The 'metaverse' has captivated the popular imagination as a universe of infinite possibilities that can affect all parts of existence.

Until the rebranding of Facebook as 'Meta' in 2021, discussions regarding the utility of entirely immersible virtual environments were limited to a small number of tech and Sci-Fi circles. Since then, the concept of the metaverse has attracted a lot of attention, and academics are now beginning to investigate how virtual settings might be used to better scientific and health studies.

Managing diseases with metaverse

What are the key opportunities and uncertainties in the metaverse that can help us better manage non-communicable diseases?

This is the subject of a paper recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, authored by Associate Professor Javad Koohsari from the School of Knowledge Science at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), who is also an adjunct researcher at the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Waseda University along with Professor Yukari Nagai from JAIST.