Therapeutic technologies platform provider XRHealth has announced the launch of its augmented reality (AR) glasses.
The product is what XRHealth claims will be a new model of telehealth: care delivered through the patient’s eyes and in the patient’s environment, moving the focus from simple telehealth to spatial healthcare. With the AR Glasses, XRHealth says patients can participate in a telehealth session while wearing lightweight augmented reality glasses.
Furthermore, it says that through the platform, a clinician can join the session remotely in real time, communicate directly with the patient, and guide them through activities while the user remains engaged with their physical surroundings.
Outlining what it says the new technology can deliver, XRHealth noted that unlike traditional video visits, where clinicians and patients interact through a screen, the AR platform is designed to make remote care more contextual and interactive. The clinician can support the patient while the patient moves through exercises, tasks and activities in their actual environment.
“Telehealth has traditionally meant putting a camera between the clinician and the patient,” said XRHealth CEO Eran Orr. “With augmented reality, we can begin to remove that barrier. The clinician can be present with the patient in real time, guide them through their care, and understand what is happening from the patient’s perspective. We believe this represents an important next step in how remote healthcare will be delivered.”
XRHealth says it has built its platform around the idea that immersive technology can transform healthcare from a passive video interaction into an interactive therapeutic experience. It added that the introduction of AR Glasses expands that vision into the physical world.
Running through potential scenarios, the firm says that during an AR-enabled telehealth session, for example, clinicians can remotely connect with patients through the XRHealth platform while patients continue to see and interact with their surroundings. This, it says, opens the potential for clinical applications where understanding movement, environment and real-world activity can be an important part of care.
Potential applications among all forms of clinician-led care include rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy, behavioural health, remote patient support and guided exercises.
The technology is also designed to complement XRHealth’s broader immersive healthcare platform and clinical services, giving care teams another way to determine how and where a patient should receive care. Additionally, the launch is intended to reflect XRHealth’s broader vision for the future of healthcare. That is: care should not be limited by the walls of a clinic – or by the boundaries of a video screen.
XRHealth believes virtual reality can transport patients into therapeutic environments. Augmented reality creates a different opportunity: bringing digital healthcare into the patient’s own environment. By combining AR, telehealth and real-time clinical interaction in one platform, XRHealth says it is building towards a model in which clinicians can support patients wherever they are.
“The future of healthcare is not simply remote,” said Orr. “It is spatial, interactive and increasingly connected to the context in which patients actually live. AR gives us the opportunity to bring clinical expertise into that context.”
