Are metaverse applications becoming a reality in medical training?

"The realisation of an immersive virtual world for medical training relies on the maturity of AR and VR technologies.

Medical training – and particularly surgical training – has long been a high-stakes game. Simply put, it’s difficult to gain familiarity with the body without access to actual bodies. That isn’t always straightforward when there are patient lives on the line.

As well as poring over medical diagrams, medical students are often required to dissect cadavers. This is expensive for the medical institution and grisly for the student. Further down the line, trainee surgeons must learn by doing, with all the attendant risk of medical error.

In recent years, however, another possibility has emerged. Taking their cues from the aviation industry, medical institutions have been moving towards simulation-based training, based on virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR). Moving forward, we are likely to see the introduction of an entirely new educational environment, located within the so-called ‘metaverse’.

“With no standard definition yet, the metaverse means different things to different people depending on the nature of their business,” says Rupantar Guha, an analyst at GlobalData. “However, GlobalData defines the metaverse as a virtual world where users share experiences and interact in real time within simulated scenarios.”..." Lire la suite