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Sherman Finch

Hybrid Art & Interaction Design

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CyberCell: A Sickle Cell Virtual Reality Experience

January 3, 2022 Sherman Finch Current Work


Over the last two years, I have had the fortunate opportunity to establish a productive and collaborative relationship with Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware. Nemours has partnered with Aimee Hildenbrand, Ph.D. Pediatric Psychologist, Fred Freedman Creative Director/VR Designer, David Rosario Game designer, and myself to work on developing a VR-based education tool entitled “CyberCell” for young patients with SCD (an inheritable blood disorder) and their caregivers. Professional activities include working closely with SCD clinicians and researchers, patient education specialists, patients, and families while also researching educational Technology surrounding VR Modeling & Environments, UI Wayfinding & VR Game Mechanics, and Medical VR Research in the evolving field of Digital Therapeutics.

The goal of CyberCell is an XRtool to provide evidence-based, immersive, and interactive education about sickle cell disease and treatment options to stimulate deeper learning and increase motivation for healthy behaviors in teens and young adults with sickle cell disease.

 
The Team

Aimee Hildenbrand, PhD
Pediatric Psychologist & Research Lead
Nemours Children’s Health

Fredric Freeman, MS
Creative Director/VR Design & Development
Sam Houston State University

Sherman Finch, MFA
Art Director, User Interface & Game Mechanics
Sam Houston State University

Corinna Schultz, MD
Pediatric Hematologist
Nemours Children’s Health

Melanie Pitone, MD
Medical Editor
Nemours Children’s Health

Danielle Morley, BSN
Care Coordinator/Patient Education Specialist
Nemours Children’s Health

Benjamin Bear, MSW
Research Coordinator
Nemours Children’s Health

David Rosario, MA
3D Modeling & Environment Design
Sam Houston State University

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Nemours Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders for supporting this project. We also thank all the patients, families, healthcare providers, and design students and faculty who have contributed to this project.