Blood donors at Samsung's Korean headquarters this month strapped on Galaxy XR headsets and planted virtual flowers instead of staring at ceiling tiles. The company partnered with healthcare firm Abbott to launch Korea's first XR-powered blood drive on June 2, using its mixed reality headset to make the donation process less clinical and more calming.
The setup is deliberately simple. Donors enter a Zen garden environment using only their gaze, no hand controllers, no gestures.
They plant virtual flower seeds by looking at spots on the ground, and over three to five minutes, flowers bloom around them as music created with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays. Samsung framed the experience as a proof-of-concept for using extended reality in healthcare settings, not a product demo.
"Through this initiative, we hope to demonstrate how Galaxy XR can extend beyond entertainment and productivity to create lasting social value," said James Pak, VP of Samsung's Global Mobile B2B Team, in the company's official announcement. The pilot launched at Samsung Digital City in Suwon with the Korean Red Cross in recognition of World Blood Donor Day. Samsung employees were the first donors.
Geunwoo Park of Samsung's Networks Business, who donated during the campaign, said the headset made the process more engaging. "It can feel a little boring since you have to sit still," he said.
"Using Galaxy XR made it more enjoyable because there was something engaging to watch." For Abbott, the partnership is an upgrade to an existing infrastructure. The company has run blood donation campaigns with Red Cross organizations across nearly 30 countries since 2016.
Abbott's Miguel Carrazza said Galaxy XR, powered by Android XR, is well suited for healthcare settings because medical staff can monitor donors while they remain immersed. The initiative is scaling quickly. At improved World Expo (AWE) in Long Beach, California, running June 15-18, Samsung and Abbott will host a four-day blood drive, bringing the experience to thousands of XR industry attendees.
Later this month, the program hits the International Society of Blood Transfusion Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where more than 100 blood bank decision-makers will evaluate the use case. For now, the donors are Samsung employees and conference attendees. The real test will come when this lands in a community blood drive.
