Following the news that Cambridge medical students are using mixed reality (MR) headsets to train with holographic patients:

James Spencer, Data Scientist at GlobalData, offers their view:

“Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality have long been the holy grail of communications technology, allowing us to not only see and hear our object of interest, but also to virtually represent physically being there. Many attempts have been made at achieving mainstream VR success over the past couple of decades, with the recently announced metaverse being the most recent bid. However, in the world of healthcare, MR is establishing a presence in the medical training space.

“A tech startup called GigXR has created a novel technology, HoloScenarios, which is being used by medical students to get experience in medical scenarios. For example, students can simulate a scenario where they encounter a patient with breathing issues and will have to diagnose them correctly.

“We have made huge strides in the world of VR, but there is so much further to go. GlobalData predicts that enterprise-level VR is going to take off in the coming years and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33%, reaching a staggering $204 billion in revenue by 2030. This is due to VR’s ability to simulate large, expensive, or rare scenarios or objects, allowing salespeople and technical staff to work with and learn from a model without having to ever transport themselves on site.

“However, according to a GlobalData report, VR is still plagued by cost and accessibility issues, and may cause accidents and induce nausea when used for long periods. A recent study by Coburg University in Germany showed that not a single participant preferred to work in VR due in part to nausea, inability to focus, or just the sheer distracting weight of the headset on their head.

“In comparison, by being ‘mixed’, MR naturally sidesteps a lot of the issues normal VR suffer from, such as nausea and walking into walls or furniture. This allows MR to enjoy all of the good parts of VR technology while avoiding the bad. In this way, MR has a lot of potential to overtake and possibly even surpass VR technology in the healthcare sphere.

“According to GlobalData, leading companies such as Microsoft are already trying to establish themselves in this area, with products such as the Microsoft Mesh. If companies are able to pivot quickly into this new and promising space, they may be able to compete with a technology that offers all of the benefits of VR, with none of the downsides.”