New York Blood Center using new technology to try to lure younger blood donors
NEW YORK -- Wednesday is World Blood Donor Day, and centers across the country are recruiting new blood.
The number of donors under the age of 30 has declined nearly 33% in the past decade, so blood centers are trying something a little different.
The New York Blood Center is the first in the country to let donors wear high-tech mixed-reality glasses. They transport donors to a virtual Zen garden that hopefully keeps first-time donors calm and their arms still.
"We're hoping they're going to come back ... and hopefully when they start hearing about the mixed reality, they're going to want to come in and try it," said Christine Foran, with the New York Blood Center.
Blood donor Parthid Patel tried out the new technology.
"I'm seeing an orb, and it's talking to me right now," he said.
Several blood banks have purchased these headsets and are rolling them out to donors this summer.
For more information about donating blood, visit nybc.org/donate-blood.