Project Theia
Project Theia is a Virtual Reality Cancer Research Lab. It is a core component of the much larger Imaging and Molecular Annotation of Xenografts (IMAXT) project which was awarded Cancer Research UK's Grand Challenge award in 2017. We recreate real tumors in VR, cell by cell. The position, type, shape and genetic date of each cell is preserved.
This immersive experience opens a new opportunity for collaboration. Researchers and physicians on different sides of the globe could meet in VR spaces to study a tumor in ways that simply aren’t possible in 2D. And for patients, having their clinical data presented in this way may help them to navigate some of their treatment options.
By developing an entirely new way to study cancer, IMAXT hopes to change how people’s cancers are classified, treated and managed, giving more people a better chance of surviving their disease.
Sara Lisa is the lead VR UX Designer at Suil working on the Virtual Reality experience.