Augmented Reality – We have talked before about applications for augmented reality in vertical markets as a potential first step into market entry. As a matter of fact, most smaller early developers of augmented reality headsets have placed most of their product focus on commercial applications.
One of these vertical applications is the medical field. We reported recently on surgery that was recorded by Google Glass and shared on-line with the medical community and now another video has emerged, this time from the Eastern Virginia Medical School, which shows what other researchers have in mind for augmented reality in this field.
The movie describes a future vision for medical applications and how various disciplines are working together for the benefit of the patient. Is seems inevitable that medicine will be revolutionized by future scientific developments such as micro sensors and mobile computing. It is interesting to see how all of these future developments need the visual representation of new display technologies. In this video, augmented reality and transparent displays show how much fun the future will be.
Rafael Grossman is a general and trauma surgeon at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine and is pushing strongly for the adoption of new technologies such as augmented reality in the area of medical services. He published an article in mHealth News, that describes such scenarios. Interestingly he believes that this technology has arrived several decades earlier than futurists believed that it would. He mentions the Theia smartglasses, the Israeli/China-based developer of S3D augmented reality glasses as an example for the potential in this new technology.
He also refers to Realview Imaging, the Israeli start-up company which is developing holographic imaging systems for medial applications. The following video demonstrates that holographic displays may offer some valuable options in the medical field. Of course, this technology would also offer value for other applications once the technology can create high quality imagery and large fields of view.
Taking the medical field as an entry point for new technology applications seems to make a lot of sense, based on the examples discussed above. One would think that this kind of new technology will further the development of medical science as well as the options for patients. However, the medical society does not have a good reputation for easily adopting new display technologies.
With all the interest in augmented reality, many industries are considering the possibilities. The medical field is just one of many exploring this new technology. – Norbert Hildebrand
