Cyane Tornatzky, an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History and a VetVR collaborator, is energized by the team’s translational application of an emerging technology.
“In electronic art, we have this long history of things like interactive kiosks, websites as art forms, and this idea that video games can have serious content,” Tornatzky said.
The team has also been able to hire some of Tornatzky’s students, who have the necessary skills for translating electronic art into cutting-edge technology. “It’s been fun, innovative and hard,” she said.
The game was created so that anyone – not just veterinary students – can practice basic veterinary techniques, like examining a patient, administering prescriptions, making diagnoses and ultimately, saving the dog’s life. It’s closer to the team’s goal of creating a high-stakes emergency scenario to use in clinical education because it reflects the consequences of real decision-making.