ROADMAPPING EXTENDED REALITY This book offers a comprehensive overview of the technological aspects of Extended Realities (XR) and discusses the main challenges and future directions in the field. This book is important and timely – XR technologies have overcome the 3 main aspects that were holding it back from mainstream adoption: cost, cables, and size. However, there are many aspects of XR technologies that are now going to be explored and developed that still need urgent research in terms of security, privacy, health and safety, long-term effects, addiction risks, and age-related developmental concerns, and the aim of the book is to inform all readers of these open issues and challenges. There are currently a great number of interdisciplinary researchers and developers working in the XR R&D field. Recently, XR technologies moved from the Gartner Hype Cycle onto the Plateau of Productivity on the Gartner Hype Cycle signaling that the fundamental XR technologies are now deemed mature technologies and ready for deployment in a wide variety of application areas. Corroborated by the fact that XR technologies are part of the future Metaverse, a concept that went rapidly mainstream during the time of writing of this book. Roadmapping Extended Reality is divided into two parts: (1) fundamentals and (2) applications. The first part covers the main technological aspects of XR. The chapters in this section review and discuss relevant fundamental concepts of XR, the actual state-of-the-art, and future challenges. The second part of the book focuses on covering a wide range of applications of XR including a future roadmap. All in all, the book offers a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in XR and addresses the needs of a multidisciplinary audience working in both academia and the industry, as well as stakeholders at government agencies and non-profit organizations. Audience This book is aimed at academic and industrial developers, exploring and developing applications in the XR, VR, AR, AI, smart IoT, 4th Industrial Revolution space, including those that are solving technology requirements, human factors, evaluation methodology advances, and ROI investigations.

This two-volume set LNCS 14218 and LNCS 14219 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Extended Reality, XR Salento 2023, held in Lecce, Italy, during September 6-9, 2023. The 59 full papers presented together with 11 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 97 submissions. They cover a wide range of many different research topics such as: eXtended reality; digital twin; artificial intelligence; user experience in eXtended reality; virtual reality for neurofeedback, biofeedback and emotion recognition; eXtended reality in education; eXtended reality and metaverse in cultural heritage; eXtended reality in health and medicine; and eXtended reality in industrial field.

In the fast-developing world of Industry 4.0, which combines Extended Reality (XR) technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), creating location aware applications to interact with smart objects and smart processes via Cloud Computing strategies enabled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), factories and processes can be automated and machines can be enabled with self-monitoring capabilities. Smart objects are given the ability to analyze and communicate with each other and their human co-workers, delivering the opportunity for much smoother processes, and freeing up workers for other tasks. Industry 4.0 enabled smart objects can be monitored, designed, tested and controlled via their digital twins, and these processes and controls are visualized in VR/AR. The Industry 4.0 technologies provide powerful, largely unexplored application areas that will revolutionize the way we work, collaborate and live our lives. It is important to understand the opportunities and impact of the new technologies and the effects from a production, safety and societal point of view.

Emerging Technologies for Health Literacy and Medical Practice unveils a transformative revolution brought about by emerging technologies, setting the stage for a paradigmatic shift from reactive medical interventions to proactive preventive measures. This transition has not only redefined the doctor-patient relationship but has also placed patients at the helm of their health management, actively engaged in informed decision-making. The book, a collective effort by experts across diverse disciplines, stands as an authoritative compendium delving into the profound implications of cutting-edge technologies in healthcare. From the tantalizing realm of artificial intelligence powering diagnostics and treatments to the tangible impact of wearable health devices and telemedicine on accessibility, each chapter delves into the nuanced interplay between technology and medical practice. This book spotlights the capabilities of these technologies, as well as dissecting the ethical, social, and regulatory tapestry they unravel. This book, thoughtfully tailored for a spectrum of stakeholders, epitomizes a synergy between knowledge dissemination and empowerment. From healthcare practitioners seeking to optimize medical practices to policymakers navigating the labyrinth of ethical considerations, from educators enriching health literacy to patients empowered to navigate their health journey, the book unearths its relevance across the healthcare spectrum.

The metaverse is opening new avenues of opportunities for product manufacturers as well as service providers; due to this, further study on the scope and challenges that the application of neuromarketing in virtual worlds faces across different disciplines and business segments is required. The immense growth potential currently untapped in the metaverse domain can be taken to a different level altogether with the help of neuromarketing applications. Applications of Neuromarketing in the Metaverse discusses brand positioning among the target market in the virtual world through the application of neuromarketing principles and techniques. The book also explores consumer behavior and decodes their physiological and psychological responses in the metaverse domain with the help of tools and technologies used in neuromarketing. Covering key topics such as media, virtual reality, and branding, this premier reference source is ideal for industry professionals, marketers, business owners, managers, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

People have cultural boundaries. Their thinking and decisions are affected by their cultural values and norms. Marketers implant cultural values and standards in advertisements where consumers can relate to the characters in the advertisements. To design a cultural marketing advertisement, it is critical to pay attention to what is going on in the culture and anticipate what issues will hold in the future. Cultural Marketing and Metaverse for Consumer Engagement highlights the importance of cultural marketing, discusses how consumer beliefs are built and affected by cultural marketing, and considers how culture acts as a base for the marketing ecosystem. Covering key topics such as the digital era, religion marketing, and consumer behavior, this premier reference source is ideal for marketers, business owners, managers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a reality for pioneering organizations while they are facing complex and multifaceted aspects of business sustainability with ambiguous and changing ethical norms and vague or nonexistent legislation. The first quarter of the 21st century was identified as the beginning of the continuous, ongoing, and accelerating wave of simultaneous general purpose technologies revolutions causing accelerated shrinkage of the half-life of knowledge. Cases on Enhancing Business Sustainability Through Knowledge Management Systems presents teaching case studies exploring the formulation and implementation of knowledge management systems (KMS) in organizations. Covering topics such as automation, machine learning, and socio-ecological innovation, this case book is an essential resource for business leaders and managers, IT managers, entrepreneurs, government officials, computer scientists, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.