Multimedia and VR technologies are examined as regards their potentiality for medicine, specifically for maxillofacial surgery. The goal is to achieve a surgical procedure of better quality as well as a more interesting way of imparting medical knowledge. Close cooperation with the Maxillofacial and Plastic Surgery Department of the University Hospital Benjamin Franklin (UKBF) ensures the suitability of the material for the user. Doctors give regular feedback on the 3D human-computer interface, graphics and interaction devices because they are crucial for the implementation of multimedia and VR systems in medicine.

Before implementing a VR or multimedia application, the technical possibilities should be explored in depth. Therefore, a VR testbed for 3D input and output devices has been established at the Technical University of Berlin to assess the advantages and technical restrictions of commercially available and self-made devices. Parts of this VR testbed are currently being transferred to the Medical Informatics Department of the UKBF, where the usefulness of various 3D input and output devices for different medical applications in a real clinical environment will be evaluated.