StellarX | Immersive blood donation walkthrough

Héma-Québec

2023

Héma-Québec is a non-profit organization that supplies blood and other biological products to the province of Quebec. It is responsible for recruiting donors, collecting, testing and processing the blood products, and delivering them to hospitals. It just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Challenge

Only about 3% of Quebecers donate blood — that’s fewer than 1 in every 30 people. Yet, Héma-Québec needs about 1,000 donations every day to meet demand. This goal is hard to achieve, but failing to do so is often life-threatening for patients.

Héma-Québec believes that lack of knowledge and fear are the 2 main obstacles to donating. Many people have a fear of needles, general anxiety regarding the process, or simply don’t realize how easily they can give blood. A way to address those issues had to be found.

"People laugh when they put the virtual headsets on, and right after that they're willing to give blood with a big smile ... It becomes something cool and that's what's important to us."

Josée Larivée

Spokesperson

Héma Quebec

Solution

Héma-Québec reached out to OVA to create a Virtual Reality experience that walks people through the process of donating blood. The 10-15 minutes immersive journey plunges the user into a replicated donation center, allows them to interact with animated staff, and go through all the stages of a donor’s journey, from registration to recovery.

The blood services agency hopes that this experience will help them get closer to potential new donors, as well as alleviate any apprehensions they might have by making the process more tangible. For now, the VR experience is offered at Globule centers in Saint-Bruno, on Montreal's South Shore, and Sainte-Foy in Quebec City, but could be brought to more centers across the province if it goes well.

Impact

By using StellarX, Hema Quebec achieved outcomes it hoped to see from this project. The VR experience allowed them to bring the educational process of blood donation to people, rather than wait for people to come to one of their clinics.

Pop up centers in malls and community centers were built around the public getting to try the experience inside a Meta Quest headset. This expanded Hema Quebec’s outreach capabilities. This unique effort also resulted in increased engagement and interest in donating blood amongst the public. Lastly, those who experienced the VR scenario shared that they felt less anxious about donating blood.