In the future, it is possible that our doctor can attend to us from his office in a parallel universe , the metaverse , which will be accessed with virtual reality glasses without us having to travel. It is not science fiction. At the XIII Conference on Innovation in Hospital Services at the San Cecilia University Hospital in Granada, the speaker Carlos Rebate, engineer and director of transformation at Securitas, has outlined the possibilities that the metaverse in healthcare sector has in the metaverse.
"The metaverse is the chance of building a universe with computer generated reality , in computerized. It is another plane, like a universe on a universe”, explains Rebate. Although it sounds very novel, the term was coined in the 1992 novel Smash Crash to describe virtual workspaces. "Now everyone is talking about the metaverse, it has also been popularized by Facebook with the new christening of Meta," explains Rebate.
The main technology on which the metaverse healthcare is based is that of virtual reality , which is currently already very advanced. "You can buy the glasses, in a fork of 350 or 450 euros in stores like FNAC, and you can live the experience of what it is going to be" , says Rebate. For the engineer, it is a matter of one to two years that there is many more metaverses to be able to enter, since the technology is mature and costs of consumption.
The health sector is one of the areas that can have more benefits with the development of the metaverse. Patients can " receive chronic treatment follow-ups where they have to give information to their doctor, receive education on healthy lifestyle habits or follow physical rehabilitation exercises," says Rebate. In addition, professionals in the sector can use it as a space for learning and attention. "They can simulate critical processes or experiences that are difficult to recreate in real life, and also monitor patients or triage consultations ," explains Carlos.
In addition, patients would not have to travel , which would significantly speed up routine consultations. "Individuals who don't have a close by medical clinic would get the opportunity to put on a couple of glasses at home and go into the interview with the expert they need," says the specialist. The metaverse could also be combined with artificial intelligence , a hybridization that would have many benefits for the health sector. “There are already companies that use artificial intelligence to detect, for example, dyspnea in the voice and pathologies from COVID or respiratory failure,” says the Securitas transformation director.
All this, without losing the human factor , which is so important in a field such as healthcare. "You have to find a new balance . Physical and human attention has to continue for a more emotional, empathic communication , to accompany the patient in difficult times. In other more recurring, follow-up or less relevant processes, use this new field of metaverse development services to make them agile and simple", explains Carlos.
The hospitals of the future: 100% renewable
Another presentation at the Conference is that of Fernando Durban, director of Installations and Energy Efficiency at the GEE Electromedical Business Group, who has addressed the energy efficiency of hospitals, "marking a little the line of how installations should be made to get hospitals 100% renewable ." Climate change , energy dependence or renewable energies such as photovoltaics and hydrogen, are some of the topics covered by Durban in the presentation.
These conferences are part of the XIII Conference on Innovation in Hospital Services , which takes place until Friday at the San Cecilia University Hospital in Granada. As the president of the Organizing Committee, Manuel Enrique Reyes Nadal, explains, "our main objective is for the conferences to be a forum for participation where we can share new knowledge, ideas and experiences that help us to face the changes that occur day by day in the hospital sector".