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Colorado’s primary nonprofit blood services provider Vitalant is, for the first time in Colorado, offering an enhanced blood donor experience with mixed reality hoping to inspire a new generation of blood donors to help save lives.
Using lightweight headsets specially developed for use in a blood donation setting, Vitalant’s Lowry Blood Donation Center in Denver is piloting this fun, relaxing experience, particularly for donors who might be apprehensive about donating or who have never given blood before. While most people are eligible to donate blood, only about 3% of the U.S. population does. Among active Vitalant blood donors in Colorado and surrounding states, just 15% are under age 30.
Blood donors who put on the lightweight headsets at the beginning of the donation process see a virtual garden blended with their real surroundings while listening to soothing music. The experience is hands-free. After a brief tutorial, donors can move their eyes to plant seeds and watch their garden grow all the while saving lives donating blood. Donors remain completely aware of their surroundings, which allows staff to monitor and interact with them at every step of the donation process. In a study of initial users, 89% said they were very or extremely likely to donate again.
“It’s very relaxing, it’s beautiful,” Taylor Guess, a Vitalant blood donor trying mixed reality said Thursday. “It’s great because you’re still seeing what’s around you so there’s not a total disconnection from what you’re actually doing…which is kind of cool. It’s nice.”
We are excited to be able to offer this enhancement of the blood donation experience,” Vitalant Senior Director of Donor Care Steve Cihura said. “Vitalant needs to collect more than 600 units of blood each day in Colorado to help patients, and we hope mixed reality will help encourage more donors to get excited about giving blood and saving lives.”
Abbott and Blood Centers of America (BCA) launched this mixed reality experience, which is being used in more than a dozen blood centers across the U.S. BCA is lending Vitalant some of the headsets being used in the Colorado pilot.
Vitalant has served more Colorado patients than any other blood center since 1943 and is the blood provider for over 95% of Colorado hospitals. With 10 Vitalant donation centers and multiple community-hosted blood drives every day, donors can always find a convenient location to give blood and help save lives.
To make an appointment at the Lowry Donation Center or another convenient Vitalant location, visit vitalant.org, download and use the Vitalant app or call 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825).