6G-PATH (6G-pilots and Trials Through Europe) is a new Horizon Europe project where Computer Science and Nursing Science at Karlstad University are participating. The project is going to develop solutions that can be applied in health education.
6G is expected to introduce new technologies that will enable innovative applications. One such application is Extended Reality (XR), which is a general term used to describe experiences that span from the physical to the digital world.
Enabling students to interactively participate
The aim of the use case within the project that will be implemented at Karlstad University is to enable students to participate in medical scenarios remotely via Virtual Reality (VR), where reconstructed scenes will be streamed directly to the students’ VR glasses. Two locations will communicate with each other using 5G/6G, one of which could be an ambulance handling a medical emergency, and the training site, where students participate in the emergency situation through XR and VR. The medical site will be equipped with both hardware and software to capture the scenario in a reaslistic way.
– We focus on education, but the same technology can also be used to provide support to someone who may not have much medical experience. For example, if they need an extra set of eyes for a quick assessment, a colleague or mentor can assist them remotely. This can be done using, for example, cameras that are placed on the body so that the other person can see the patient, says Anna Nordin, who conducts research on digital innovation in healthcare.
Kickoff in Athens
In January, a kickoff for the project was held at the headquarters of the project coordinator, OTE, in Athens. The meeting laid the groundwork for achieving the goals of the 6G-PATH project, which intends to take a prominent role in the development, integration and assessment of new and improved 5G and 6G tools, services and technologies. Focus is on four specific areas: Health, Education, Smart Cities and Smart Farming. The project will involve telecommunications and cloud service providers, major industrial partners, numerous European small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as several universities and research institutes.
– The aim of 6G-PATH is to promote the development and integration of 5G/6G technology in several concrete use cases. We will evaluate both technical performance and how the new solutions can contribute to user value. It creates an exciting opportunity for us to join forces with nursing science to assess how XR and 5G/6G technology can contribute to enhancing teaching in the medical and health sciences, says Anna Brunström, Professor of Computer Science.
Facts
The EU has granted 12,571,000 Euro to the project, of which Karlstad University has been granted 566,250 Euro. There are 26 partners from 13 countries taking part in the project, which run for three years.
