Abbott VR meditation eases blood donation anxiety at Korean Red Cross drives

Background

Since 2016, Abbott and Red Cross organisations have run blood donation campaigns in nearly 30 countries. For its latest evolution, Abbott's Transfusion Medicine division partnered with Samsung to fold an immersive XR experience into the donation process, aiming to ease the anxiety and boredom that can deter donors. Samsung frames the collaboration as evidence that its Galaxy XR headset belongs in demanding enterprise settings, not just consumer ones.

The deployment

On 2 June 2026, Samsung and Abbott worked with the Korean Red Cross to run Korea's first XR-powered blood donation campaign at Samsung Digital City in Suwon. Timed to World Blood Donor Day, Samsung employees donated blood while wearing Galaxy XR headsets, with Korean Red Cross personnel on-site throughout.

How the experience works

After putting on the headset, donors enter a calming, Zen garden-inspired virtual environment. Interaction is entirely gaze-based — no controllers, no hand gestures: donors plant virtual flower seeds simply by looking at them, and over three to five minutes watch flowers and trees bloom to a soundtrack created with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The intent is distraction and calm in equal measure, turning the usual ceiling-staring into something engaging.

Why healthcare is the proving ground

Healthcare settings treat hygiene, supervision and simplicity as baseline requirements. Abbott notes that Galaxy XR and the Android XR platform are well-suited to these conditions, letting medical staff monitor donors easily while keeping them naturally engaged — addressing the common criticism that immersive headsets isolate users from their surroundings. Although Abbott describes it as a "mixed reality" programme (reflecting the headset's device category), the donor experience itself is a fully immersive virtual scene.

The enterprise context

The campaign lands as Samsung builds out Galaxy XR's enterprise credentials. Android Enterprise device-management support arrived in April 2026, bringing Knox security, fully managed device features and a five-year update commitment — the infrastructure organisations expect before committing to fleet deployments.

Scaling up

Korea was the starting point. From 15–18 June 2026, Samsung and Abbott hosted a four-day blood drive at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Long Beach, California, putting the experience in front of thousands of XR developers and enterprise buyers. Later in June, the initiative moved to the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where more than 100 blood bank decision-makers had hands-on exposure — a potential path to rollouts well beyond Samsung-Abbott activations.

Quotes

“As the boundary between the physical and digital worlds continues to blur, blood donation no longer has to be a stressful experience. Through this initiative, we hope to demonstrate how Galaxy XR can extend beyond entertainment and productivity to create lasting social value.”

“Samsung Galaxy XR, powered by Android XR, represents a significant advancement for our mixed reality blood donation program. It is well-suited for healthcare settings, allowing medical staff to monitor donors more easily while helping them stay naturally engaged. Through our partnership with Samsung, Abbott is seeking opportunities to further expand the overall blood donation experience.”

“I try to donate blood at least once a year, but it can feel a little boring since you have to sit still. Using Galaxy XR made it more enjoyable because there was something engaging to watch.”

“It was a unique experience to try Galaxy XR while donating blood. I found the interactive content especially fascinating because it responded to where I was looking.”