Recent Advances in Technologies for Inclusive Well-Being

Book excerpt: In a time of ongoing pandemic when well-being is a priority this volume presents latest works across disciplines associated to Virtual Patients, Gamification and Simulation. Chapters herein present international perspectives with authors from around the globe contributing to this impactful third edition to the series following a 2014 Springer book on Technologies for Inclusive Well-Being and a 2017 Springer book Recent Advances in Technologies for Inclusive Well-Being. Digital technologies are pervasive in life and the contributions herein focus on specific attributes and situations, especially in training and treatment programmes spanning across ranges of diagnosis, conditions, ages, and targeted impacts. This volume purposefully does not cover all (even if that was possible) aspects on how virtual interactive space can align to statial computing, which in turn can align with related embodied entities (whatever the terms used e.g. Virtual, Augmented, Extended, Mixed Realities) along with AI, Deep Learning etc. It also doesn’t cover what some may refer to as ‘trendy terms’ such as 360 degree, video, WebXR, cryptocurrency, blockchain, virtual goods, AR museums, travel and teleportation...however, what is covered in this book, and the prior volumes it builds upon (as above), is a sharing and questioning of advancing technologies for inclusive well-being through research and practices from an avant-garde perspective.