In face to face communication, we can see, feels, hear and smell people but online communication is different from face to face consultation. Even though a virtual consultation can never substitute for a real face-to-face one, the problems of dermatology and psychology can be handled through a webcam. While I visited numerous medical sites and clinics in SL, I found elaborate architectural structures with placards and displays of health information. I wonder if the technology in Second Life is sophisticated enough to provide treatment to a sick avatar or whether if the application can generate or stimulate feeling in an avatar.
The article titled “Teenagers to take embarrassing ailments to Second Life doctors ” in this website - http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/10/secondlife.spain reports that Spanish health authorities launched a virtual portal through the Second Life website and was designed to help young people who were too embarrassed to speak to a doctor about sexually transmitted disease or a drug problem to have consultation with a virtual doctor. According to the article, real doctors will log on and offer advice to their anonymous patients. What both will see is an image of a consulting room with a doctor and a typical patient. This is an interesting implementation or use of second life in doctor – patient relationship, this kind of interaction certainly is a safe or more private place for those who would be uncomfortable with a face-to-face communication. This shows that some patients may find that the anonymity of virtual worlds may actually enable them to share more about themselves than are accustomed to doing in real life.
From this website: http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/15-can-medical-students-learn-to-save-real-lives-in-second-life ; the article titled “Can Training in Second Life Teach Doctors to Save Real Lives? “ illustrates how real innovation in SL clinical simulations can be use to bring people together in a clinical space. It shows that Second Life can give the medical students and patients greater access to experts in the medical field all over the world. It also states that Second Life is an interactive and social networking. Second Life takes what’s great about simulations and gives them that social aspect. It’s more like real life.
Also this website: http://scienceroll.com/2007/06/17/top-10-virtual-medical-sites-in-second-life/ listed the top ten virtual medical sites. These websites show how Second Life could be put to practical use for educational purpose.
Although Second Life is a bright future in medical field but this virtual reality still need a lot of work to be done in order to represent the real life situation.
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