Group 8020 Blog

Augmented Reality Applications For Health Care

September 16th, 2009

Augmented Reality is the process of superimposing metadata onto a video feed. When that video feed comes from a smart device like Android or the iPhone things get interesting.  The technology marries GPS, local maps, a digital compass and specialty “data layers” to produce real time images featuring clickable highlights for  shopping, banking, transportation and other information.

Seeing is Believing

One of the quickest ways to grok augmented reality is with this short video clip by Layar, a Dutch company producing a catalog of some 80+ datasets and “the world’s first mobile augmented reality browser.”

Digital Coffee & Morning Newspaper

In a concept video Nokia calls “Mixed Reality” the user navigates augmented reality environments with special glasses and gaze direction tracking, 3D audio, 3D video, gesture and touch.  I believe that this degree of sophistication is years away from the mass markets.

But What About Health Care?

Augmented reality for health care networks would be a natural. Imagine searching for in-network providers or pharmacies by just pointing your mobile device. So far, I’ve just found talk, not publicly available demos. If you’ve got a link please share it in the comments below.

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