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. According to Wonks, it may take 10 years or more for technology to catch up with all 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. Medical devices companies use MR to assemble and design surgical instruments, while the World Health Organization uses AR and smartphones for Covid-19 response training. Additionally, psychiatrists can treat soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS), and schools of medicine are using VR in 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. A collaboration with Nexus Studios and Facebook Reality Labs was one of the most recent. The organization’s R&D incubator designed a mobile learning app for health workers battling Covid-19 worldwide. AR allows users to see how the sequence of steps is performed to remove and put on person protective equipment. The app has content in seven languages and was built to meet the demands of 22,000 WHO global health professionals who were surveyed last year.

Oculus technology is being used by UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut to train orthopaedic surgeons. PrecisionOS is a Canadian software company offering educational and training modules for orthopedics. Oculus Quest headsets allow residents to visualize and perform a variety of surgeries, including putting a pin into a fractured bone. Virtually, students can make mistakes while learning from the faculty and then receive feedback to help them improve their next attempt.

A spokesperson for Meta said that while the metaverse is still being built, they see “great opportunity” to expand on the support Meta provides in health. Meta’s services, apps, and experiences will continue to improve, so you can expect that health strategy will also play a part. But it’s too early to predict how third-party providers and technologies might be affected.

If MicrosoftHoloLens AR smart spectacles were launched in 2016 to commercial development. StrykerKalamazoo’s medical technology firm. It began using the AR device in 2017 to enhance its design processes of operating rooms and other areas for 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.

Stryker engineers were able to create shared ORs using holograms after realizing the potential of the HoloLens 2. The MR Experience visualizes the entire set-up, including people and equipment.

Zimmer Biomet, a Warsaw, Indiana-based medical device company, recently unveiled its OptiVu Mixed Reality Solutions platform, which employs HoloLens devices and three applications — one using MR in manufacturing surgical tools, another that collects and stores data to track patient progress before and after surgery, and a third that allows clinicians to share a MR experience with patients ahead of a procedure.

According to a Zimmer Biomet spokesperson, the HoloLens was currently used for pilot purposes with remote support in Australia and EMEA. This technology is being used to cover remote cases and train programs. Additionally, software applications are being developed on the HoloLens by the company as part of its data solutions on pre-and post-procedures.

Microsoft believes there are many potential uses for its MR technology, which it secured in March. a $20 billion contract with the U.S. militaryIt is used with soldiers.

Johns Hopkins neurosurgeons carried out the first ever AR surgery on living patients, using real-world AR medical technology. Six screws were placed in the spine of a patient during spinal fusion. A second team of surgeons was called to remove a tumorous growth from the patient’s spine two days later. Augmedics from Israel, made the headsets. It has a transparent eye display which projects images of internal anatomy and tissue based on CT scans. Timothy Witham M.D. is the director of Johns Hopkins Neurosurgery Spinal Fusion Laboratory.

The University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine has a Gordon Center for Simulation and Innovation in Medical Education that uses AR, VR, and MR to teach emergency responders how to handle trauma patients. This includes those with stroke, heart attack, or gunshot wounds. Harvey is a lifelike model that simulates almost every cardiac condition and allows students to practice vital cardiac procedures. With VR headsets students are able to see the anatomy underneath Harvey.

Barry Issenberg MD, professor of medicine and director at the Gordon Center, stated that “in the digital environment we’re no longer bound by physical objects.” He said that students used to have to be present on the ground and trained on real trauma victims before they could develop the virtual technology curriculum. We can now guarantee all students have the same experience regardless of where they live.

University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), was created in 1999 and has been developing VR, AI, as well other technologies, to treat a wide range of mental and medical conditions. Albert “Skip”, a psychologist who is also the director of medical virtual reality at ICT said that technology was primitive when he first started to get involved. He recalls his early experiments with the Apple IIe handheld console and the Game Boy handheld. Oculus VR headsets and AR headsets are what he is using today. HPMagic Leap.

Rizzo was instrumental in the creation of Bravemind VR exposure therapy. It is aimed at relieving PTS for veterans who served during wars like those in Iraq or Afghanistan. Exposure therapy is a process where a patient confronts their trauma memories using simulations. The headset allows the patient to immerse themselves in a variety of virtual environments, such as a Middle-Eastern-themed city or desert roads.

Rizzo explained that patients can use their keyboards to imagine people, insurgents as well as explosions. Instead of relying on the ability to imagine a specific scenario, patients can also experience that same scenario in a virtual environment. This is an alternative therapy to traditional talk therapy. Bravemind Therapy, which has evidence backing it is available in more than 12 Veterans Administration hospitals. The therapy has shown significant reductions in PTS symptoms. More randomized controlled clinical trials are being conducted.

As Big Tech continues to build out the metaverse, alongside software and hardware companies, academia and other R&D partners, the health-care industry remains a real-life proving ground. Paulo Pinheiro (head of software, Sagentia Innovation, Cambridge, U.K.) wrote that the metaverse “even though it is still very young, it has tremendous potential to transform and improve health care.” It will be exciting to see the unfolding of this situation.