The potential medical applications of Second Life represent a new and intriguing concept. Traditionally, this software had been used for purely entertainment purposes. The idea of a virtual second existence was indeed a huge success as it had attracted a multitude of visitors from all over the world. Individuals could live a different reality at their convenience. Thus allowing them potentially to be someone they always dreamed of or experience things we are unable to normally. This originally "entertainment" based software is now expanding into much broader applications.
The medical field is now embracing this virtual technology for educational, diagnostic, and developmental purposes. A classic example would be the virtual hospital developed by Cisco for Palomar. Even better yet is the creation of a virtual clinic for diagnostic purposes related to sexually transmitted diseases or STD's.The beauty lies in that this subject is often quite taboo and not openly discussed! Frequently patients avoid going to their doctors due to the fear of embarrassment However, via Second Life now an individual can discreetly visit this site and learn about STD's. A patient can privately see visual displays of STD patterns and appearances. This once taboo subject now has an interface that allows delivery of diagnostic aids into the comfort and privacy of one's own home. The idea is that now individuals have the ability to assess themselves. They can potentially identify their need for further evaluation with a medical doctor. The individual might pursue it with a better sense of confidence and a potential diagnosis in hand. In addition, this particular STD site could be used as a parent teenager or school environment teaching aid.
The future role of Virtual Reality and simulator based software has potentially a multitude of applications in medicine. Distance learning, procedure simulations, disease diagnosis and treatment protocol simulations are just a few ideas.
