Dr. Leslie Saxon, executive director of the University of Southern California’s Center for Body Computing, is launching a project involving “virtual doctors”. Saxon calls virtual humans, virtual/augmented reality and artificial intelligence part of the “next frontier of digital health.” Patients will call a “virtual care clinic,” and interact with virtual representations of physicians, including their own doctors. Holograms are also being trialled. Whilst impersonal, the lack of human interaction may have clinical benefits: the virtual doctors are programmed to discuss the “mortality advantage” of various courses of action, potentially eliminating human error and bias in diagnosis. Wearable and injectable technology can also be utilised. The idea that we could one day live inside our avatars has been around since at least the early days of computing.
Dr. Leslie Saxon, executive director of the University of Southern California’s Center for Body Computing, is launching a project involving “virtual doctors”. Saxon calls virtual humans, virtual/augmented reality and artificial intelligence part of the “next frontier of digital health.” Patients will call a “virtual care clinic,” and interact with virtual representations of physicians, including their own doctors. Holograms are also being trialled. Whilst impersonal, the lack of human interaction may have clinical benefits: the virtual doctors are programmed to discuss the “mortality advantage” of various courses of action, potentially eliminating human error and bias in diagnosis. Wearable and injectable technology can also be utilised. The Center for Body Computing is partnering with companies such as “smart” pill-maker Proteus Digital Health, smartphone ECG creator, AliveCor, and vision care company, VSP Global.