Metaverse in healthcare

Many large tech firms believe the metaverse will be the next big thing. But what is it, and what could it mean for the healthcare sector?

There is a huge amount of excitement surrounding the metaverse at present. However, while the term is far from new, it is still just a concept without a universally agreed definition.

What is the metaverse?

It’s generally believed that the term ‘metaverse’ originated in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. The world depicted in the novel portrays humans as avatars interacting with each other and software agents in a 3D virtual space.

Most people envision the metaverse as a virtual space entered using a headset. It would connect various digital environments that could be used for everything from work to leisure activities like concerts, cinema trips or just hanging out.

This presents significant opportunities for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to become more mainstream. The metaverse will be to VR and AR what the modern smartphones were to the first mobile phones a few decades ago.

VR and AR technology has seen immense progress in recent years. High-end headsets can cleverly trick the human eye into seeing in 3D as animations move around in a virtual world. Another advancement is the roll out of 5G which will enable a more consistent and connected dynamic digital world on the move.

Nobody wants to be left behind if VR turns out to be the future of the internet. Wealthy investors and large tech firms believe the metaverse could be the next big thing, and they are keen to be part of it.

Patient-doctor interactions

Traditionally, a patient has to visit the doctor in person for several important reasons. First, he has to narrate his problem that is cross-questioned by the doctor to understand and fix it. Second, the doctor has to examine i.e. touch the patient body to understand the physical attributes of the problem. Thirdly, the doctor would prescribe some more investigations if he feels like that are to be done on the material body of the patient such as blood tests or imaging scans.

Tele-health has been trying to make doctor-patient interaction more virtual. The conversation part of the interaction is possible on video-conferencing, however, the examination and investigations part is not possible at all. The only alternative is to have someone stay with the patient in real-time. He or She needs to examine the patient and perform investigations to make the whole interaction more meaningful.

In a metaverse, the problem will be easier to resolve. With the promise of physically feeling and sensing the presence of a human being, the doctor-patient interaction might be much more real in metaverse than it is today with available technology. Further advancement in Virtual and Augmented reality might make invasive investigations obsolete. By scanning the whole body or testing a few ml of blood, the process of diagnosis will be completed much more efficiently. This might one day replace the need for a doctor to do the job.

Fewer physical injury cases

If you are living in a metaverse, your physical self is supposed to stay at a constant place while you room around in virtual reality. This means that your body movement will be reduced several-fold to what it is today. Such reduction implies that you will be less exposed to mechanical injuries such as road traffic accidents and possible violence on the streets. In short, it will be less likely to get physically injured in a metaverse and therefore surgeons around the world who manage such patients might be forced to look for new jobs.

Fewer infections

Similarly, limited moving around means lesser chances of acquiring infectious diseases such as Flu, Covid or SARS. We know that infections are a major part of hospital workload and cause significant ill effects on the well being of patients. The endemic infections will be easier to control and epidemics might become rare.

More obesity

Reduction in movement will not be without a cost. In the second half of the last century, the advent of the modern sedentary lifestyle has given birth to several new health related problems collectively known as Metabolic syndrome. These include disease of the heart, blood vessels, obesity, diabetes and much more. All of these are linked to changing patterns of food we consume and the sedentary life we spend. Metaverse is going to augment the epidemic of metabolic syndrome and related health issues that is already affecting 30% of the US population.

More mental-health issues

Living in a metaverse is going to be more solitary than ever. If you could do the majority of your chores from a comfortable seat at home, why move around out in the potentially dangerous neighbourhood. They say that the virtual meetings with friends will feel real but still hanging out in person is going to be missed. This might end up leading us to more mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders. Our self-image will completely change in the form of an avatar and the image of others will be different in the real and virtual worlds. How our brains will react to such drastic evolution in our social reality cannot be predicted with surety. Most, however, believe that it’s not going to be a welcome reception.

summary

Whatever the consequences of metaverse are going to be, it seems that it’s coming. Predicting how it will change our working and living environment is difficult but a glimpse of it can be imagined. Each service provider domain will have its own set of issues and benefits with the technology. Getting involved in the discussion, exploring its potential uses and making it safe for us is the sole thing we can do at this point in time.