Healthcare XR often looks strongest in a demo. Clinical adoption asks for something less glamorous: a tool staff can set up quickly, use safely and fit into care without slowing the room down.
In a new interview with The XR Beat, Dr José Ferrer Costa, Medical Doctor and PhD Researcher in Digital Health, explains why immersive technology can help in areas such as professional education, pain management, rehabilitation, mental health and patient education.
His rule of thumb is simple: “If it could be two clicks to have it working with the patient, this is amazing.”
Ferrer Costa has worked with XR as both clinician and developer, and his research now looks at why strong pilots often fail to become routine healthcare tools. The problem usually starts when a project is built like a controlled trial, with extra support, planned setup time and a more forgiving environment than clinicians get in daily practice.
Healthcare teams don’t have spare minutes to fight with headsets, controllers, logins or unclear workflows. Patients also have different needs, especially in areas such as dementia care, rehabilitation or paediatrics, where the interaction model can matter more than visual polish.
For vendors, the message is clear. Clinicians need to be involved before content is built, because they understand where XR can fit inside care, which patients it can support and what would make it unusable on a busy day.
Ferrer Costa expects healthcare XR to keep growing, especially in training, rehabilitation, pain management and mental health. The tools most likely to scale won’t just prove they work in a pilot. They’ll be simple enough to use when the clinic is already running behind.
Watch the full interview above.
