Blood donation hopes to benefit from virtual reality

The NHS is using virtual reality to encourage more people to donate blood.

Smartphone technology - being used in a volunteering drive in Birmingham and London - detects a hi-tech sticker on a prospective donor's arm.

The "donor" can then see their virtual blood fill up a bag connected to a patient. While the "recipient" only appears on a digital screen, they have been real-life patients who depended on transfusions.

NHS Blood and Transplant says it hopes the campaign encourages more people to become donors for real.