Annenberg Lab Uses VR to Combat Opioid Overdoses

In the past year, over 300 people in Camden County, New Jersey, died from opioid overdoses. “That’s a scary number,” said Kyle Cassidy, co-director of the Annenberg Extended Reality Lab. “We must do whatever we can to change that number to zero."

The Extended Reality Lab and Penn Nursing are using an untraditional way to fight the opioid crisis — virtual reality (VR) training on how to administer the lifesaving drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, which reverses opioid overdoses.

The Extended Reality Lab first made a VR Narcan training video in 2018, when Ann Marie Hoyt-Brennan of Penn Nursing asked if they could translate the typical hour-long, in-person session offered to nursing students into something more accessible.

The result was a 9-minute immersive VR video that was just as effective as in-person training.

When Robert Ferris, chief of detectives in the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, saw the video, he asked if the lab could make a video for Camden County.

The VR training video was filmed in Camden County with a script co-written by Annenberg doctoral students Kate Okker-Edging and Nya Mbock, as well as undergraduate Communication major Oscar Vazquez.

People in Camden County have ample access to Narcan — the county has installed first aid kits with the medicine in public libraries, health facilities, schools, courts, bars, motels, parks, and other settings where someone might be able to respond to an overdose, but not everyone knows how to use them. The VR training video is another way to help people understand how to use the lifesaving pharmaceutical, said Camden County Health Officer Paschal Nwako.

“Rarely do we get to see such an immediate lifesaving benefit of our research,” said Annenberg Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser. “We are all so thrilled and proud that Kyle and VR Lab’s innovative use of virtual reality can be used to efficiently and effectively train anyone to revive people who are overdosing.”