More Examples of AR Uses in Healthcare Industry
Much has recently appeared in online articles about the widespread use of Augmented Reality in the Healthcare industry. More examples yet are on offer in an article by BizTimes.com Milwaukee edition.
Whilst in some of the article VR and AR are occasionally lumped together, there are specific examples of how AR is being used distinctly and sometimes in support of VR technology uses. Peter Smith, senior vice president of digital solutions at GMR Marketing LLC, walks the reader through a variety of examples of some of the ways in which the technology is being used in the healthcare industry:
- Immersive, interactive and educational experiences are possible via augmented reality. GMR has produced a “heart experience” that transports the user to a museum-like space with an anatomically accurate, beating heart on display in the center of the room.
- Thanks to VR imaging and haptic feedback, surgeons can try their hand at a procedure in the virtual world before performing an operation in the real world, where the stakes are much higher.
- Virtual robotic surgery, meanwhile, will allow surgeons to operate on a patient in a different location.
- Other uses for VR and AR include enabling doctors to experience their patients’ symptoms more viscerally—glasses simulating the condition of visual field loss, for example
- Augmented Reality glasses, paired with a wearable glove, that simulate the inflammation—and frustration—that comes with carpal tunnel syndrome.
In terms of deployment, Smith predicts it will be commonplace in health care within two to three years. In the meantime, VR and AR continue to evolve at a rapid pace.