AI-generated summary
On October 27, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta, sparking widespread speculation about the metaverse’s potential. However, due to immature enabling technologies, these early promises fell short, leading to significant financial losses and a strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence (AI) by Meta, Microsoft, and Disney. The metaverse, currently in Gartner’s “trough of disillusionment” phase, is transitioning from speculative hype to practical, steady development. It is seen as a natural evolution of the Internet, with concrete applications emerging especially in industry and healthcare, where digital twins and immersive technologies are increasingly implemented despite slow adoption.
In healthcare, the metaverse is gaining momentum, integrating extended reality (XR) technologies—augmented, virtual, and mixed reality—with AI to enhance medical imaging, surgical training, mental health, and telemedicine. According to a Boston Consulting Group study, the healthcare metaverse is moving from initial testing toward broader adoption, promising improved diagnostics, patient access, and cost reductions. Market forecasts predict rapid growth, driven by telemedicine demand and patient-centered care, with mixed reality playing a key role in microinvasive surgery and real-time diagnostics. Experts emphasize that the metaverse’s success relies on balanced media coverage, robust public-private collaboration, and clear demonstration of value to healthcare systems, signaling a substantial yet cautious path forward for this digital frontier.
It seems that the metaverse will take a back seat in the year of generative artificial intelligence, but it is still a useful 'space' and a disruptive technology for research and medical practice
It seems like centuries ago when, on October 27, 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced the birth of Meta. On that day, the metaverse suddenly became an object of speculation, capable of fueling short-term promises, which evidently no one was able to fulfill, especially due to the lack of maturity of enabling technologies.
After suffering multimillion-dollar losses, Zuckerberg himself was forced to distance himself from the metaverse, stating that the company, while not completely abandoning the development of social networks set in immersive virtual worlds, will turn its attention to another emerging technology, artificial intelligence (AI). Microsoft and Disney have also announced significant cuts in metaverse investments, with AI being the new promised land.
To explain in a simple way the concepts that characterize the path to success and the widespread affirmation of technologies, Gartner publishes a study every year called the hype cycle of emerging technologies. The cycle is described by a curve that relates expectations to time. After the initial phase, which involves a real escalation, there follows a sharp contraction, created by a feeling of general disappointment, usually accompanied by a decline in investor confidence.
With the media emphasis abandoned, development continues
Currently, the metaverse, introduced by Gartner in the 2022 hype cycle, is facing this period of sudden decline, distancing itself from the purely speculative component that accompanied that media fortune that turned out to be completely ephemeral. As reflected in the Megatrends 2022 trends report by the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, when we talk about the metaverse, we are talking about the natural evolution of the Internet.
Meanwhile, the development of the metaverse model to which we must refer today continues, made up of concrete applications in sectors that have been investing tirelessly for years, with the slowness that characterizes a solid implementation in industrial processes.
In fact, as Dr. Julio Mayol, Head of the Office of Medicine and Innovation at the Hospital Clínico de Madrid, also acknowledges, “media attention can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, excessive coverage of the most futuristic proposals can generate unrealistic expectations. However, it can also stimulate interest in and investment in new technologies. It is crucial that the media maintain a balance between enthusiasm and healthy skepticism, thus helping to distinguish between science fiction and real practical possibilities.”
The most tangible demonstration of this comes from Industry 4.0, which for years has seen the implementation of digital twins to monitor and simulate aspects related to the factory plan. However,
The research revealed that most companies in the sector are already testing these technologies, particularly in the fields of medical and surgical imaging, mental health and medical training. The metaverse can be used for teaching purposes in a variety of ways, for example, by creating a virtual place where surgeons can ‘train’ and prepare for the operating theatre by simulating an operation by inserting patient parameters into the platform.
The technologies to enable the metaverse
From the point of view of the technologies used to enable the metaverse, current applications in the healthcare field mainly take advantage of so-called ‘extended realities’ (XRs), i.e. the combination of visual and immersive experiences offered by augmented reality (VR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). But Web3 technologies and applications can also be used, such as blockchain and virtual resources, and M-worlds, i.e. virtual places to meet and create content.
In particular, according to the experts at Boston Consulting, the metaverse in the healthcare field is being developed in three phases. We are currently moving from Phase 1, the initial testing period, to Phase 2 (i.e., the next five years), which will be defined by wider adoption of current use cases and the emergence of new applications as technologies advance. Phase 3 (next decade) will see the development of more advanced use cases and the adoption of metaverse-specific technologies in many areas of the healthcare system.
The study also highlights that most healthcare client organizations, as well as vendors, have yet to define a vision and adopt a specific strategy for the implementation of these key technologies . These are tools that can produce value for businesses in a variety of ways, including by improving access to healthcare without geographical limitations, fine-tuning diagnostic accuracy and surgical quality, reducing costs for supplies, medical training and data management, and more.
According to Mayol, “the development of an accessible and sustainable metaverse can transform telemedicine, medical training, and rehabilitation through immersive environments. However, technology companies, digital health startups and investment consortia are timidly investing in these developments because the uncertainty in the health field is great, since we still do not know very well how training ends up translating into improvements within health systems”.
Many applications that need investments
Among the products that are already available on the market are those manufactured by companies that work with Augmented Reality for medical procedures, including surgical preparation and performing spinal operations. But there are also technologies that allow for a complete visualization of the patient’s anatomy, leading to better error rates, speed, and outcomes.
Other applications may refer to rehabilitation, physiotherapy, treatment of anxiety, phobias and post-traumatic stress. “In the field of care, the greatest success is related to behavioral modifications. There are clear successes in clinical studies related to chronic pain, although its implementation has not been generalized,” says Mayol.
A a report published in May 2023 by MarketsAndMarkets estimated revenue of around $9.5 billion for the healthcare metaverse market at the end of the year, with a compound annual growth rate of 52.9% between 2023 and 2030. What drives this market is above all the growing demand for telemedicine services and the transition to increasingly structured healthcare according to a patient-centric perspective.
Specifically, among the main drivers of metaverse growth in the healthcare sector is the growing adoption of mixed reality in the field of microinvasive surgery. MRI, according to analysts at MarketsAndMarkets, will have an impact on real-time diagnosis and image-guided surgery, as well as improving the patient experience and strengthening the skills of healthcare professionals.
In short, the margins of development seem extremely relevant. Important stimuli also come from the growing investments of private companies in digital solutions and increasingly cutting-edge technologies. In any case, as Mayol stresses, “this technology, even if it manages to reduce costs, needs strong public/private collaboration, as well as an unequivocal demonstration of the generation of value for all the actors in the system”.
