We’re ecstatic to announce a project of passion that has been brewing in and out of the office for the past few weeks. Our recent project with Swedish, Project: Swedish XR, is for patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). While the official title has not been finalized, the ingredients have been through collaboration with folks with MS.
Swedish XR emerged through the human need to experience. The need to create new memories with others is universal, yet oftentimes difficult or scary for MS patients. Swedish recognizes this and, led by Occupational Therapist, Simon Gale, created the MS Adventure Program, where participants did everything from horseback riding to art classes. The image above, courteous of Swedish Blog, shows a shot of a kayaking expedition done with MS Adventure Program. With this program, Swedish continues the holistic focus on the quality of life in all regards.
And then COVID-19 came. The pandemic has led to many inconveniences and grievances for all. But the grief for the radical restructuring of our lives is felt most by those at risk. And with the shutdown of the MS Adventure Program and other similarly supportive environments, loneliness, isolation, and flat out boredom take root.
It’s at these crossroads that MXTreality began working with Simon Gale and Swedish, mapping out an experience that fills the gap created by the shutdown. With three separate experiences unified by one central HUB, Project Swedish XR serves the need for adventure, relaxation, and creativity.
These three components came to fruition through, expertise at MXTreality in crafting similar experiences, but they have been attuned through listening. In the early phases of design, we sent out a survey and accompanying video, viewable below, explaining what VR could do, as well as asking for direction. In designing a multi-faceted experience for folks with MS we relied upon responses and ideas from the population we were serving.
It is one thing to create a product for a population, it is another to experience a need for a product.
This tenet drives our design philosophy, a cycle of collaboration through open communications. We’ll be keeping you in the loop throughout the development of Swedish XR and are appreciative of feedback along the way. We will continue to discuss this and more in future blogs and posts. So for all things MXTreality give us a follow and subscribe to our newsletter.