Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Hardware, Software, and Content), By Application (Pain Management, Education & Training, Surgery, Patient Care Management, Rehabilitation & Therapy Procedures, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

The global virtual reality (VR) in healthcare market size was valued at USD 3.12 billion in 2023. The market is projected to grow from USD 4.18 billion in 2024 to USD 46.37 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 35.1% during the forecast period.

Virtual reality in healthcare leverages computer-developed mechanisms to deliver medical training to doctors and medical students. The technology also helps treat patients in immersive environments, aid in medical marketing, and educate people about medical conditions or diseases.

Virtual reality offers immersive and interactive education to patients and improves their experiences. It helps medical professionals and doctors get simulation-driven training, delivering more precise diagnoses and treatment strategies. Similarly, for hospitals and healthcare providers, it enhances their patient experiences and offers a vast scope for income generation.

Many major virtual reality in healthcare solution providers have integrated 3D interactive content and 360-degree video features to develop the best learning programs for physicians and students. For instance, platforms such as SentiAR and Proximie, which are based on a 360-degree scale, offer real-time body scans to help surgeons better understand an underlying medical condition.

The healthcare industry's requirement for virtual reality tools drastically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implementing virtual reality (VR) in healthcare enabled doctors to understand and study the influence of the new virus strain. It also helped medical professionals get real-time radiographical insights, showcasing the impact of the disease on patients’ bodies. In most cases, patients who had recovered from the COVID-19 infection underwent PICS (Post-Intensive Care Syndrome). In such a situation, virtual reality in healthcare tools helped patients recover from this syndrome through virtual rehab sessions.

Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare Market Trends

Increasing Use of Smart Wearable Devices to be a Growing Market Trend

Wearable technology is experiencing rapid growth in recent years. Players such as Samsung, Apple, and others dominate the market with devices such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, smart apparel, AR glasses, medical wearables, and hearables. These devices enable communication, track health and fitness, deliver entertainment, assist with navigation, enhance healthcare services, and support workplace tasks. For instance,

• According to industry experts, the shipments of watches, hearables, wristbands, and other wearables would grow by over 560 million units across the globe in 2024.


• The maximum shipment volume has been reported for earwear in the wearable devices section, with around 347 million units anticipated to be shipped in 2024. Smartwatches ranked second, with shipment volume estimated to exceed 208 million units by 2028.

Moreover, mental health and depression can be treated instantly with the help of VR headsets, allowing patients to feel safer and more comfortable. Wearable devices integrated into virtual reality enable interaction between patients and physicians in all areas. 5G communication systems are becoming a support element for wearable integrated IoT and VR applications. These aspects will increase market sales over the next few years.

Thus, the increasing use of smart wearable devices has revolutionized virtual reality (VR) in healthcare market growth in recent years.

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Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare Market Growth Factors

Increasing Application of VR in Patient Treatment to Drive Market Growth

As per a study by Perkins Coie, immersive technology is anticipated to extensively disrupt the healthcare devices sector in the coming years. Healthcare providers are using technology to improve the treatment capacity for patients. Professionals can easily detect, diagnose, teach, and treat health conditions with virtual reality in healthcare tools. Psychiatrists frequently employ these tools in the therapy of patients' phobias. As per the Perkins Coie's study, the top sectors for VR use are workforce training and development, healthcare, education, manufacturing, and automotive.

VR technology is employed to alleviate pain and discomfort during medical procedures, treatments, or hospital stays. Immersive VR experiences distract patients from pain stimuli by transporting them to virtual environments, such as calming landscapes, underwater scenes, or interactive games. VR-based distraction therapy reduces the perception of pain, anxiety, and stress, providing a non-pharmacological approach to pain management for patients undergoing procedures such as wound care, dental treatments, or chemotherapy.

Furthermore, medical professionals, for example, are putting solutions in place to help patients suffering from PTSD. As per healthcare experts, the technology has helped to deliver a 40% improvement in patient’s treatment. Thus, the increasing application and its remarkable positive effect are expected to drive market growth.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

High Initial Costs, Technical Limitations, and Regulatory Issues Impede the Market Growth

Factors such as high initial costs, technical limitations, and regulatory issues may impede market growth. High initial costs for medical training setup or initial investment in VR technology for small-scale companies tend to limit market growth for virtual reality (VR) in healthcare.

Furthermore, the deployment virtual reality (VR) in healthcare industry poses certain technical limitations. The size of the VR systems limits the usage of the technology in clinical settings. The resolution of available devices and computer specifications can also restrict some medical applications. However, to overcome these challenges, international organizations such as the Digital Health Committee of the VR/AR Association (VRARA) are working on near-term solutions.

Virtual reality-based headsets and other hardware could test the healthcare industry's technical limitations. The size of the system may limit the operation in some clinical contexts. Similarly, the available resolution and computer specifications may be a limiting factor for the adoption of some virtual realities in healthcare facilities.

Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare Market Segmentation Analysis

By Component Analysis

Increasing Usage of VR Hardware to Propel the Market Growth for Hardware Segment

Based on component, the market is segmented into hardware, software, and content.

The hardware segment accounted for the highest market share in 2023. The usage of VR hardware is increasing as it becomes more reasonable with time and constant investment and more enterprises are developing headsets and associated devices and content. Various associations and enterprises are increasing the usage of virtual reality in healthcare applications. For instance,

• In June 2024, the VA Immersive deployed more than 1,200 VR in healthcare headsets across 160 plus VA medical hubs and patient clinics across all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico–advancing the VA's assurance to connecting Veterans to the earliest and best care. VA Immersive defines a new reality in Veteran health care by implementing immersive mechanisms.

The software segment is expected to showcase the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to increasing demand for advanced software for training healthcare professionals, treatment analysis, care management of patients, and much more which is expected to fuel the implementation of virtual reality in healthcare market.

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By Application Analysis

Adoption of VR in Healthcare for Training and Education to Surge Market Progress

In terms of application, the market is divided into pain management, education & training, surgery, patient care management, rehabilitation & therapy procedures, and others (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)).

The education & training segment held the highest revenue in the market in 2023. VR technology is widely used in medical education and healthcare professionals' training. The growing adoption of automation and a huge client base will likely enhance the demand for virtual reality (VR) in education and training.

• As per “VR in Healthcare: Facts And Figures 2022 of HQSoftware”, 82% of healthcare specialists agree that VR is a proficient tool for education. Furthermore, 62% of patients are prepared to attempt VR as a substitute for routine care.

The pain management segment is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the numerous benefits of the technology for better pain relief. The use of virtual reality in healthcare helps alleviate patients’ pain to some extent during skin grafting, open surgeries, and bandaging of a burn patient, as these are extremely painful procedures. As the patient focuses on the headset content, it helps in reducing pain. Hence, the demand for technology in pain management is driving the market growth.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

Geographically, the market is studied across five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Each region is further studied across countries.

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North America generated the highest market revenue in 2023. The adoption of virtual reality technology in healthcare is increasing in this region due to the rising usage of immersive mechanisms in medicinal practices. The other factors include government initiatives and significant investments in research & development. Moreover, the U.S. government is providing funds to research VR applications in healthcare. Healthcare providers subcontract medicine-linked IT services due to increasing pressure to reduce treatment costs. Such factors are also expected to surge the product demand. For instance,

• In April 2024, the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) announced the use of virtual and augmented reality for Home as a Health Care Hub to enhance health equity. The center will be planned as a virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR)-driven home prototype and is anticipated to be finalized in 2024.

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The Asia Pacific market is expected to record the highest growth rate (CAGR) during the forecast period. Developing economies, such as India, China, and Japan, are set to dominate the healthcare market in terms of revenue. China is highly investing in its telehealth and digital healthcare industries. This is likely to drive the market growth in the country. Within the healthcare market, organizations are expected to spend more on virtual reality technologies. For instance,

• As per the Invest India report, in 2022, the health sector in the country witnessed an increase of USD 370 billion in investments.

Europe is expected to hold a remarkable position in the global virtual reality (VR) in healthcare market share during the forecast period. Within Europe, the U.K., France, and Germany are the frontrunners on AR and VR and research projects, with research and development centers aiming at healthcare, the industrial usage of VR, and wide-ranging VR and AR progression. The region's healthcare sector is the second-largest in terms of growing investments and funds.

• As per the Healthcare Investments and Exits Annual Report 2022, the region’s overall healthcare investments have more than doubled from USD 16 billion in 2017 to USD 86 billion in 2021. The European Union is highly committed to promoting various innovative technologies to improve its healthcare systems.

The Middle East & Africa region is expected to register a significant growth rate owing to the rising focus on enhancing the region’s healthcare industry. Countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are investing in advanced technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and VR & AR, to improve their virtual reality in healthcare systems.

The Latin America market for virtual reality (VR) in healthcare is anticipated to showcase steady growth due to increasing research & development initiatives to boost the use of virtual reality systems in healthcare. Rising investment in digital transformation across Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico is driving market growth. For instance,

• In January 2023, EON Reality partnered with Hospital Metropolitan in Costa Rica to provide AI-powered XR solutions for patients and medical staff.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Key Players Focus on Developing Advanced Virtual Medical Toolkits to Reinforce their Market Position

The market players of virtual reality (VR) in healthcare are focusing on offering advanced medical technologies to support healthcare workers and their patients. These companies are collaborating with hospitals and caregivers to provide virtual care and inspection solutions. Besides, these players are offering advanced virtual headsets and goggles for medical training and learning purposes. With the help of new content, these companies are providing solutions for virtual medical applications such as rehabilitation, vision inspection, psychological & mental administration, and others.

List of Top Virtual Reality (VR) in Healthcare Companies:

• Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands)


• Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (South Korea)


• HTC Corporation (Taiwan)


• Sony Corporation (Japan)


• XRHealth  (U.S.)


• Siemens (Germany)


• Medical Realities Ltd. (U.K.)


• Meta Platforms, Inc. (U.S.)


• AppliedVR, Inc. (U.S.)


• Virti (U.K.)


• ORamaVR (U.S.)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• May 2024: Sony Group Corporation completed its strategic collaboration with Siemens to introduce virtual reality headsets for the industrial metaverse ecosystem by December 2024. The new launch is currently integrated with Siemens’ engineering design platform NX.


• March 2024: Siemens Healthineers introduced an application dedicated to Apple Vision Pro, enabling clients such as medical students, surgeons, and patients to view interactive holograms of the human body. These medical scans captured in real-time are expected to help in medical training, surgical planning, and helping patients visualize procedures.


• November 2023: Royal Philips partnered with NYU Langone Health, an academic medical center, to improve patient care through additional innovation. With the new approach, NYU Langone healthcare professionals would collaborate in real-time and further enhance the patient experience via diagnosis and treatment at speed and enhanced outcomes.


• July 2023: AppliedVR collaborated with a part of the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute, intending to release the interim analysis outcomes of a phase 2 clinical trial study. The study was conducted to check the intervention of VR for primary brain tumor patients.


• November 2022: GE Healthcare formed an alliance with Mediview XR, Inc. to combine medical imaging with MR (mixed reality) technology by developing the OmnifyXRTM Interventional Suite System.

REPORT COVERAGE

The research report highlights leading regions across the globe to offer a better understanding of the market. Furthermore, the report provides insights into the latest industry trends and analyzes technologies deployed at a rapid pace at the global level. It further highlights some of the key growth-stimulating factors and restraints, helping the reader gain in-depth knowledge about the market.

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