Funded by the prestigious Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), and in collaboration with the world-renowned Florey Institute of Neuroscience, Austin Hospital, and Flinders Hospital, we are developing a groundbreaking digital platform that redefines support for young stroke survivors. This state-of-the-art, best-practice solution is more than just technology—it’s a lifeline. Purposefully designed to empower young people affected by stroke, along with their carers and healthcare providers, our platform delivers tailored support across every stage of the recovery journey, helping them thrive—not just survive.
We are building a robust, best-practice digital platform that supports users (young people affected by stroke, their carers, healthcare providers and others), including those with language and cognitive problems as a result of stroke, in their care, navigation of long-term recovery and participation. In this study, we aim to evaluate the user experience and usability of a working version of the developed web application.
In this research, we harness the power of virtual reality (VR) to simulate visual field loss, with the goal of sparking empathy and transforming how people understand vision impairment. We've developed an immersive multiplayer VR experience that brings the realities of visual impairment to life—enabling powerful training, simulation, and empathy-building encounters. This paper shares the journey behind building this groundbreaking system, the challenges we overcame, and introduces a bold new study designed to explore how users engage with and experience the platform.