1Global Policy and Research Section, Digital Education Policy Division, Korea Education and Research Information Service, Daegu, Korea
2Department of Early Childhood Education, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Honam University, Gwangju, Korea
Editor: Sun Huh, Hallym University, Korea
• Received: November 29, 2021 • Accepted: November 30, 2021© 2021 Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Authors’ contributions
All work was done by all authors.
Conflict of interest
Bokyung Kye, Na-Ra Han, Eun-Ji Kim, and So Young Jo have been employees of the Korea Education and Research Information Service. However, this review article is not an official opinion of the Korea Education and Research Information Service, but rather reflects the authors’ opinions. Otherwise, no potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
Funding
None.
Data availability
None.
Editors’ note
The metaverse is a new and unique environment in health education. Although the application of the metaverse in health education is still uncommon, there have already been some cases of its application. The evaluation of metaverse applications is another emerging topic, the relevance of which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This review article can serve as an introductory guide for health educators to the metaverse’s possibilities for educational applications.
From Lee S. Log in Metaverse: revolution of human×space×time (IS-115) [Internet]. Seongnam: Software Policy & Research Institute; 2021 [cited 2021 Nov 29]. Available from: https://spri.kr/posts/view/23165?code=issue_reports [3]; Smart J, Cascio J, Paffendorf J. Metaverse roadmap: pathway to the 3D web [Internet]. Ann Arbor (MI): Acceleration Studies Foundation; 2007 [cited 2021 Nov 29]. Available from: https://metaverseroadmap.org/MetaverseRoadmapOverview.pdf [4].
The technical features are summarized by referring to the content and examples of Kim [1].
3D, 3-dimensional; HUD, head-up display; SNS, social networking service; GPS, Global Positioning System; AI, artificial intelligence.
Augmented reality | Lifelogging | Mirror world | Virtual reality | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Definition | Building a smart environment by utilizing location-based technologies and networks. | Technology to capture, store, and share everyday experiences and information about objects and people. | It reflects the real world as it is, but integrates and provides external environment information. | A virtual world built with digital data |
Features | Building a smart environment using location-based technology and networks | Recording information about objects and people using augmented technology | Virtual maps and modeling using GPS technology | Based on interaction activities between avatars that reflect the user’s ego |
Applications | Smartphones, vehicle HUDs | Wearable devices, black boxes | Map-based services | Online multiplayer games |
Use cases | Pokemon Go, Digital Textbook, Realistic Content | Facebook, Instagram, Apple Watch, Samsung Health, Nike Plus | Google Earth, Google Maps, Naver Maps, Airbnb | Second Life, Minecraft, Roblox, Zepeto |
Type | Technological characteristics | Educational implications |
---|---|---|
Augmented reality | - Overlay virtual objects in the real world to make the object 3D and real (e.g., paper birthday cards are augmented to appear as 3D video cards). | - Learn invisible parts visually and 3-dimensionally through virtual digital information, and effectively solve problems |
- Adding fantasy to the thread (e.g., Pokémon Go on the street, Zepeto, which recognizes faces and creates 3D avatar) | - In-depth understanding of content that is difficult to observe or explain in text, and learners can construct knowledge through experience | |
- Effectively emphasizing information and promoting convenience (e.g., HUD presented on the car glass) | - Interactive experiences such as reading, writing, and speaking are possible while immersed in the learning context. | |
Lifelogging | - One’s daily life and thoughts are productively contented and shared through social media and SNS (e.g., blogs, YouTube, Wikis, etc.). | - Review and reflect on one’s daily life, improve the ability to represent and implement information in an appropriate direction, and feedback from others on social networks leads to reinforcement and rewards. |
- Network technology forms relationships with others online, communicates quickly, and records various social activities (Facebook, Band, Twitter, etc.). | - Critically explore various information on the lifelogging platform, and creatively reconstruct information through collective intelligence. | |
- Personal activity information is accumulated and analyzed through various sensors of the internet of things and wearable devices to create added value (e.g., health tracking including Nike Plus). | - Reflect on learning and improve it based on analytics data related to learning (e.g., dashboard). | |
- Teachers promote learning in a customized direction based on students’ learning log data, provide appropriate support, and prevent dropouts. | ||
Mirror world | - Expanding the real world by combining GPS and networking technology (e.g., Google Earth, various map applications, etc.) | - Overcoming the spatial and physical limitations of teaching and learning, learning takes place in the metaverse of the mirror world. |
- Implementation of the real world into the virtual world as if reflected in a mirror for a specific purpose (e.g., Airbnb, Minerva School, food ordering app, taxi call, bus route guidance, parking lot finder app, etc.) | - Conduct online real-time classes through online video conferencing tools and collaboration tools (Zoom, WebEx, Google Meet, Teams), which are representative mirror worlds. | |
- However, it does not contain everything in reality. In other words, it effectively expands the real world to increase fun and play, flexibility in management and operation, and collective intelligence (e.g., Minecraft, Upland, Digital Lab, etc.). | - Through the mirror world, learners can realize “learning by making” (e.g., in Minecraft, students build and restore historical structures—Bulguksa, Gyeongbokgung, Cheomseongdae, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, etc. Users can experience their digital heritage and deepen their understanding of history and culture. | |
Virtual reality | - Through sophisticated computer graphics work, especially in a virtual environment implemented with 3D technology, users enjoy various games through a seamlessly connected interface (e.g., various 3D games including Roblox). | - Practice can be performed through virtual simulation in environments that are difficult to produce due to high costs and high risk (e.g., fire scenes, flight control, dangerous surgery, etc.). |
- In a space, era, culture, and characters designed differently from reality, they act as avatars rather than their original self, and have multiple personas. | - Users can have immersive experiences of times and spaces that cannot be experienced in reality, such as the past or future era. | |
- Chat and communication tools are included in virtual reality to communicate and collaborate with AI characters and others (e.g., multiplayer online games). | - Through 3D virtual world-based games (according to the characteristics and types of designed games), users improve strategic and comprehensive thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and learn skills necessary for the real world. |
Metaverse characteristics | Merits | Shortcomings |
---|---|---|
New social communication space | Even in the case of school closures due to coronavirus disease 2019, students can socially connect beyond the limitations of reality. | When forming a relationship with others, one forms a relationship centered on play that is weaker than the interaction in the real world, and privacy problems occur due to the collection and processing of various personal information. |
High degree of freedom | Expanding student autonomy in the learning process by providing experiences from content consumers to creators | Due to the high degree of freedom, platform administrators cannot predict all the actions of users, and they can be exposed to various crimes due to the virtual space and anonymity of the metaverse. |
Through virtualization high immersion | By providing a new experience that transcends time and space, it is possible to increase student interest and immersion to expand students’ active participation in learning. | It can cause identity confusion, escape from reality, and maladaptation to the real world for students whose identity has not been established. |
From Lee S. Log in Metaverse: revolution of human×space×time (IS-115) [Internet]. Seongnam: Software Policy & Research Institute; 2021 [cited 2021 Nov 29]. Available from:
The technical features are summarized by referring to the content and examples of Kim [ 3D, 3-dimensional; HUD, head-up display; SNS, social networking service; GPS, Global Positioning System; AI, artificial intelligence.