Mobiddiction in partnership with Starlight Children’s Foundation
RocketCrew VR
for Starlight Children’s Foundation
Overview
First-of-its-kind immersive VR experience delivered in the Starlight Express Rooms.
Mobiddiction partnered with Starlight Children’s Foundation to deliver RocketCrew, a groundbreaking immersive virtual reality experience built on the innovative PatientVR platform. This first-of-its-kind initiative was deployed in the Starlight Express Rooms in both the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and Westmead Children’s Hospital in Westmead, Sydney as the first two hospitals to trial this immersive virtual reality experience.
The experience brought customised PatientVR technology into the Starlight Express rooms, offering children and their families a powerful moment of escape from the challenges of hospital life. Many of the young patients are living with long-term illnesses and face extended stays away from everyday experiences. For them and their families, even a few minutes of joyful distraction can make a world of difference.
This collaboration represents a significant advancement in VR applications within paediatric healthcare settings, demonstrating how cutting-edge technology can provide meaningful psychological and emotional support to young patients during some of their most challenging moments by providing positive distraction.
Problem Statement
Addressing the Emotional and Psychological Challenges of Extended Hospitalisation
Children facing long-term illnesses often experience extended hospital stays that remove them from familiar environments, friends, family routines, and normal childhood experiences. These young patients frequently endure multiple medical procedures, treatments, and the anxiety that comes with uncertain health outcomes.
Traditional distraction methods in hospital settings, whilst helpful, often lack the immersive quality needed to provide truly effective psychological escape. Many children become restless, anxious, or withdrawn during lengthy treatment periods, impacting both their emotional wellbeing and treatment compliance.
Leveraging PatientVR Platform for Immersive Experiences
Mobiddiction’s approach centred on adapting our proprietary PatientVR platform to create RocketCrew, an experience specifically designed for the unique needs of hospitalised children. Our team recognised that successful immersive VR required more than just entertainment – it needed to provide genuine psychological relief whilst being medically appropriate.
The PatientVR platform was developed with healthcare environments in mind, incorporating safety protocols, hygiene considerations, and accessibility features essential for hospital deployment. Unlike consumer VR experiences, PatientVR addresses the specific challenges of medical settings, including equipment compatibility, infection control, and the need for quick, easy transitions between users.
RocketCrew was conceived as an adventure that would appeal to children across various age groups whilst providing the benefits of immersive distraction. The space exploration theme was chosen to inspire wonder and excitement, transporting young patients to an environment completely removed from their medical reality.
Our collaborative approach involved working closely with the Starlight team, hospital staff, and the network of Starlight Express Room team members and volunteers to ensure the experience would integrate seamlessly into existing hospital routines whilst maximising impact. This multi-stakeholder collaboration was essential to creating a solution that met both technical and clinical requirements.
Design
Creating an Age-Appropriate Immersive Adventure for Impact
The design process for RocketCrew required careful consideration of the unique needs of hospitalised children, balancing engaging content with medical safety requirements. Our design team worked extensively with the Starlight team members to create an experience that would be both immersive and thoroughly enjoyable.
The RocketCrew narrative centres around space exploration, allowing children to become crew members on an exciting interstellar mission. The storyline was crafted to promote feelings of empowerment, adventure, and wonder – emotions that can be particularly helpful for children facing medical challenges. The space theme also provided a completely neutral environment, free from any associations with medical settings.
Visual design elements were carefully selected to be vibrant and engaging without being overstimulating for children who might be dealing with treatment side effects. The interface was designed to be intuitive for users of all ages, with simple navigation that doesn’t require complex movements or lengthy instructions.
The team at Mobiddiction had a goal of being up and running in under 10 seconds with no internet connectivity required and a controller free design.
Safety considerations were paramount in the design process. All VR interactions were designed to be gentle and comfortable, avoiding any content that might cause motion sickness or anxiety. The experience was structured in short, manageable segments that could accommodate varying attention spans and energy levels of young patients.
”"The RocketCrew experience has been absolutely fantastic for kids and young people visiting the Starlight Express Room. We've witnessed children who were withdrawn, shy or anxious become animated and excited after their VR journey. The collaboration between Mobiddiction and Starlight has created something truly special and unique that fits our Starlight mythology and at the same time was immersive and FUN for so many kids!
Elle DaweExperience Producer, SPARK Accelerator, Starlight Children’s Foundation
Development
Technical Implementation Across Sydney Children's Network Facilities
The development phase involved extensive coordination between Mobiddiction’s technical team, and the Starlight Express room coordinators at both Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and Westmead Children’s Hospital. This multi-site deployment required careful planning to ensure consistent experience quality across both locations.
Robust testing protocols were established to ensure the system performed reliably in the hospital environment within the hospital space and the user experience validation testing was done in close supervision of young patients and their families to ensure safety at all times.
The four-day deployment across both hospitals was carefully scheduled and our team provided on-site technical support throughout the initial deployment to ensure smooth operation and immediate resolution of any technical issues.
Our development team customised the PatientVR platform specifically for the RocketCrew experience, incorporating hospital-grade hygiene protocols and safety features. The VR hardware was selected and configured to meet strict medical facility requirements, including easy sanitisation between users and compatibility with various medical equipment that children might be using.
The technical implementation included staff training for Starlight Express team members and volunteers across both hospital sites. This training covered not only the technical operation of the VR equipment but also best practices for supporting children during their virtual experience, recognising signs of discomfort, and maximising benefits.
Ongoing
Expanding into future VR applications in healthcare
The success of RocketCrew has opened significant opportunities for expanding VR applications within healthcare. The positive response from patients, families, healthcare staff and Starlight volunteers has been very positive and shows potential for VR technology to make meaningful contributions within healthcare.
Mobiddiction aims to continue on our collaborative journey with Starlight Children’s Foundation to refine and expand the RocketCrew experience based on user feedback and observations. This ongoing partnership ensures that the VR experience evolves to meet the changing needs of young patients and incorporates advances in both VR technology and bespoke health care virtual reality experiences.
The PatientVR platform’s modular design allows for the development of additional experiences beyond RocketCrew.
The collaborative model established with Starlight, hospital staff, and volunteers serves as a template for future therapeutic VR initiatives. This multi-stakeholder approach ensures that technology solutions are grounded in real clinical needs and supported by the teams who work directly with young patients and their families.
”"RocketCrew represents everything we strive for at Mobiddiction - innovative technology that makes a real difference in people's lives. This first-of-its-kind initiative with Starlight has demonstrated the incredible potential of therapeutic VR in healthcare settings. We're proud to be pioneering this space and look forward to expanding these life-changing experiences to more children and hospitals across Australia."
Mike VasavadaDirector, Mobiddiction
For more information about PatientVR and healthcare VR solutions, please contact the Mobiddiction team at contactus@mobiddiction.com.au