Microsoft sends HoloLens 2 into a care home... Nope, not a headline gag about retiring the tech. They actually did this

Microsoft has bragged about how its HoloLens 2 is being used by doctors to assess care home residents in a COVID-safe way. One might wonder if the elderly haven't suffered enough during the pandemic without throwing Microsoft's Augmented Reality technology into the mix. However, with rules and guidance making in-person …

[HildyJ]

What changes

I can see this as a game changer in care homes. Here in the US, as an able, tech savvy patient, I have experience with virtual appointments. But they are limited to basically a video chat.

In care homes, a HoloLens or similar technology allows the doctor, via the onsite assistant, to better examine the patient. Instead of asking the patient to describe a problem with, say, their leg, the assistant can give the doctor a view of their leg and focus on possible problem areas the doctor indicates. This could be even more helpful when the patient is not only infirm but also mentally challenged.

While the HoloLens 2 starts at $3500, in the context of the budget for a reputable care home this would not be an extraordinary expense.

So, yes, I think it qualifies as a game changer.

[DrXym]

Re: What changes

What's stopping an assistant with a phone and zoom doing the same thing? And probably more effectively too since if the doctor wants to get a closer look at their leg you hold the phone closer rather than shoving your face up to some festering sore.

HoloLens was and continues to be a solution in search of a problem.

The sort of place I see utility for this sort of thing is for the poor bastards stuck in Amazon fulfillment centres or suchlike who can have the thing occupying their view telling them to turn left, turn right, look up, pick up the box, hurry up etc. Maybe some military applications too although maybe not after they're tested in conditions soldiers must deal with.

[that one in the corner]

Re: What changes

+ an assistant with a phone means more man-power per examination

+ if the patient is in a confused state of mind, it can be frightening to be examined; having someone wearing ugly glasses trying to get a look at the bit that hurts is far more natural and easier to understanding, and comply with, than trying to get a good view with a phone

Relatively unobtrusive head-mounted cameras and displays have been around, in small numbers, for decades and these sorts of applications have been tried before; no need to believe that Hololens is any more special than just being the one that is currently available. Except that maybe, finally, some of these use-cases may be practical, even if only for a small subset of the care sector.

The military have had their own designs for decades as well, they have no need to think about Hololens except in that it may be cheaper and available in greater numbers. The military ones I've, briefly, tried - decades ago - were definitely not unobtrusive!

[Ken Moorhouse]

asking the patient to describe a problem with, say, their leg

I hope they are not planning to use this for prostate examinations.