(If you are unfamiliar with HoloLens watch the video before reading!)
Early this year Microsoft unveiled HoloLens, wireless augmented reality goggles with a self-contained computer. As opposed to virtual reality goggles (like Oculus Rift), which create a wholly immersive virtual experience, augmented reality goggles project holograms into the user’s field of vision. The headset features spatial sound so you can “hear” holographic projections, even if they are behind you. While the exact release date is unknown to the public, there is speculation that it will be at the end of 2015.
Augmented reality devices will not only revolutionize computing and entertainment as we know it, but will also have innumerable therapeutic applications. As can be seen from the video, one of the most prominent features is hands-on, 3D design. Therapists will be able to sit side by side with a client and design custom adaptive devices which may then be 3D printed on site in minutes.
Another feature shown in the video is interactive instruction. This will take the possibilities of Telehealth to new levels. Imagine being on a Skype call with a colleague overseas who is working with a client while wearing HoloLens. You can literally see the world from her point of view, talk into her ear, and draw arrows and other visual cues directly into her field of vision. Meanwhile, she will be able to project your image however large or small onto a nearby wall, surface, or wherever is most convenient.
There will be an explosion of therapeutic apps built for HoloLens, one of which will be instantaneous goniometric measurement. The computer will be able to identify human bodies and project constant, real-time Range of Motion measurements into the air beside them. Depending on how well the computer recognizes bodies and body parts, we may even be able to toggle to “x-ray” vision with virtual overlays of bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and organs in a given area.
There will also be many options for clients who own HoloLens. People with dementia, for example, will be able to post virtual prompts and reminders all over their living space. These reminders could range in complexity from traditional “sticky notes” to prerecorded audio or video clips. For people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities, task sequencing could be tailored to place. Say, for example, a therapist conducts a traditional task analysis for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and, with the client, arrives at a set of directions which works best. Together, they then use HoloLens to create a step by step interactive template which can be initiated at any time. Later in the week, the client walks into the kitchen wearing HoloLens. Their own voice says into their ears “what would you like to do in the kitchen?” and several icon-coded options appear at various locations: above the cabinet is a blue icon for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, by the coffee machine is a red cup of coffee, and on the dishwasher is a yellow stack of dishes. When the client selects the sandwich icon, their prerecorded voice says “open this cabinet and take out the bread” and an arrow materializes, pointing to the cabinet. In the bottom right corner is a green button reading “NEXT” that the client pushes when they have completed the first step. Then, the second step begins, and so on until the sandwich is made. These are only two examples, but the possibilities for on demand teaching, learning, and cuing are limitless.
Of course, HoloLens is only the beginning of augmented reality. Innovega, Inc., an eye-wear tech company, is currently working on augmented reality contact lenses. And the US Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is, believe it or not, developing a “direct neural interface” chip that will augment reality from within the brain. But that’s for another post.
Future of Occupation 