Comfort XR: Collaboration between clinicians and creatives transforms care

Collaboration across industries leads to new ways of supporting children in care

Needle procedures can be a major source of stress for children in hospital settings. Comfort XR changes the experience by guiding children into carefully crafted virtual worlds. A beach sky fills with clouds that turn into animals. A magic cave bursts into music as soap bubbles become fairy dust. In space, children take control of a ship and defend it from incoming aliens. These visual narratives activate the brain and redirect focus and therefore make pain less overwhelming and the procedure easier to manage.

The solution was developed through close collaboration between the Danish XR studio, Khora, and the clinical experts at The Knowledge Center for Children’s Pain at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. It began as part of a research project in 2017 and has since been tested in a clinical trial with 64 children. The study confirmed that virtual reality performs at the same level as other distraction techniques, while also improving satisfaction for patients and staff.

Comfort XR helps standardise distraction during procedures, allowing clinicians with different levels of experience to offer children a consistently positive and reassuring experience. The solution is also being tested in new clinical contexts beyond needle procedures which include K-wire removal and use in dental care.

Innovation takes form when different disciplines meet. Comfort XR brings creative practice and clinical expertise together to turn imagination into care. The solution embodies a broader ambition to advance human-centred innovation through collaboration across sectors, where design and technology serve real human needs.

Comfort XR is already in use in several Danish and Swedish hospitals, including Rigshospitalet, where it helps staff carry out needle procedures more smoothly and with less stress for the child. The solution has been embraced as avaluable clinical tool, with healthcare providers highlighting its ability to improve patient cooperation and enhance the overall experience of care.

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