Holograms in the classroom: LA company's tech beams virtual patients into med-school classes

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Los Angeles company is helping a university for the first time incorporate hologram technology in the classroom - beaming in virtual patients for medical students to interact with and diagnose.

The technology from LA-based PORTL lets healthcare students at the University of Central Florida interact with a hologram patient projected life-size into a projection box in the classroom.

The first use of hologram patients will increase the variety of different diagnoses that students can learn from in a situation that comes close to imitating an in-person patient. The hologram patient's video can be pre-recorded or projected live from a remote location.

The system, which is being called Dr. Hologram, was purchased for $75,000 with a grant from Brooks Rehabilitation.

The university says it plans to use the system not only for education, but to provide medical care for rural areas where it may be difficult to reach patients for in-person interaction.

PORTL, founded in 2019, is using its hologram system not just for medical and corporate uses, but for entertainment, with some rap and country acts performing concerts via hologram.