In a first, Government Medical College expo to utilise virtual reality

Thiruvananthapuram: Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, conducts ‘MedEx 2016, an ‘artistic medical exhibition’ which according to the organisers is the first of its kind in India. Unlike the typical science show which puts specimen jars on display, this expo, with the aid of virtual reality and other modern tools, will be more interactive they say. It will be inaugurated on January 3 by Pinarayi Vijayan and will end by January 31. To help the ordinary people appreciate forensic science, the expo will have a walk-through display on Soumya murder case. The case’s forensic nuances had been widely discussed, especially as there were two different conclusions drawn from the forensic evidence.

Visitors will be able to read about it inside a real-size replica of a train, where the murder scene will be recreated. “One of the objectives is to make one aware of lifestyle diseases. These affect the family budget and cause serious mental issues among people,” said A. Nalinakshan, pro-VC, Kerala University of Health Sciences, in a press meet. The exhibition is based on the theme ‘mirroring human’, and shows how life has evolved over centuries. The expo will be spread over an area of 2,25,000 sq ft – set up in a three-storey building on the medical college campus.

There will be mega walk-ins which take visitors through parts of the human body, or replicas of operation theatres. They will be able to see real-time streaming of surgeries happening at the hospital – with the patient's’ consent. “The videos alone would take at least four hours to cover. To see the exhibition completely, one would need at least two days,” said Amal Ahammad, general secretary, Kerala University of Health Sciences Students’ Union. The budget of the exhibition is estimated at Rs 1.72 crore. The funds were raised by the students and the faculty.