In what some are calling the next iteration of the internet, the metaverse is an unfamiliar digital world where you could be an avatar navigating computer-generated places and interacting with others in real time. In this space, the constraints of our physical, bricks and mortar world and travel habits fade. And new opportunities and challenges emerge.
At the University of Connecticut Health in Farmington, doctors in training got a first taste of what life could be like in a futuristic place like this when residents were given virtual reality headsets for the first time.
In a historic moment, orthopedic surgeries were largely put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Olga Solovyova, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at UConn Health.
Now, residents put on goggles and see their avatars (digital representations of themselves) in a virtual operating room with a table, instruments and a virtual patient. They manipulate the instruments with controllers and feel the resistance when they saw or drill a bone and they feel the pressure drop when they cut through completely.
In VR, they can also peel away virtual layers of skin and muscle to better view the bone underneath. Training modules give feedback on how well students complete procedures and track their progress.
Read :more Metaverse Medicine and the Doctor, Patient Avatars Ahead
