Immersive Technologies and the Metaverse in Healthcare

What are immersive technologies? What’s the difference between augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality? How have they been used in healthcare? What is the Metaverse? Is the Metaverse just a fad or the future of healthcare? Join me in this course as we explore the answers to these questions.

How long will it take to complete this course?

Over 2 hours of lectures, an assignment and a quiz.

What is this course about?

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an uphill interest in the use of extended reality technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), in healthcare and healthcare education. As countries transit to an endemic stage, the adoption of VR/AR/MR tools in healthcare and healthcare education will continue to rise, especially in situations where patient or learner connections need to be fostered with limited physical contact. A key feature of VR/AR/MR technologies is the ability to immerse the user in virtual environments and/or augment the user’s activities through virtual objects. These immersive technologies are rapidly evolving and will become increasingly accessible to organizations, institutions and individuals. With the hype of the Metaverse being the new version of the Internet, it opens up a whole new world of opportunities for various industries, including healthcare. Many tech giants and large companies/organizations are taking the leap and finding new ways to navigate the Metaverse for their business needs. As the world starts to embrace this digital shift, will the healthcare sector be able to keep up with the advancements in immersive technologies? This course aims to provide an overview of the concepts and application trends of VR/AR/MR in healthcare and healthcare education, as well as an insight into how the Metaverse may potentially impact patient care.

In this course, you will gain an understanding of the basic concepts of VR/AR/MR technologies, as well as their roles in the Gartner Hype Cycle. You will explore some of the healthcare applications that use these immersive technologies, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, you will explore the potential of the Metaverse in healthcare, and investigate some of the benefits and challenges associated with its adoption in clinical practices.

What are the benefits of doing this course?

• Develop a deeper understanding of how immersive technologies and the Metaverse ecosystem can be applied in healthcare and healthcare education

• Apply your knowledge, skills and understanding on what are the considerations when designing and developing healthcare innovations involving immersive technologies

Who this course is for:

• Medical, allied health and public health professionals, students and trainees
• Health-related professionals (e.g. health information management, health informatics)
• Digital health trainees and students
• Engineering and computer science students
• Computer/IT professionals and programmers/developers who want to gain a understanding of these upcoming fields
• Software engineers and architects who are interested in knowing how these technologies can be applied to healthcare
• Web 3.0 developers and architects who are designing these technologies for healthcare sectors
• Persons in digital health start-ups who want to gain an insight into the innovation trends in this space
• CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, CMIOs
• Game designers and developers who are developing serious games for healthcare and healthcare education
• UX/UI developers dealing with healthcare innovations
• Business and management professionals/students/professionals who want to understand how these technologies have been applied in healthcare
• Mid-career professionals who want to gain an understanding of these upcoming technologies to work in these fields
• AR/VR/MR enthusiasts
• Beginners who are interested to gain a basic understanding of immersive technologies and the Metaverse in healthcare