Virtual Reality in Medicine: Developing the Visualization and Interaction Technology for the 21st Century

New high-performance graphic PCs and a young generation of computer literate surgeons have paved the way for new high technology solutions in medicine. Virtual Reality technology is the basis for many of the innovative visualization and interaction techniques being implemented. In this paper we present an overview of current developments worldwide and describe our vision of how several developments may be integrated in the virtual hospital and operating room of the future. We conclude with a discussion of the major research issues in medical applications of Virtual Reality.