Firsthand Technology SnowWorld VR Case Study Using 3DVIA Virtools

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Firsthand Technology SnowWorld VR Case Study Using 3DVIA Virtools

Case study showing how 3DVIA Virtools enabled Firsthand Technology to build an immersive VR application that reduces burn patients' pain perception by up to 50%.

Published

June 4, 2026

Read time

3 min read

Source

University of Washington researchers needed a flexible VR platform to improve SnowWorld, a virtual environment used to distract burn patients during wound care. Firsthand Technology rebuilt the application in 3DVIA Virtools with NVIDIA graphics, allowing rapid updates to test new hypotheses on pain relief. The solution delivered measurable reductions in pain-related brain activity and simplified deployment across hospital settings.

Key takeaways

3DVIA Virtools enabled rapid prototyping and easy modification of immersive VR environments

Patients experienced up to 50% reduction in pain-related brain activity during SnowWorld sessions

Real-time rendering and shader capabilities supported high-quality snowflake effects and depth

Non-programmers could directly implement design changes without large development teams

NVIDIA Quadro and GeForce cards provided cost-effective performance for development and deployment

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