A ‘Meta’-morphosis of meetings? Maybe
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Much news has been made of Facebook’s new name, Meta, and accompanying initiative to create immersive social spaces.
The prospects for multidimensional interaction are most interesting, but it’s not an experience one can casually try out. Currently, and for some time to come, experiencing the metaverse will require donning a virtual reality (VR) headset, which is very different from most computing experiences. It completely disconnects users from the real world.
You can’t experience Meta while waiting for your latte. If browsing Facebook on your phone is like hanging out at the pool, then the metaverse on a VR headset is like putting on scuba gear and going to the bottom of the deep end. It’s a cool view for a while, but it’s not a place you want to stay for long. At least not with the limited content that currently exists.
Will the metaverse transform our professional meetings? I’ve experienced its capability firsthand and certainly agree it can do what Zoom can’t, like allowing private voice conversations with other attendees and watching 3D video, but VR’s best benefits may not be replacing live social interaction.
Here’s an example: As a pilot, I’ve spent hours in VR training. With an Oculus headset and Microsoft Flight Simulator, I can fly into or out of any airport in the world and recognize how it will look from the air as I turn my head to scan the horizon, approaching in any range of weather. I can set up my entry into the traffic pattern, descending through simulated wind shear, tuning radios and navigation equipment with virtual hands, experiencing the exact aerodynamic behavior of the aircraft I fly. This genuinely makes me a safer pilot when I do fly to a new airport in the real world. It’s a truly valuable application of VR that’s already done a leapfrog over much more expensive professional aviation simulators.
How do we apply this to the world of medicine? Even now, VR surgical simulators using handheld haptic control devices allow mock cataract surgery with visual and subtle tactile feedback that is being used to train surgeons both in the U.S. and the developing world. With time, these will replace expensive surgical simulators and have a great leveling effect, if trainees will have the discipline to use them.
How useful is it for actually performing surgery? An international team of surgeons famously collaborated using VR to prepare for the separation of conjoined twins in Brazil. It’s an impressive headline, but you can’t yet watch a surgeon do a complex procedure and show with your hands how to direct the suture needle. That will probably come soon, but it will require the actual surgeon to look away from the microscope to another display or some overlay video adjacent to the view of surgery. It’s not the same as a teacher reaching into the field to guide the surgical steps, but it will only get better with time.
Augmented reality (AR) is a variation on VR in which the user sees the real world through clear lenses with a “heads-up display” from a headset. Imagine using this in the exam room. Currently, how frustrating is it for a patient to talk with a doctor whose attention is directed to reviewing labs on a computer screen in the corner? What if the doctor could face the patient and simultaneously see the labs or imaging studies at the same time?
Many of the best features of VR and AR are still ahead of us. Meanwhile, the commonest application of VR is for entertainment. Most current users of Meta are quite young, participating in virtual comedy venues, nightclubs and gaming experiences. Only hundreds of thousands are regular users, unlike the nearly 3 billion reported for Facebook. Slow uptake has prompted Meta to freeze hiring and reduce budgets amid a 60% drop in the company’s previously insuppressible stock.
While current technology has its limitations, I firmly believe VR and AR systems will change the way we practice medicine. Everyone should attend a meeting held in the metaverse to try out its capability. And keep an open mind to the surgical innovations that our ever-changing field will certainly bring to us and our patients.
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