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The promise and pitfalls of the metaverse for science

Nature Human Behaviour volume 7, pages 1237–1240 (2023)Cite this article

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The metaverse can improve the accessibility of scientific laboratories and meetings, aid in reproducibility efforts and provide new opportunities for experimental design. But researchers and research institutions must plan ahead and be ready to mitigate potential harms.

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Fig. 1: The promise and pitfalls of the metaverse for science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Science of Science and Innovation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Diego Gómez-Zará & Dashun Wang

  2. Northwestern Institute of Complex Systems, Evanston, IL, USA

    Diego Gómez-Zará & Dashun Wang

  3. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Diego Gómez-Zará & Dashun Wang

  4. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Diego Gómez-Zará

  5. Facultad de Comunicaciones, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Diego Gómez-Zará

  6. Department of Applied Physics and Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Peter Schiffer

  7. McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Dashun Wang

Authors
  1. Diego Gómez-Zará
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  2. Peter Schiffer
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  3. Dashun Wang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Diego Gómez-Zará, Peter Schiffer or Dashun Wang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Gómez-Zará, D., Schiffer, P. & Wang, D. The promise and pitfalls of the metaverse for science. Nat Hum Behav 7, 1237–1240 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01599-5

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