Bengaluru hosts 1st silent summit for eye specialists

BENGALURU: In a break from the usual buzz of medical conferences, 450 ophthalmologists sat in near silence at a city hotel Sunday, attending what was billed as Bengaluru's first Silent Summit for the medical community.Organised by the Bangalore Ophthalmic Society (BOS), the unique format replaced conventional multiple-hall sessions with a single room, four-panel discussions running simultaneously, and headphones for each delegate.Instead of dashing between halls, participants tuned in to sessions of their choice by switching channels on their headsets. "It allowed seamless access to all tracks without moving around," said Dr Elankumaran P, BOS president.The conference screen was split into four sections for each ongoing panel, and mics were placed in front of each lane for audience interaction. Inspired by multilingual events like those at the United Nations and European medical conferences, the format cost BOS an additional Rs 10 lakh in tech — but saved on venue rentals.The system supported up to 40 channels and was previously used in ophthalmology summits in Haryana and Barcelona. Despite the success, nine headphones went missing by the end of the event, organisers said.