UAE’s first metaverse hospital

UAE’s first virtual hospital operated by the Thumbay Group will launch this October. This will be a complete virtual hospital where people will come as an avatar and consult with the doctor. To cater to medical tourism, it will allow patients to see what the hospital looks like in the metaverse before they travel to the Thumbay healthcare facility.

The UAE healthcare group has hired a firm to train all its doctors on how to deal with patients in the metaverse. Fees are likely to be in line with the tele-consultation charges used by the healthcare operator.

Thumbay is integrating artificial intelligence into the hospital’s systems where cameras will detect the patient’s car number plate and then their face when they enter the hospital.

When a patient arrives at the reception, the file is already open. The process of showing identity or insurance card will be eliminated. This will be implemented throughout the Thumbay university hospital. If a patient goes to the pharmacy, cameras will recognise the face and the system will indicate to the pharmacist that the patient has come to collect medicine.

The Thumbay Group is introducing AR and VR technology for long-term care patients who are bed-ridden and paralysed in hospitals for six months or more. The hospital is giving them AR and VR headsets so that they can see their homes.

For example, a Sri Lankan person in hospital for a prolonged period of time who was paralysed after a car accident and all of his sensory motions are gone but only his brain is functioning. He can experience and virtually visit his room in Sri Lanka through AR and VAR technology. This motivates long-term care patients and gives them hope that they can go back to their country.