Not only VOSTARS, because the problem is more general
To design the ideal Headset for surgery UNIPI started exploring the market actual offers. It is pivotal to underline that NOTHING exists today in the market specifically designed not only for surgery, but for peripersonal space tasks in general! Using the Microsoft Hololens 1 (the best that the market offers at the moment) we conducted a small-scale experiment where users perform a simple “connect the dots” test twice – with and without HoloLens headsets – and performed significant better when just using the naked eye. Study coordinator Dr. Sara Condino underlines that this might be due to the way human eyes focus in the peripersonal space that it is not suitable to focus the virtual content that the Hololens displays . Moreover Dr. Marina Carbone also points to the fact that users were unaware of the difference in performance during follow-up interviews hat was base on the NASA Task Load questionnaires. The study concluded that HoloLens and similar devices should not be used for high-precision manual tasks, but the Pisa team is planning more research to deepen its understanding of when and how AR in its current state might be useful.
Some other articles available on the net:
IEEE Spectrum – “Microsoft’s HoloLens Not Fit for AR-Assisted Surgery, Study Suggests”
BBC – “Warning over using augmented reality in precision tasks”
Engineering – “Microsoft’s HoloLens Not Yet Fit for AR-Assisted Surgery”
We talk about Augmented Reality and VOSTARS, in media aimed at the general public: