Healthcare, Wellness & Sport in the Metaverse

In this month of January 2023, the virtual reality world called metaverse is still making waves by presenting the internet of senses at CES that is one of the most influential tech event in the world. Thanks to this new emerging technology, the user who will be navigating in a metaverse will have five virtual senses (touch, taste, sight, smell and sound) that will allow him to improve his experience. Scrolling, zooming and a lot of haptic and tactile functions would be a new routine for many of us. We will be able to shake a hand or smell pleasant perfumes directly in a Metaverse. Our sense of touch and smell will be as realistic as in the real world. Metaverse is becoming an entry point from the real world to the virtual reality world opening up new perspectives for the healthcare and wellness sector. In a virtual reality space, which is dedicated to health & wellness, the notion of care and entertainment are not subject to the concept of time, location or nationality. In a 3D hospital or 3D clinic, patients will get medical advice, speak to their doctor and go through a medical procedure anytime, anywhere. Metaverse is also the perfect place to relax with a fabulous opportunity to find a balance between our physical and emotional body as in the example of V-healing World. In this relaxing space designed by Future is Meta the user can take a break from a busy day and enjoy guided meditation. So, as you see, Metaverse is not restricted to the universe of video games. The boarder between the virtual world and the real world is being blurred. Everyone can take part of it whatever their wealth, gender or age! That’s why I call for a sort of “Betterverse” able to remove technological and social barriers for vulnerable people. The biggest challenge for motivating vulnerable populations to enter the Metaverse is inclusion! Inclusion can be a short or long process where developers and vulnerable people learn from each other to create the best possible experience. It is necessary to include future user in the design work from the beginning, so that the product can meet the user desire and need. Developers, tech project managers and public bodies have to keep in mind that the technological gap is often due to social divisions. That’s why a diverse range of people including the elderly, disabled people and minorities should be included in the project’s design and development. Inclusion is also about learning and teaching. 

The Metaverse as we know it today is a real serious track for the health and well-being sector because this technology is changing the way we experience health and well-being; whether we are a patient, consumer, sportman, gamer, doctor, student or nurse. It’s a world of optimization where people and organizations are interconnected in 3D spaces. It’s a new world of experiences offering new inclusive ways of interacting in spaces shaped by human beings for human beings especially when it comes to healthcare & wellness environment. Metaverse is about how the information is presented and how user experiences it. We are gradually moving from a 2D internet (mail, website, chat, image…) to a 3D internet which is embodied by the Metaverse. In other words, the Metaverse is the 3D elevation of the current internet. It covers unprecedented virtual simulations in the world around us and may become a large part of the leisure and consumer socialization. 

We can go even further, and imagine to be immortal in a Metaverse as described in the book entitled Real Health, Virtual World. In this book, a young woman called Melinda is discovering Meta Long Life that is a virtual world allowing her to meet other people, and access different marketplaces (art, apartment, luxurious penthouse…). What’s more, Melinda has an average discount of 10% towards a partner insurer or 50% off if she went with Meta Long Life insurance. As Meta Long Life is on blockchain and generates its own token called MLL Token, participants would receive a reward in order to purchase real or virtual sport sessions with a coach. Alongside this, they could also access learning content about regenerative medicine and in a second phase participants would get priority access to participate in a clinical trial for rejuvenation therapy. No information is readily available concerning this VIP Access but there are many possibilities to develop specific drugs for age-related diseases, such as, impacting bones (osteoporosis), muscle issues (sarcopenia), and deteriorating vision (wet AMD). In the world of Meta Long Life immortality would be possible in both the virtual world and the real world! From calculation age with DNA to rejuvenation therapy, immortality would no longer be a dream thanks to the powers of blockchain and the Metaverse. Our genetic data would be stored on blockchain for eternity and for this reason one part of our identity would always be immortalized. Years after her death, Melinda’s personal information would be saved and available, albeit in a virtual reality space. More than a utopia, the survival of Melinda’s information on a blockchain-based Metaverse could also have an impact on what she bequeaths in her inheritance for instance. After her death, Melinda’s avatar could reunite with her family and communicate all the necessary details related to her succession. What would be even more amazing is that close relatives and friends would have the possibility to communicate with Melinda’s digital twin, her avatar, who would not only act like her, but who would also look like her. An AI-driven 3D avatar that mimicked the character of Melinda could offer support and comfort to those living. Even after Melinda’s death, artificial intelligence (AI) would ensure that a continuing avatar could have freewill! Let’s consider an avatar’s freewill and consciousness. Could an AI exist after a real person’s death? This idea is maybe one of the biggest challenges of the metaverse! 

In conclusion, Metaverse is a very promising technology for the future of wellness & healthcare although there are still some unresolved issues and challenges. One of these challenges is user-experience which will be important for accelerating the Metaverse’s mass-adoption in healthcare. So the question of price is crucial for mass-adoption especially regarding the hardware part. To date, one of the most advanced haptic gloves currently costs about $4,500 which is not accessible for a lot of people across the world. So, when can this technology become mainstream? This haptic technology that offers a high level of sensitivity whilst in the virtual experience could be a benefit for patients in rehab but also for everyone willing to experience an extreme sport or a relaxing experience on a virtual paradise island. I should like to conclude by alerting on many beliefs about the fact the Metaverse is such a bad society where physical doctors will be replaced by AI-based avatars or where big platforms will know everything about us. This dystopia may be true for projects proposing mass-surveillance systems powered by chatbot. But I’m quite optimistic when we know that physical presence is still required for certain types of patient and medical interventions. The Metaverse may not be a revolution, however, it takes us into the unknown. The technology is already here and I hope citizens, entrepreneurs, public institutions, health policy makers, the pharmaceutical industry, the sport and fitness industry will take advantage of this opportunity! 

By Lucas Perez