2016 has been touted as the year virtual reality breaks into the mainstream market with implications of use in entertainment, especially gaming. Now, a team of doctors from Miami's Nicklaus Children's Hospital has made use of virtual reality technology to save a baby's life.
Baby Teegan has been familiar with hospitals ever since she was born. She has been in them for the longest time because she was missing one lung and half her heart. According to the Daily Mail, a number of doctors have told them that they could do nothing about the baby's condition and that the best plan of action was just to take Teegan home to spend her last days with family. Luckily, the people over at Nicklaus Children's Hospital had a different plan.
Virtual reality's rise to popularity began with the success of the crowdfunding campaign for the Oculus Rift back in 2012. Since then various competitors have unveiled their own version of the technology hoping to get a firm grasp on the market before any other manufacturer does. One such company that produces virtual reality is Google with their Google Cardboard.
Although low-cost, the Google Cardboard is a suitable and readily available piece of technology. Just put in your smartphone with the proper app and this $20 device will give you virtual reality. The doctors at Nicklaus Children's ordered it online and used it to map out an otherwise almost impossible surgery to save Teegan's life. Needless to say, they were not disappointed with the results.
According to CNN, "four weeks after her surgery, baby Teegan was taken off a ventilator and is breathing on her own. Doctors expect her to go home within the next two weeks and make a full recovery." Cassidy Lexcen, Teegan's mother, has called the procedure mind-blowing. "To see this little cardboard box and a phone, and to think this is what saved our daughter's life," she said.
