clipped from: www.sci-tech-today.com   
Eventually virtual-reality doctor's offices could be housed in dedicated booths available for use by the public in community hospitals and community centers. Currently the system is being tested in a small room within the accident and emergency center at an infirmary with the "virtual-reality" doctor in a separate room only a few yards away.

The future face of healthcare was unveiled yesterday, a virtual- reality doctor's office in a box -- a dramatic breakthrough in telemedicine, currently being trialled in a Scottish hospital, which is set to revolutionize the delivery of healthcare.

Within the next few years the diagnostic booth could be fully functioning and serving Scotland's remotest communities, transforming the way that patients in the country's most isolated areas can be assessed by both doctors and specialist consultants without ever seeing each other face to face.

Sit down, plug yourself in, look at the screen. The virtual doctor will see you now.