The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a new VR app that can be used as a laboratory safety training course.
The app is available on both as part of CDC’s online training resource (CDC Train) and as a free PC VR release on Steam. The 60-minute course, titled LabTrainingVR: Biosafety Cabinet Edition, will enable users to “apply knowledge and practice setting up a biological safety cabinet (BSC) in a virtual laboratory,” according to the CDC. “Future updates to this course will allow learners to go beyond setup and practice additional skills, such as cleaning up spills and conducting emergency shut down procedures.”
The CDC says that the the course was developed in response to “evolving training needs” in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new edition of the app, the LabTrainingVR: PPE Edition, is also due to release in September this year on CDC Train and Steam. It will be a 30-45 minute experience where users can learn all about personal protective equipment (PPE), how to use it properly, what it protects you against and how to correctly put on and take off the equipment.
The training segment will conclude with a “scenario-based exam” that takes place in a simulated laboratory, that will “test the user’s ability to identify the routes of transmission of infectious agents, don and doff the appropriate PPE for daily use at the bench, and don and doff PPE during an emergency.”
You can read more about the app over on the CDC site, where you can also register for CDC Train. Alternatively, the app is also available through Steam for free with support for HTC Vive headsets.
