The World’s First Initiative! Cluster, Inc. Collaborates with Okayama University Hospital, Utilizing the Metaverse to Alleviate Loneliness for Rare Cancer 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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