I’ve been catching up on the fantastic videos which were filmed at the IET Engineering Festival last month and Maneesh Juneja’s talk ‘How can we effectively utilise virtual and augmented reality in healthcare?’ particularly grabbed my attention.


I was familiar with a few applications of virtual reality in healthcare but it was fascinating to hear Maneesh, a Digital Health Futurist, give an overview of its many applications. From virtual robotic surgery to human simulation software to assisted living to pain control, virtual reality allows healthcare professionals to learn new skills as well as refresh existing ones in a safe environment without any risk of danger to the patients.


What I found most interesting is that virtual reality equipment is now becoming so much more accessible. The term virtual reality has been around since the 1990s but with the abundance of smart phones now readily available, patients themselves have access to this technology. They are able to experiment on their own and can become innovators rather than waiting for others to innovate.

What are your thoughts on the current uses of virtual reality in healthcare? How do you think it will transform healthcare over the next 10 years?