The World’s First Initiative! Cluster, Inc. Collaborates with Okayama University Hospital, Utilizing the Metaverse to Alleviate Loneliness for Rare Cancer Patients
31 Julio 2024 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
“I saw a room full of stars!!!” says one of
the patients.
Cluster, Inc, the largest metaverse platform in Japan with over
35 million event participants, collaborated with Associate
Professor Hasei of the Department of Medical Information and
Assistive Technology Development, Okayama University Graduate
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
(Department of Orthopedics) to realize a virtual space to help
alleviate the sense of loneliness among patients.
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Exchange between patients with the same
disease (Graphic: Business Wire)
This initiative is a collaboration between Cluster, Inc. and
Associate Professor Hasei, marking the world’s first use of the
metaverse in alleviating the loneliness for rare cancer patients,
particularly pediatric and adolescent young adults (AYA). This
project aims to create a virtual space to allow cancer patients
with conditions like osteosarcoma to interact and share experiences
with other patients who have the same condition and age group.
Yearly, there are 20,000 rare cancer patients in pediatrics and
AYA. Associate Professor Hasei thought interactions and
communication between patients with the same disease would help
improve their quality of life. The metaverse platform enables them
to connect from different locations, enjoy games, share their
experiences, and find emotional support despite their physical
conditions. This approach showed promising results for children and
AYA patients, who find it difficult to meet peers with the same
experiences, especially those with extremely rare conditions like
Ewing sarcoma, thereby enabling improvement in their mood and
boosting social interaction for isolated individuals.
Cultural celebrations such as the virtual Tanabata Festival
allowed hospitalized children to experience and enjoy the virtual
worlds beyond their hospital rooms. These experiences brought
smiles to patients, even for those who rarely do. This shows the
potential of the metaverse to deliver meaningful experiences beyond
physical boundaries.
Associate Professor Hasei realized that for this project to be
as effective as possible, technological challenges and critical
functions needed to be carefully considered. Cluster's expertise in
this field made it possible for this project to succeed. Moving
forward, our team hopes to further explore and create metaverse
applications in medicine, using its ability to address social
issues and enhance human creativity beyond physical
limitations.
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Cluster,Inc. MISATO NISHIO m.nishio@cluster.mu