The Metaverse and Smart Cities: Urban Environments in the Age of Digital Connectivity explores the intersection between the rapidly growing metaverse and the future of cities. The metaverse is a virtual world that is increasingly gaining attention as a new frontier for human interaction and commerce. At the same time, cities are undergoing significant transformation as they face challenges such as population growth, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Urban planners and city administrators will find valuable insights on how the metaverse can be integrated into the planning and development of smart, sustainable and future cities. The book begins with an introduction to the concepts and technology of the metaverse as well as its history. It then sheds light on the current and future challenges and opportunities that the metaverse presents to cities and the quality of life of urban dwellers. It delves into the ways in which the metaverse can change cities, both in terms of their physical and virtual environments, and the impact it can have on the lives of those who live in them. It brings together the latest research and perspectives from experts in the fields of virtual reality, urban planning, and sustainability, to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of this rapidly evolving field. The insights and recommendations presented in the book will be valuable to policymakers, urban planners, and technology professionals interested in shaping the future of cities and the quality of life of those who live in them. Urban dwellers will gain an understanding of the potential impact of the metaverse on their quality of life, and technology enthusiasts and real estate developers will gain insights into the potential opportunities and challenges of investing in the metaverse and its connection to cities. - Provides a comprehensive and in-depth examination of the relationship between the metaverse and cities, recognizing the role that virtual environments will play in shaping the future of urban life - Presents practical examples and case studies to demonstrate the possibilities and challenges of the metaverse in cities - Includes the historical foundations necessary for understanding the current challenges and potential future trajectories of the technology

This open access book presents the proceedings of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT)’s 29th Annual International eTourism Conference, which assembles the latest research presented at the ENTER2022 conference, which will be held on January 11–14, 2022. The book provides an extensive overview of how information and communication technologies can be used to develop tourism and hospitality. It covers the latest research on various topics within the field, including augmented and virtual reality, website development, social media use, e-learning, big data, analytics, and recommendation systems. The readers will gain insights and ideas on how information and communication technologies can be used in tourism and hospitality. Academics working in the eTourism field, as well as students and practitioners, will find up-to-date information on the status of research.

This book seeks to identify and to examine factors and mechanisms underlying the growth and development of smart cities. It is commonplace to discuss smart cities through the lens of advances in ICT. The resulting overemphasis on what is technologically possible downplays what is politically, socially and economically feasible. This book, by analysing the smart city through a variety of perspectives, offers a more comprehensive insight into and understanding of the complex and the open-ended nature of the growth and development of a smart city. A solid conceptual framework is developed and employed throughout the chapters, and a selection of case studies from Europe, Asia, and the Arab Peninsula grants the readers a hands-on perspective of the matters discussed. The chapters included in this book address a set of questions, including: How do the twin-processes of digitalization and smartification unfold in the context of the smart city agenda? How do these processes relate to the concepts of smart city 1.0, 2.0., 3.0. and 4.0? In which ways have the spatial aspects of city functioning been influenced by the intrusion of ICT? In which ways do the same processes contribute to the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What are the implications of smartification and the emergence of smart organizations (public, private, and voluntary) for the spatial development of smart cities? Do ICT and its application in the city space boost the processes of revitalization and how does ICT influence the process of gentrification? To what extent and how does the intrusion of ICT-enhanced tools and applications in the city space impact on a city’s relationship with its broader territorially defined context? Are the administrative borders and divisions inherent in the fabric of a city becoming less/more porous? How should urban sprawl be conceived in the context of the smart city debate? This book will have a broad appeal to academics, students, and policy makers with interests in urban planning, sustainable development, cities, economics, technology, sociology, urban studies, digitalization, SDGs, wellbeing, and resilience.

Addressing resource depletion and environmental concerns for sustainable urban living, Smart Cities and Circular Economy unveils the transformative potential and challenges of integrating these ideas while emphasizing environmental, social, and economic benefits.

This book focuses on game theory approaches utilized on various domains viz., IoT, blockchain and their applications to biomedical and healthcare services. The book bridges the gap between radiologists and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven automated systems by investigating various techniques such as game theoretic approach, blockchain technology basically utilized for security, and IoT applied on metaverse. Healthcare Services in the Metaverse: Game Theory, AI, IoT, and Blockchain, identifies the potential areas where game theory and block chain techniques can be harnessed in the metaverse. The book discusses the integration of virtual reality (VR) with augmented reality to identify the new emerging techniques in healthcare to metaverse, where doctors and/or patients can see any kind of operation in the VR metaverse. The authors use game theoretical and blockchain approaches to understand healthcare issues, with the aim of utilizing different technologies of metaverse platform for health informatics. This book is written to help healthcare practitioners and individuals across academia and research, as well as for those who work in biomedical, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), metaverse, VR, blockchain, and related technologies.