What the Literature on Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Midwifery, and Dentistry Reveals: An Overview of the Rapidly Approaching Metaverse

Abstract

What is being done in the metaverse literature in a variety of health-related fields, including Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Midwifery, and Dentistry, and what topics are explored in this literature? In this study, a content analysis of the studies linked with the term metaverse in all health-related literature is presented. The studies were carried out on the documents accessed in Web of Science and Scopus searches made with the words "Metaverse" and "metaverse" on 06/05/2022. For 312 papers, data was retrieved from the Scopus bibliometric database, and for 240 publications, data was retrieved from the Web of Science data source. In the field of health, there haven't been many direct studies on metaverse technology. This is because metaverse technology is made up of many different technologies that work together and are always getting better. Some of these technologies are augmented reality, social networks, virtual reality, blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and avatar. The study also tells field researchers about metaverse studies that are important in the health sector and about changes in the literature as a whole. According to the research areas, the documents found had to do with the field of health, and only the researches in the field of health were evaluated. It is interesting to think about how metaverse technology will change scientific research, health services, and health-related processes. The study looks at the current state of the literature on metaverse technology, as well as the future of the field and what it can do. Virtual reality or augmented reality applications have defined themselves as augmented reality under the metaverse. These applications are most useful in critical situations in the health sector and in processes that are hard and must be done by trial and error. In addition to the tremendous advances in technologies (blockchain, computer vision, haptic devices, sensors, computer networks) with which metaverse technology is associated in recent years, the mechanical resolution of the sense of touch in the Nobel Peace Prize in physiology and medicine received in 2021 can be seen as one of the field's critical milestones. The growth of the field and past experiences show that many real-world applications can be moved to the metaverse universe in the future. One of the fields that will be affected the most by this interaction is health care.