Dräger and VirtualiSurg won the first-ever Obsidian Award for their Dräger Virtuo XR Babyleo project, an extended reality simulator created to train medical teams in NICUs. The award is organized by the Academy of International Extended Reality (AIXR), an international organization dedicated to promoting and supporting extended reality (XR) technologies, which include virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR).
Dräger Virtuo XR Babyleo Simulation takes NICU training to a new level
Having complementary expertise, Dräger and VirtualiSurg began collaborating in 2021 to create a comprehensive global offering of immersive training for anesthesia, resuscitation, and intensive care.
„Our solution addresses a critical gap in medical education by combining clinical training with communication and compassion,“ said President and CEO for Draeger, Inc., Lothar Thielen. „These factors are especially vital in neonatal ICUs, where the experience can be deeply traumatic for parents. Research shows that parental involvement reduces anxiety and improves patient outcomes, but parents often feel left out of the care process. Our XR simulation addresses this challenge by enabling medical staff to manage real clinical cases and emergencies – while practicing how to engage parents in care, and teaching staff how to communicate with empathy.“
„Our team of experts in immersive technologies shares this vision by placing humans and life at the heart of its innovations,“ said Nicolas Mignan, Founder and CEO of VirtualiSurg. „To transform healthcare professional training, it is essential to integrate both clinical expertise and the emotional dimension of care. The realism of our scenarios stems from intensive dialog with experts throughout our co-development process. Through this collaborative approach, we design XR solutions that enable caregivers to train on realistic cases while developing essential communication and empathy skills.“
„Our solution addresses a critical gap in medical education by combining clinical training with communication…“
In addition to being based on expert interviews, content and interactions for BabyLeo XR Simulation were developed based on scientific literature and insights from hundreds of parental stories. Key features include a multi-user mode where a nurse assumes the role of a family member, a chapter dedicated to parents, parental story narrations, and dialog training for sensitive topics.
This training is part of a series of XR medical simulators created to revolutionize education with realistic, safe, and compassionate learning experiences. Dräger and VirtualiSurg are working to expand their scenarios across many care areas, making experiences even more immersive, and ultimately helping to create a healthcare training ecosystem.
First-ever Obsidian Award
While 2024 was the 8th edition of the XR Awards, AIXR created the Obsidian Award for this edition. The Obsidian Award salutes innovations in extended reality (XR) across virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) platforms and spans hardware, software and content creation.
Rather than having strict criteria, the Obsidian Award celebrates advancements that push XR technology or applications to new heights and recognizes significant industry progress. The award jury is made up of international experts in extended reality.
The ceremony took place on December 5, 2024 in Rotterdam, in parallel with Immersive Tech Week Congress. Dräger and VirtualiSurg submitted their application in June 2024 and were selected as finalists in September 2024. Other finalists in this category included global tech giants Meta, with its game Asgard’s Wrath 2 and HTC, which developed a VR headset for the ISS as a tool for astronauts. The AIXR competition is organized around 12 prize-giving ceremonies. The Babyleo XR Simulation was also a finalist in the Health Solution of the Year category.
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