Sharp HealthCare has appointed Tommy Korn, MD, as its first chief spatial computing officer — a first-of-its-kind role in healthcare designed to integrate immersive technology into clinical care.
When Dr. Korn waved hello during a recent video call, his real face wasn’t on screen.
“This is actually not the real me,” he told Becker’s. “I’m wearing the Apple Vision Pro, and you’re seeing my spatial 3D persona.”
For Sharp HealthCare, that moment offered a glimpse into what could be healthcare’s next era.
“This is the future of healthcare,” Dr. Korn said. “It’s going to reinvent how surgeons and doctors really deliver medicine.”
The San Diego-based health system entered the spatial computing space early. In 2024, Sharp purchased a fleet of Apple Vision Pro headsets — which retail for about $3,500 each — to explore potential uses, including partnerships with Epic to test healthcare applications for the headset. The Vision Pro displays 3D graphics and video overlays on real-world environments.
In March, Sharp also launched its Spatial Computing Center of Excellence and hosted what it called “the first spatial computing summit in healthcare.”
“It [spatial computing] really needs a visionary leader who is not willing to be afraid to change the status quo,” Dr. Korn said. “Healthcare is under tremendous stress, and really the only path to relieving this stress is innovation.”
Sharp’s decision to create the new leadership position came shortly after its Epic EHR go-live.
“If you’re going to make any changes, you might as well do it all at once,” Dr. Korn said. “And that’s how spatial computing really took off.”
Dr. Korn said his new role will focus on three main areas.
“Number one, can we discover new jobs to be done?” he said. “Number two, can we use spatial computing to sustain existing technologies that are under strain? And number three, education, communication, telehealth — those are the buckets.”
Among Sharp’s early use cases is giving clinicians the ability to access Epic Hyperspace directly through Apple Vision Pro.
“With Epic Hyperspace, there’s no Citrix or third-party software,” he said. “I instantly get in within three to five seconds with Touch ID, so I can deliver the care instantly.”
He believes the technology could help reduce burnout and costs.
“People criticize Apple Vision Pro being expensive using the lens of the consumer market,” Dr. Korn said. “But for a hospital, it’s $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 on multiple monitors. This is actually a low disruptive solution.”
While Sharp is the first to formally establish such a role, Dr. Korn said he hopes it won’t be the last.
“We hope that this being the first chief spatial computing officer results in the creation of other chief spatial computing officers at hospitals everywhere,” he said. “Because in the end, we’re all in this together.”
As an ophthalmologist, Dr. Korn said he sees a natural connection between his specialty and his new title.
“The eye is the most important sense that we have,” he said. “Spatial computing changes the user interface — instead of clicking or swiping, my eyes are the cursor. It’s the first computer for the eye.”
Dr. Korn believes the convergence of AI and spatial computing could reshape healthcare during one of its most challenging eras.
“We’re really at a critical point right now,” he said. “Healthcare leaders must realize that hardware and software are living organisms — they continue to grow and evolve. Recognizing that is the path for avoiding being disrupted.”
