- The metaverse will be an extension of the virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality technology already in use today.
- Facebook and Microsoft glasses like Oculus and HoloLens already are being used in key medical technology applications, from design of medical tools to surgical procedures.
- “It’s like having a GPS navigator in front of your eyes,” Timothy Witham, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Spinal Fusion Laboratory, said after conducting the institution’s first-ever augmented reality surgery in June.
The metaverse, the digital world’s Next Big Thing, is touted as the internet domain where animated avatars of our physical selves will be able to virtually do all sorts of interactivities, from shopping to gaming to traveling — someday. Wonks say it could be a decade or longer before the necessary technologies catch up with the hype.
Right now, though, the health-care industry is utilizing some of the essential components that will ultimately comprise the metaverse — virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and artificial intelligence (AI) — as well as the software and hardware to power their applications. For example, medical device companies are using MR to assemble surgical tools and design operating rooms, the World Health Organization (WHO) is using AR and smartphones to train Covid-19 responders, psychiatrists are using VR to treat post-traumatic stress (PTS) among combat soldiers, and medical schools are using VR for surgical training.
Since Facebook — now Meta Platforms — acquired Oculus and its VR headset technology in 2014 for $2 billion, numerous health-care applications have been developed. One of the latest was a collaboration with Facebook Reality Labs and Nexus Studios and the WHO Academy. The organization’s R&D incubator designed a mobile learning app for health workers battling Covid-19 worldwide. One of the training courses involves AR to simulate on a smartphone the proper techniques and sequence to put on and remove person protective equipment. With content available in seven languages, the app is built around the needs expressed by 22,000 global health workers surveyed by the WHO last year.
Oculus technology is used at UConn Health, the University of Connecticut’s medical center in Farmington, Connecticut, to train orthopedic surgery residents. Educators have teamed with PrecisionOS, a Canadian medical software company that offers VR training and educational modules in orthopedics. Donning Oculus Quest headsets, the residents can visualize in 3-D performing a range of surgical procedures, such as putting a pin in a broken bone. Because the procedure is performed virtually, the system allows the students to make mistakes and receive feedback from faculty to incorporate on their next try.
Meanwhile, as the metaverse remains under construction, “we see great opportunity to continue the work Meta already does in supporting health efforts,” a Meta spokesperson said. “As Meta’s experiences, apps and services evolve, you can expect health strategy to play a role, but it’s far too soon to say how that might intersect with third-party technologies and providers.”
- When
- introduced its HoloLens AR smart glasses in 2016 for commercial development, early adopters included
- , the medical technology company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 2017, it began harnessing the AR device to improve processes for designing operating rooms for hospitals and surgery centers. Because ORs are shared by different surgical services — from general surgery to orthopedic, cardiac and others — lighting, equipment and surgical tools vary depending on the procedure.
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