Founder’s Blog – From classroom to living room and beyond

As 2022 draws to a close it seems right to reflect on Vertual’s 15th year and on those 15 years. As we have commented in various presentations in the past; it has been a fun trip! Whilst teaching at Sheffield-Hallam University in Sheffield as a guest Physicist lecturer, I always struggled at the point of lectures when I really needed to take the class in to the bunker and SHOW them something. Discussing this with Roger and James, during our work up on (IMRT) Optimisation Algorithms, sparked many ‘well we could’ and ‘what if we used VR’ conversations. We started to ponder on ‘well, what if we brought the Linac into the classroom’. When we were having those ‘corridor’ / ‘what if’ discussions many moons ago, wondering if our ideas to provide novel training for radiotherapy would be of interest, we really had no idea that VERT would take off to become what it is today. As an educator, I just wanted better ways to show and illustrate what I was teaching. As a proponent of new technology, I was frustrated by the slow uptake of IMRT and IGRT at the turn of the century, in the UK.

We are grateful for the fact that some in the NHS leadership were captured by our vision. Prof Sir Mike Richards, The UK Cancer Csar, was looking for ways to improve training for Radiotherapy whilst I was looking to help the UK catch up on IMRT. Sometime in 2007 he asked to come and visit us in Hull. Following a conversation with him, we were confident that we might get funding for two VERT systems; the three of us ended up having to figure out how to provide and install some 45 across England within the following 12 months. Colleagues in the College of Radiographers were enthusiastic supporters of VERT from the beginning and helped us make a difference to the way their students were trained.

The future brings some exciting developments for Vertual with new products and our embracing new platforms such as ‘cloud’ delivery and software as a service. We look forward to working with customers and learning how students and trainees will use the remote access to VERT. Having successfully brought the Linac into the classroom, we are now taking it to the students’ living rooms at any time of the day. We believe that by doing so, students will benefit from self-directed and self-paced consolidation of the didactic learning provided in the classroom. Virtual Presenter has been expanded to provide a more comprehensive e-learning platform and can now be used to set up knowledge/competency assessments. The facility now exists to launch the VERT session with a specific Linac, patient, scenario and set of instructions and assessment questions. We look forward to learning how this can be incorporated into course assessments as well as giving students more access to the VERT environment.

As ever, we Founders are grateful for the feedback we receive and the wonderful collegiate nature of the International VERT family. We appreciate your continued enthusiasm and look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible at the upcoming user meetings.

If you would like to find out more, give us feedback, share ideas, or if you are interested in working with us, get in touch. email us: [email protected]

Professor Andy Beavis and James Ward are founders of Vertual, having founded the Company together with the late Professor Roger Phillips with a vision to enhance patient care and patient safety by using innovative educational methods.