Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA.
Expert Rev Med Devices. 2014 Mar;11(2):101-3. doi: 10.1586/17434440.2014.863706. Epub 2013 Nov 21.
A virtual world is a three-dimensional, computer-generated, simulated environment. Human users create "avatars," or virtual projections of themselves, in order to explore this virtual environment and interact with the objects and structures inside it. Second Life™ is one such virtual world accessible freely via the internet, which has been used to construct a virtual hospital complete with reception areas, changing rooms, offices, and hospital wards. Early pioneering studies have demonstrated the advantages of using virtual worlds in the education of surgical residents in a number of ways, from introductions to the clinical environment, initial patient assessment, and managing adverse outcomes, to gaining informed consent, hospital-wide training, and medical device development.
虚拟世界是一个三维的、计算机生成的模拟环境。人类用户创建“化身”，即自己的虚拟投影，以便探索这个虚拟环境并与其中的对象和结构进行交互。Second LifeTM 就是这样一个可以通过互联网免费访问的虚拟世界，它被用来构建一个完整的虚拟医院，包括接待区、更衣室、办公室和病房。早期的开拓性研究已经证明了在外科住院医师教育中使用虚拟世界的诸多优势，从临床环境介绍、初步患者评估和处理不良后果，到获得知情同意、全院培训和医疗器械开发。
