTUE Wiki

Now available

Get ViRTUE on Steam

Studies

How effective are
VR trainings?

Studies about ViRTUE

VIRTUE - a virtual reality trainer for hand hygiene
L. Clack, Christian Hirt, Marcel Wenger, Dirk Saleschus, Andreas Kunz, Hugo Sax
Infectious Diseases & Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich. Innovation Center Virtual Reality, ETH Zurich. Health Innovation Center, University Hospital Zurich.

Studies about other VR apps & gamification in VR