MetaHealth - How will the Metaverse Change Health Care?

Year 2021, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 13 - 16, 31.12.2021

Jane Thomason

Abstract

We are living in a digital age, and the Pandemic has accelerated innovation in health care and has surfaced new business models and opportunities for health. Beyond the applications in telehealth, supply chain, payments, secure data sharing, and remote monitoring are also essential innovations in Blockchain and Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that allow people to exchange value on a decentralized network. Futurists and technologists are also exploring how the Metaverse can play a role in different sectors. This Commentary aims to explore how the Metaverse may be used in the future to change, enhance, and possibly transform health care. The five covered areas are collaborative working, education; clinical care, wellness, and monetization.

Keywords

GameFi, tokenization, Blockchain, health care, virtual reality, augmented reality

References

• J. Thomason, “Big tech, big data and the new world of digital health,” Glob. Health J., in press.
• World Economic Forum, “Building the healthcare system of the future,” 2016, Access date 21/12/2021, http://reports.weforum.org/digital-transformation/building-the-healthcare-system-of-the-future/.
• J. Gaubert, “Seoul to become the first city to enter the Metaverse. What will it look like?,” Euronews.next, 11 November 2021. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/11/10/seoul-to-become-the-first-city-to-enter-the-Metaverse-what-will-it-look-like.
• J. Burke, “Reintroducing the open Metaverse OS paper,” Outlier Ventures, 2021. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://outlierventures.io/research/the-open-Metaverse-os/.
• Feldman, J. (2020, October 18). “Flickplay’s 3d social media platform presents as an industry first. Influencive”. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.influencive.com/flickplays-3d-social-media-platform-presents-as-an-industry-first/
• Monika Manolova (2021) Ethical Risks in the Cross Section of Extended Reality (XR), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chapter 14 (199-216)
• S. H. Rizk, “Ethical and regulatory challenges of emerging health technologies,” in Applied Ethics in a Digital World, I. Vasiliu-Feltes and J. Thomason, Eds. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2021, pp. 84–100.
• Studyum Whitepaper, Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.studyum.org/
• Suresh Neethirajan (20210 Front. Vet. Sci., 23 November 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.740253 Access date: 19/12/2021, “Is Seeing Still Believing? Leveraging Deepfake Technology for Livestock Farming”. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.740253/full
• Çöltekin, A., Griffin, A. L., Slingsby, A., Robinson, A. C., Christophe, S., Rautenbach, V., Chen, M., Pettit, C., & Klippel, A. (2020). Geospatial information visualization and extended reality displays. In H. Guo, M. F. Goodchild, & A. Annoni (Eds.), Manual of digital earth (pp. 229–277). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9915-3_7
• Bardi, J. (2018, November 11). 3 secrets to creating immersive virtual environments with Unity and Vuforia. Marxent Labs. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.marxentlabs.com/virtual-environments-unity/
• Studyum, “Everything you need to know about gamification and Studyum – Part IV: Gamifying your learning through Studyum,” 2 November 2021. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://academy.studyum.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-gamification-and-studyum-part-iv-gamifying-your-learning-through-studyum/.
• Sin-nosuke Suzuki et al “Virtual Experiments in Metaverse and their Applications to Collaborative Projects: The framework and its significance “ Procedia Computer Science Volume 176, 2020, Pages 2125-2132
• Demeke, H. B., et. al. (2021). “Trends in use of telehealth among health centers during the COVID-19 pandemic”— United States, June 26–November 6, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 70(7), 240–244. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7007a3 PMID:33600385
• Le Breton, S., Lamberti, M. J., Dion, A., & Getz, K. A. (2020), “COVID-19 and Its impact on the future of clinical trial execution”. Applied Clinical Trials. https://www.appliedclinicaltrialsonline. com/view/covid-19-and-its-impact-on-the-future-of-clinical-trial-execution.
• Sagenta Innovation, “What does the Metaverse hold for health care?” https://www.sagentiainnovation.com/insights/what-does-the-metaverse-hold-for-healthcare/https://www.sagentiainnovation.com/insights/what-does-the-metaverse-hold-for-healthcare/
• Zimmer Biomet, “OptiVu™ mixed reality,” 2021. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.zimmerbiomet.com/en/products-and-solutions/zb-edge/optivu.html.
• Slater, M., et. al. (2020). “The ethics of realism in virtual and augmented reality. Frontiers in Virtual Reality”, 1, 1. Advance online publication. doi:10.3389/frvir.2020.00001
• R. Hoogendoorn, “Genopets combines physical activity with play-to-earn gaming,” Play to Earn, 6 September 2021, Access date: 19/12/2021, https://www.playtoearn.online/2021/09/06/genopets-combines-physical-activity-with-play-to-earn-gaming/.
• J. Thomason, “Ethics in the Metaverse: Maximizing benefit and minimizing harm,” Corp. Invest. Times, no. 12, 2021, pp. 67-70. Access date: 19/12/2021, https://corporateinvestmenttimes.com/CIT18/Corporate-Investment-Times-December-2021.pdf.
• S. H. Rizk, “Ethical and regulatory challenges of emerging health technologies,” in Applied Ethics in a Digital World, I. Vasiliu-Feltes and J. Thomason, Eds. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2021, pp. 84–100.