SHORT NEWS
Medical students learn on hologram patients
Holograms as a substitute for real patients are to provide medical students in the UK with a better education. The programme, which will initially be used at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, is the first of its kind in the world.
According to the simulation, the first hologram patients are suffering from asthma, anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia. The next focus will be on cardiology and neurology.
The training system called HoloScenarios mixes natural perception with a virtual plane (mixed reality). The students wear mixed reality headsets, can see each other, but also work with the holograms.
More flexible and cheaper
According to the developers, this should offer more flexible and cheaper training than traditional simulations, which require more effort and higher costs, for example for maintaining labs and hiring actors.
"Mixed reality is increasingly seen as a useful method for simulation training," said project leader Arun Gupta. Demand is growing, he said, partly because institutions are saving on procurement.