Virtual, Augmented, and Alternate Reality in Medical Education: Socially Distanced but Fully Immersed

Abstract

Background Advancements in technology continue to transform the landscape of medical education. The need for technology-enhanced distance learning has been further accelerated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The relatively recent emergence of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and alternate reality has expanded the possible applications of simulation-based education (SBE) outside of the traditional simulation laboratory, making SBE accessible asynchronously and in geographically diverse locations. Objective In this review, we will explore the evidence base for use of emerging technologies in SBE as well as the strengths and limitations of each modality in a variety of settings. Methods PubMed was searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 1995 and 2021 that focused on VR in medical education. The search terms included medical education, VR, simulation, AR, and alternate reality. We also searched reference lists from selected articles to identify additional relevant studies. Results VR simulations have been used successfully in resuscitation, communication, and bronchoscopy training. In contrast, AR has demonstrated utility in teaching anatomical correlates with the use of diagnostic imaging, such as point-of-care ultrasound. Alternate reality has been used as a tool for developing clinical reasoning skills, longitudinal patient panel management, and crisis resource management via multiplayer platforms. Conclusion Although each of these modalities has a variety of educational applications in health profession education, there are benefits and limitations to each that are important to recognize prior to the design and implementation of educational content, including differences in equipment requirements, cost, and scalability.

Integration of innovative educational technologies in anatomy teaching: new normal in anatomy education

“…Head mounted displays (VR headsets), motion sensors, controllers, keyboards, and speech recognition software are used to interact with the virtual world. In contrast, AR overlays computer-generated stimuli on real-world environments or objects, such as computer-generated anatomical structures overlaid on a manikin [ 22 ]. Alternate reality platforms provide an alternate world where users can engage with and affect a storyline by making choices.…”

“…Although the forms exist on an overlapping continuum often characterized as “mixed reality,” the degree of immersion into the virtual world is what essentially distinguishes VR from AR and alternate reality. Pictorial presentation of virtual augmented and alternate reality showing their optimal use in education [ 22 ] (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0) (Fig. 4 ).…”

Preliminary design and evaluation of a remote tele-mentoring system for minimally invasive surgery

“…It would require modification of underlying networking framework (WebRTC) to transfer additional information (such as depth map acquired from RGB-D cameras). This information, pertaining to open surgery operative field, can be rendered in an immersive environment on a virtual reality display for the mentor [38]. On the other hand, a head-mounted display can be used to render dynamic holograms of virtual surgical instruments motion onto the view of the mentee [39][40][41].…”

Augmented and Virtual Reality in Dermatology—Where Do We Stand and What Comes Next?

“…The use of AR/VR in dermatologic teaching suffers from similar limitations as in general medical education. Those have been recently extensively studied, potentially due to the restriction associated with COVID-19 pandemic [33][34][35]. Parsons and MacCallum investigated the affordances and limitations of augmented reality in medical education [33].…”