Metaverse Technologies, Security, and Applications for Healthcare (eBook)

Ajay Kumar Vyas, Harleen Kaur, Sourabh Sharma, Bhavya Alankar (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
663 Seiten
Wiley-Scrivener (Verlag)
978-1-394-30526-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Unlock the transformative potential of the Metaverse with this crucial book that delves into vital information, security concerns, and innovative applications that can significantly enhance personalized patient care in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

This book explores insights into information security concerns, preventive measures, and their impact on healthcare applications in the Metaverse. The Metaverse is an amplified virtual world derived from the conjunction of virtual and physical space, where users can interact in an augmented world to meet each other virtually and engage in virtual activities that give authentic practice. The healthcare industry will tremendously benefit from this technology by using it to enhance personalized care for clients. Public health experts believe that while much has been said about the potential of the Metaverse in the entertainment and gaming industry, healthcare is another industry where its impact could be transformational. This volume provides a better understanding of healthcare applications in the Metaverse and why digital information security is of major concern. Recently, the world saw the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which physically stopped mobility. Life is taken care of using digital interactions and the movement of information digitally through the Metaverse. This book explores implementation issues and performance evaluations of emerging technologies, along with research results and networking methods to demonstrate the immense benefits of this emerging technology.

Readers will find this book:

• Provides comprehensive coverage of the Metaverse, including theoretical modeling of Metaverse architecture and protocols, prospective challenges, and information security;
• Explores wide applications of the Metaverse and their relevance in healthcare;
• Introduces solutions to real-life problems and the future prospects of the Metaverse.

Audience

Researchers, students, educators, and healthcare professionals focused on information communication technologies and their benefits in healthcare.

Ajay Kumar Vyas, PhD is an associate professor and the head of the Information and Communication Technology Department at Adani University, India with over 18 years of teaching and research experience. He is the author of over 50 research papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conferences, books, and many book chapters. His research interests include optical devices, AI applications for optics, and 5G and 6G communication.

Harleen Kaur, PhD is an associate professor and chief investigator in the School of Engineering Sciences and Technology at Jamia Hamdard and a visiting professor at The World Academy of Sciences in Italy. She has published over 100 publications in refereed journals and conferences. Her key research includes information analytics, applied machine learning, and predictive modeling.

Sourabh Sharma, PhD is an associate professor in the School of Engineering at Avantika University with over 12 years of academic experience. He is a life member of the Soft Computing Research Society and provides his support and guidance as a reviewer in various international journals and conferences. His research expertise includes image processing applications, soft computing using optimization algorithms, and information security and mining.

Bhavya Alankar, PhD is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Jamia Hamdard with over 20 years of teaching and research experience. He has authored and edited several books on very-large-scale integration, machine learning, and Internet of Things. His research interests include VLSI design, cloud computing, deep learning, and reconfigurable computing.

Textauszug

1
Introduction to Metaverse for Healthcare

Amit Sharma

Department of Physics, University Institute of Science, Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, India

Abstract

The metaverse is a shared virtual environment that has the potential to transform several industries, including healthcare. This paper explores the metaverse and examines its possible uses in the healthcare sector. We discuss the technological foundation needed to enable healthcare based on the metaverse, including developments in augmented reality and virtual reality. The threats and challenges, which include data privacy, security, and the issue of the divided field, are discussed together with opportunities and possibilities such as enhanced telemedicine, remote surgery, and even patient rehabilitation. In the last section, we outline the future ideas and concerns of bringing the metaverse into healthcare and how it could potentially transform the healthcare industry in terms of patient care and medical training and education in the future.

Keywords: Metaverse, augmented reality, virtual reality, VR controller, telemedicine, rehabilitations

1.1 Introduction of Metaverse

The metaverse is a virtually shared space where users can interact with each other in virtual reality to play, work, and learn. It is a world out of more than just science fiction [1]. Neal Stephenson initially coined the term “metaverse” in his science-fiction novel “Snow Crash” in 1992. It imagines an enormous digital world that lives together with a physical one, where people talk to each other through their digital avatars [2]. In modern parlance, the metaverse currently refers to an AR/MR/VR-enabled (augmented/mixed/virtual reality) three-dimensional shared virtual realm (see Figure 1.1). Combining the physical and digital worlds to impact our lives and their real-time interaction between devices promotes users to engage actively rather than passively [3]. The metaverse enables a dynamic three-dimensional experience beyond typical screens, allowing users to navigate the world without screen-space constraints and benefit from new experiences unattainable in physical or standard digital environments. There is a developing acknowledgment among organizations about the capability of metaverse technologies and they are likewise hoping to make huge speculations about it [4].

The idea of a metaverse is currently attracting a lot of attention. Essentially, the metaverse is frequently described as an advanced iteration of the Internet. Using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and extended reality (XR), individuals will navigate the metaverse’s virtual environments much like how we currently browse websites with a mouse [5]. Large corporations have made significant investments in creating the metaverse, which is the next advancement in internet connectivity [6]. According to the findings, the metaverse is likely to transform the medical fields, educational facilities, cultural events, e-commerce, and technological advancement [7]. Meta, which has previously been referred to as Facebook, has begun to transform from being a social media platform into a leader in the metaverse. The new branding is equally consistent with the company’s integration of hybrid glasses that employ wearable sensors to provide a more realistic and engrossing virtual environment [8]. This advancement is upgrading the cognitive experiences and transporting users into the feeling of being there [9].

Figure 1.1 A metaverse creates immersive digital environments for interaction and exploration [10].

1.2 Metaverse in Healthcare

The metaverse, an emergent type of digital environment, can be regarded as a promising direction for changing the healthcare sector. Building wellsized shared common spaces could solve current difficulties and ensure smooth integration, enabling user presence and behavior continuity across numerous virtual worlds [11]. This would mean that a patient’s medical record could be easily transferred between hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers. Nevertheless, the future application of the metaverse in healthcare has its drawbacks and should be thoroughly planned. The integration of the metaverse with the real world depends on several technologies, such as augmented and virtual realities, artificial intelligence, high-speed networks, edge computation, and blockchain [12–16], on which the metaverse significantly depends. With time, the metaverse is slowly transforming the face of the health industry whereby one can seek medical assistance and even new surgical operations can be conducted virtually with better precision. Each of these innovations presents healthcare providers with a chance to repudiate the mode of delivering patient care education and practice as well as the overall healthcare sector. Some of the things that need to be solved before taking the metaverse into healthcare are identity theft and compatibility of equipment. However, using metaverse in healthcare has its pros and cons. Consequently, its development should be approached strategically and with caution to improve on these added values.

The metaverse provides opportunities for development and threats for healthcare professionals and insurance companies. They can, therefore, adapt to current trends and continuously look for possible future uses of this technology so that they will always be ahead of other companies. In this area, effective expenditures in infrastructure, the right approach to development, and a patient-centered approach will help to create a metaverse that can have a positive impact and result in better results for the healthcare system. Also, it is worth noting that the health metaverse plays another role in the opportunity to train surgical robots in the metaverse. For instance, the current concept of gamification applied in health management applications and fitness can be advanced using AR in aspects such as virtual trainers and innovative exercise modalities [17]. In addition, future acceptance and implementation of the metaverse, insurance policies, payment structures, and data governance frameworks will be critical to healthcare. The metaverse clinics in the virtual space, teleconsultation features, and the improvement of the relationship between doctors and patients mean that doctors will have a chance to interact with their patients in the future in a new and more engaging manner [18]. It is assumed that with the further development of science, the role of the metaverse in healthcare will increase, thus waiting for the creation of a system that is better, more functional, and accessible to everyone.

1.3 Potential Uses of Metaverse in Healthcare

It is getting quick attention for its potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry as part of the metaverse. This digital world that embraces such technologies as virtual and augmented reality is full of opportunities to enhance the level of patient care, teaching, and mentoring in the sphere of medicine and further research (see Figure 1.2).

1.3.1 Telemedicine and Virtual Consultations

Telemedicine is known as remote healthcare, where a patient and doctor are situated in separate locations but, with the help of technology, can interact. It has been shown that adaptive technologies give more opportunities for healthcare providers to provide remote care in an engaging form [19]. Within the virtual horizons of the metaverse, doctors and patients can interact more fluently than through normal computer-mediated communication [20]. Here, the patients can sit in a virtual waiting room, explain their complaints in a virtual consultation room, and even go through some exercises in a virtual physical therapy center (see Figure 1.3). Such better interactions will strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, improve treatment compliance, and enhance the level of care provided. The metaverse, world, or virtual game is well-made and available to people living in injectable areas or areas that are too far to access healthcare facilities. By removing the traveling component for much-needed medical attention, it is important to improve the availability of advanced types of medicine reducing health lifting options. The metaverse may also have a particularly beneficial impact on patients with mobility limitations by providing therapeutic care at home. In addition, the metaverse may contribute to absorbing excess demand from healthcare providers and facilities [21]. It will be possible to reduce the number of face-to-face sessions by outsourcing some consultations, which will allow using this time for other patients and services. This is particularly valuable during periods of high demand or limited capacity.

Figure 1.2 Applications of the metaverse in healthcare.

Figure 1.3 (Left) A patient consulting with a doctor in a virtual clinic. (Right) Telemedicine case study applications [20].

1.3.2 Medical Education and Training

The metaverse provides an exceptional opportunity for medical practitioners and learners to have practical training in a controlled environment [22]. Virtual reality allows medical students to risk patients with challenging scenarios and still master the execution of difficult situations safely and quickly [23]. As an example, future surgeons may learn how to perform techniques in a...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.5.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik ► Theorie / Studium
• ISBN-10: 1-394-30526-5 / 1394305265
• ISBN-13: 978-1-394-30526-1 / 9781394305261