VIRTUAL VIRTUAL

Collectively, they imagined and developed a virtual reality app that would enable dental hygiene students to learn how to position patients to be able to work on specific tooth surfaces. The resulting app, created using the Unity game engine, gives students feedback throughout the virtual experience.

“Making a quality app can take up to six months with a full tech team,” Welch said. “We really only had one semester to get it done and what we were able to accomplish in three months with students was truly phenomenal.”

Once complete, Welch further tested the dental hygiene app in partnership with Idaho State, comparing students learning with VR to those in a physical dental hygiene lab. Welch said