Nordic Firm Taps VR to Educate Parents on Childbirth

Many exciting developments are taking place in the virtual reality industry. Not all of these changes make sense immediately, although they serve as an example of how powerful the technology really is. Birthual Reality is an intriguing creation by a Nordic insurance firm.

VR Childbirth is a Thing

Although most people rarely give it a second thought, the birth of a child can be a logistic juggling act first and foremost. As such, parents need to adequately prepare for birth and do so in a proper manner. This is where virtual reality technology can play a major role in the years to come. Nordic insurance firm Gjensidige Insurance feels there is a bright future ahead for Birthual Reality.

To put this new concept into perspective, the firm helps parents prepare for childbirth in 360-degree VR. As such, soon-to-be-parents will witness a childbirth in virtual reality through a 10-minute video. Couples will be introduced to the preparation and labor, as well as a close-up camera shot of the mother before, during, and after birth. An invaluable experience for first-time parents, although still a somewhat controversial concept.

The Nordic firm is confident this new VR experience will make people fully grasp what happens when a child is born. That in itself is a very interesting development, although it still remains to be seen how the general public responds to this new development. Not everyone will be comfortable with watching a childbirth in VR, for rather obvious reasons.

While it is another validation of how VR technology can be used, the industry still remains at a very early stage of development. There is no guarantee virtual reality will ever go mainstream either. At the same time, various medical applications rely on VR technology these days,  and it seems that industry will continue to grow over the coming months. Preparing parents for parenthood needs a different approach, and VR may be the right way to go after all.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock

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