Positive Technology in the Metaverse: Experiential Technologies Meet Mental Wellbeing
Giuseppe Riva · Atlantis highlights in social sciences, education and humanities/Atlantis Highlights in Social Sciences, Education and Humanities · 2024
The Metaverse is a big step forward for the Internet that lets people live in a multisensory digital world anywhere and at any time, giving them a "deep feeling of presence."On the one hand, these features are attracting tech companies and multinational corporations that are interested in the economic and commercial potential of the metaverse.On the other hand, they are creating new opportunities for well-being: the Metaverse can be a "positive technology."This chapter will look at how Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), the two core metaverse technologies, can be used to improve mental well-being.First, it will talk about their clinical results in different clinical pathologies where VR and AR are better than other treatments and have long-lasting effects that work in the real world.More, it will discuss about their clinical results in different clinical pathologies where VR and AR are better than other treatments and have long-lasting effects that work in the real world.Lastly, it will use recent discoveries in neuroscience to explain why metaverse technologies can be very effective for assessing mental health and treating it: our brain and the metaverse use the same fundamental process, termed "embodied simulations," to function.As a result, the metaverse could serve as the foundation for a new field of study defined as "embodied medicine," the purpose of which is to use experiental technologies to repair malfunctioning brain simulations and improve people's mental health and wellness.