An augmented reality system for expanding abnormalities of standardized patients

Standardized patients (SPs), individuals who realistically portray patients, are widely used in medical education to teach and assess students' skill in communicating with patient, eliciting a history, performing a physical exam, and others. They are typically healthy individuals with few or no abnormal physical findings. One limitation is that each SP can only portray a limited set of physical symptoms. We have developed a functioning prototype that uses sound-based augmented reality (AR) to expand the capabilities of an SP to exhibit physically-manifested abnormalities. Our current research using augmented reality technology allows the learner to view an abnormal virtual 3D heart on a normal SP's body in our simulated echocardiogram.