The Revolution of Immersive Technologies in Healthcare Research

In the digital era, many technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), computer information systems, Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, immersive technologies, 3D printing, etc. are being adopted to facilitate operations, provide better management, and enhance workflow and working efficiency. As such, digital health technology and management are the key topics that are attracting wide attention, since it is important both in enhancing efficiency and safety. In fact, most of the healthcare and medical care tasks cannot be replaced entirely by computers. The training of healthcare workers and medical practitioners still remains important. Immersive technologies including virtual Reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are widely adopted in numerous industrial and training applications. VR provides a fully immersive experience for the trainees, while AR and MR provide interactive stimulation while maintaining attention in the physical world. Despite the types of immersive technologies used for training, healthcare training, and medical simulation are key components of digital health technology. Nevertheless, in many cases, a trainee’s acceptance and behavioural training in participating in immersive training are still uncertain. Understanding their acceptance and behaviour is important not only in developing effective simulated training but also in enhancing their autonomy and motivation in participation. To this end, we also introduce some of the research models that are commonly used to support health and medical training and simulation. 

Keywords: Augmented reality, Healthcare, Immersive technology, Mixed reality, Research model, Virtual reality.