Serious Games and Extended Reality in Healthcare and/or Education

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce a forthcoming Special Issue in Virtual Worlds, focusing on the transformative applications of serious games and extended reality (XR) within the realms of healthcare and education. In an era characterized by rapid technological advancements, these immersive technologies have shown remarkable potential to revolutionize the way we approach learning and health wellness.

Scope and Focus

In recent years, the landscape of healthcare and education has been revolutionized by the integration of innovative technologies. Serious games and XR have become pivotal tools that transcend traditional boundaries in healthcare and education. This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest research, advancements, and innovative implementations of these technologies in addressing various challenges in these sectors. Specifically, these technologies have the potential to engage users, simulate real-world scenarios, and facilitate immersive environments that foster skill development, decision-making, and critical thinking. We welcome original research articles, reviews, case studies, and evaluation studies that shed light on the latest advancements, challenges, and potential solutions within this exciting domain. This Special Issue provides a unique platform for researchers, educators, healthcare professionals, and technologists to exchange ideas, share their expertise, and shape the future of healthcare and education through the integration of cutting-edge technologies.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

1. Applications of serious games: Present studies demonstrating the efficacy or validation of serious games for healthcare applications or educational settings
2. Extended Reality: Examine the integration of XR in educational or healthcare settings, including (but not limited to) its role in creating immersive learning environments, promoting interactive teaching methodologies, patient rehabilitation, or medical visualization.
3. Innovative Healthcare and Educational Simulations: Investigate the design, implementation, and assessment of immersive learning experiences through serious games and XR in formal and informal educational/healthcare settings. Some examples include (but are not limited to) the sharing of novel approaches to develop simulations that bridge the gap between theory and practice, fostering experiential learning and clinical training.
4. Gamification of Education/Healthcare: Examine the integration of game elements and mechanics in educational/healthcare contexts to enhance engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention. Discuss user interfaces, interaction techniques, and usability aspects within serious games and immersive environments.

We look forward to receiving your contributions that will undoubtedly contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the intersection of serious games and extended reality in healthcare and education.

Dr. Chen Huei Leo
Dr. Kang Hao Cheong
Dr. Bina Rai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Virtual Worlds is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• serious games
• extended reality
• healthcare
• education