The University of Southern California recently opened the Virtual Care Clinic. The new clinic will use technology like virtual reality, artificial intelligence, mobile apps, and wearables to make healthcare both more personalized and accessible. The center is developing two separate but interconnected technologies to coincide with the clinic’s launch.

The first new innovation is the hologram house call, which would allow physicians to visit their patients anywhere in the world. The doctor stands in front of a camera while their image is beamed in real time as a hologram to the patient. The doctor can ask patients about their symptoms, diagnose the problem, and walk them through treatment options without ever leaving their office. For people in remote corners of the globe, it would mean reliable access to health care. For people with rare or serious conditions who don’t live near a hospital or research center, it would ensure that a specialist is never out of reach. Furthermore, by using technology like virtual reality, physicians will be able to greatly increase the number of patients they can see each day.

The other technology being developed at the Virtual Care Clinic is an app that would ask users to enter information such as their age, medical conditions, and any diseases that run in their family. Then the program would provide information about various treatments specifically tailored to the user. The app is intended to provide patients with the information they need to make a better decision about their treatment.

While these new technologies are innovative and exciting, they will certainly have an impact on urgent care facilities in the future. Only time will tell how these new technologies could affect CVS’s Minute Clinic, Walgreens’ Healthcare Clinic, and other similar concepts. For now, let’s just revel in the awe of hologram house calls.