Alternate realities including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) have continued to fascinate healthcare professionals and patients around the world through various breakthrough solutions in the global healthcare (e.g., HoloLens, MR Instant diagnosis, VR surgery, and Neuro Rehab VR). The arrival of the metaverse involves the convergence of major technological trends (i.e., AR, VR, MR and AI), all of which have the potential to impact global healthcare individually. Within metaverse, these innovative technologies can collectively improve patient’s outcomes, lower healthcare costs and create entirely new channels for delivering healthcare across the globe. To revolutionize the global healthcare industry, metaverse can create limitless new opportunities, including telepresence (i.e., allowing people to be together virtually, even while they are physically apart), digital twinning (i.e., creating models informed by real-world data that can be used to simulate any system or process), and blockchain technologies (by using it as an integral part of the metaverse to protect user's personal data and digital assets in virtual reality). Hence, metaverse aims to fully mobilize and accelerate the adaptation of AR, VR, MR and artificial intelligence in the global health care industry to greatly enhance patience’s experience in a parallel and digital universe.
Prior studies have generally relied on the technology adoption model (TAM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to explore various applications of the alternate realities (i.e., AR, VR, and MR) in global health care. However, metaverse aims to revolutionize the global healthcare through the combined use of digital technologies to create an immersive, experiential and interactive healthcare experience. There is rare and extremely limited evidence on the transformation of global healthcare through the adoption of metaverse. Hence, this critical knowledge gap requires an immediate attention of academics, policymakers, practitioners, and research scholars. Despite promising new opportunities within the parameters of healthcare within metaverse, there are some immediate challenges that must be overcome. Patient’s attitudes to receiving treatment online (or remotely), may still be seen as a second-best (or backup) option by many. Moreover, the equality of access (e.g., VR headsets are not cheap) raises issues of inequality in global healthcare. Another unique obstacle is ensuring that patients' confidential information is safe and secure. Importantly healthcare providers are also challenged in how to make the telehealth experience that includes consultations, remote exams and digital therapeutics even better than the in-person experience. Some additional challenges also include: (1) How will Meta and other tech companies and healthcare providers attract patients to the metaverse? (2) Will patients need to go to a physical location? (3) Will patients have VR glasses at home? and (4) How will the elderly patients (who are typically not as well-versed in technology) enter the metaverse?
Metaverse adoption is most likely the biggest challenge in the global healthcare. However, with these challenges will also come to a user’s experience that is essentially limitless, breaking down the barriers of location and providing endless opportunities for patients seeking healthcare around the world. The new generation of digital-first healthcare providers can successfully demonstrate that adoption of metaverse and its extended benefits for patients (e.g., improved patients’ outcomes with reduced costs). Therefore, global healthcare companies need to create new business models that are aligned with patient’s health insurance, reimbursements, and prescriptions, all in this new virtual universe of global healthcare.
The scope of this Research Topic remains open to any work related to the adoption and applications of metaverse in the global healthcare. The topic has a particular interest in generating links between the various implications of adopting metaverse technologies in global healthcare, including digital twinning, telepresence, digital technologies convergence, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, blockchain technology, virtual hospitals and cybersecurity. Research can include quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods empirical approaches, as well as policy analysis, theory or methodology papers, reviews, or case studies. We also strongly encourage original contributions to include comparative analysis in diverse contexts of global healthcare within metaverse, including virtual interactions between caregiver and care recipient, the socioeconomic environment, geographies, and/or cultural factors.
Alternate realities including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) have continued to fascinate healthcare professionals and patients around the world through various breakthrough solutions in the global healthcare (e.g., HoloLens, MR Instant diagnosis, VR surgery, and Neuro Rehab VR). The arrival of the metaverse involves the convergence of major technological trends (i.e., AR, VR, MR and AI), all of which have the potential to impact global healthcare individually. Within metaverse, these innovative technologies can collectively improve patient’s outcomes, lower healthcare costs and create entirely new channels for delivering healthcare across the globe. To revolutionize the global healthcare industry, metaverse can create limitless new opportunities, including telepresence (i.e., allowing people to be together virtually, even while they are physically apart), digital twinning (i.e., creating models informed by real-world data that can be used to simulate any system or process), and blockchain technologies (by using it as an integral part of the metaverse to protect user's personal data and digital assets in virtual reality). Hence, metaverse aims to fully mobilize and accelerate the adaptation of AR, VR, MR and artificial intelligence in the global health care industry to greatly enhance patience’s experience in a parallel and digital universe.
Prior studies have generally relied on the technology adoption model (TAM) and self-determination theory (SDT) to explore various applications of the alternate realities (i.e., AR, VR, and MR) in global health care. However, metaverse aims to revolutionize the global healthcare through the combined use of digital technologies to create an immersive, experiential and interactive healthcare experience. There is rare and extremely limited evidence on the transformation of global healthcare through the adoption of metaverse. Hence, this critical knowledge gap requires an immediate attention of academics, policymakers, practitioners, and research scholars. Despite promising new opportunities within the parameters of healthcare within metaverse, there are some immediate challenges that must be overcome. Patient’s attitudes to receiving treatment online (or remotely), may still be seen as a second-best (or backup) option by many. Moreover, the equality of access (e.g., VR headsets are not cheap) raises issues of inequality in global healthcare. Another unique obstacle is ensuring that patients' confidential information is safe and secure. Importantly healthcare providers are also challenged in how to make the telehealth experience that includes consultations, remote exams and digital therapeutics even better than the in-person experience. Some additional challenges also include: (1) How will Meta and other tech companies and healthcare providers attract patients to the metaverse? (2) Will patients need to go to a physical location? (3) Will patients have VR glasses at home? and (4) How will the elderly patients (who are typically not as well-versed in technology) enter the metaverse?
Metaverse adoption is most likely the biggest challenge in the global healthcare. However, with these challenges will also come to a user’s experience that is essentially limitless, breaking down the barriers of location and providing endless opportunities for patients seeking healthcare around the world. The new generation of digital-first healthcare providers can successfully demonstrate that adoption of metaverse and its extended benefits for patients (e.g., improved patients’ outcomes with reduced costs). Therefore, global healthcare companies need to create new business models that are aligned with patient’s health insurance, reimbursements, and prescriptions, all in this new virtual universe of global healthcare.
The scope of this Research Topic remains open to any work related to the adoption and applications of metaverse in the global healthcare. The topic has a particular interest in generating links between the various implications of adopting metaverse technologies in global healthcare, including digital twinning, telepresence, digital technologies convergence, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, blockchain technology, virtual hospitals and cybersecurity. Research can include quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods empirical approaches, as well as policy analysis, theory or methodology papers, reviews, or case studies. We also strongly encourage original contributions to include comparative analysis in diverse contexts of global healthcare within metaverse, including virtual interactions between caregiver and care recipient, the socioeconomic environment, geographies, and/or cultural factors.