Beyond keyboards, mice, trackballs, and other means to communicate with computers, the spoken word remains the ultimate, if not elusive, user interface. Recent developments in hardware and software have brought the ability to control a computer with the spoken word closer to reality. This thesis investigates the current status of VR technology, its use in support of Joint Vision 2010, its use in the Healthcare environment and provides an analysis of the VR Pilot Project at NHRR. The objective of the analysis is to determine the viability and economical benefits of using a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) VR application as a clinicians input device for transcribing clinical encounter (SOAP) notes.
The VR application used in this study was the DragonDictate Classic Edition with the DragonMed add on module for healthcare professionals. The results show that VR technology is a viable tool that can add numerous economical benefits, such as, a decrease in the time clinicians spend transcribing SOAP notes, eliminates the need to hire medical transcriptionists and reduces Graphical User Interface (GUI) overload for Window's based Navy Medical Standard systems. In addition, findings indicate that the use of computer technology, during clinical encounters, has no significant effect on patient/clinician relationships.