At the end of April, Johnson & Johnson opened a metaverse-enabled medical training studio in Mexico. Called the “Innovation Room,” J&J’s new project uses the latest advances in augmented reality to provide students with a low-risk environment to refine their surgical skills.
According to recent reports, the Innovation Room will host virtual and augmented reality programs that simulate dozens of hospital procedures. A few medical routines J&J’s Innovation Room could simulate include:
- Colon cancer surgery
- Plastic surgery
- Orthopedic surgery
- Heart surgery
The Innovation Room is a part of the J&J Institute and the J&J MedTech division. People can find the entrance to the Innovation Room in front of J&J MedTech Mexico’s main offices.
J&J invites students and teachers to apply for a time slot in the Innovation Room on the company’s official app. Students must make reservations to J&J’s metaverse suite at least two days in advance.
J&J executives are hopeful the Innovation Room will help train at least 300 medical professionals in Mexico City. There’s no news yet if J&J will introduce more Innovation Rooms to other nations in the future.
News of J&J’s Innovation Room comes shortly after J&J filed Web3 patents for many of its products. From skin creams like Neutrogena to first-aid essentials like Band-Aids, J&J has sent multiple trademark applications to the USPTO related to NFTs and the metaverse.
Is the future of medicine in the metaverse?
J&J’s Innovation Room highlights the growing acceptance of Web3 in healthcare. According to a recent Forbes report, innovations such as virtual reality, blockchain tech, and NFTs could significantly alter the medical industry as we know it.
For instance, Forbes pointed out that 95 percent of medical offices now offer some form of telemedicine. Since VR is an immersive extension of the telemedicine revolution, many analysts believe doctors and patients will naturally migrate to metaverse-style consultations.
These metaverse meetings could benefit patients in remote areas far from medical professionals. The metaverse could also make it easier for patients with rare diseases to connect with specialists worldwide.
But how do NFTs fit into the future of healthcare? According to many legal experts, NFT technology could help securely store and share personal medical documents. Medical scientists and universities might also use NFTs to document their research efficiently.
Some argue the decentralized nature of blockchain technology could reduce the risk of a severe hack. Since NFTs are associated with a unique address on a public blockchain, they may be more tamper-resistant than centralized cloud storage servers.
While we don’t know precisely how Web3 will revolutionize professional medical care, blockchain tech and the metaverse are already making a profound impact.