In the wake of the pandemic, Google has announced a new approach to healthcare, where they’re building clinics around their own medical technology.
The company is building them all around a virtual reality headset that allows doctors to remotely view patients and treat their injuries.
“This is a new, exciting way of thinking about healthcare that will fundamentally change the way we treat people,” says John Deutch, CEO of Google Health, in a press release.
“Google is creating a VR-enabled platform to help people better navigate and interact with their healthcare professionals.”
There are two main ways to do this: You can have virtual reality clinics in hospitals or in clinics, or you can have them in other locations, like the hospital.
The former option requires a lot more space and resources.
There’s also the option of a virtual room, where the doctors can work on their own injuries, which is cheaper, and can be shared with other doctors.
The company is also experimenting with more physical, immersive settings, such as virtual playgrounds.
It’s unclear if they’re doing this to help combat COVID-19 or if this is a test run for a future version of the service.
Google Health says they’re working on a test where patients and doctors can interact through an Oculus Rift, but I haven’t seen any of that so far.
