Table 2.

Applications of VR and AR in infectious diseases.

Tool	Emergency management	Infection type	Technology applications/advantages	References
VR (Virtual Reality)	Preparedness and response	Infections	Realizing training objectives by simulating human behavior and visual warning of the predicted spread of infection.	[37]
	Preparedness	Infections and microorganisms	Prevention of the transmission of the infection by teaching hand hygiene.	[17]
	Preparedness	Respiratory system pathogenic agents	Providing a tool for learning about infectious diseases.	[38]
	Preparedness	H1N1 and others	Realizing training objectives at universities under quarantine.	[21]
	Preparedness	Emergency pandemic (flu to bioterrorism)	Teaching public health preparedness exercises.	[19]
	Response	Ebola	Improving and controlling basic health and safety factors.	[39]
	Preparedness	Ebola and others	Preparation against disease-related disasters by training for improving safety, collaboration, and management.	[40]
	Response	SARS	Controlling the spread of the outbreak by simulating human behaviors and interactions.	[41]
	Preparedness and response	SARS	Teaching methods for controlling transmission.	[42]
	Preparedness	Influenza	Increasing beliefs and perceptions of individuals about the role of vaccination against transmission of the virus.	[43]
	Preparedness	Influenza	Improving communication skills of residents under influenza vaccine hesitancy conditions.	[44]
	Response	COVID-19	Video calls (potential applications).	[50]
			Simulation of the real-togetherness (potential applications).	[50]
			Reduction of the negative effects of the outbreak (potential applications).	[50]
			Palliative care (potential applications).	[51]
			Providing good death in the last days for patients (potential applications).	[51]
			Recording patients for their families (potential applications).	[51]
			Educating and learning about the COVID-19 virus.	[54,61]
			Seeing into the patient's lungs.	[55]
			Telehealth VR system for many disorders.	[52,53]
			Tele-communication to share patient experiences.	[52,53]
			Academic teleconferences within the VR environment.	[57,58,60]
			Training and collaboration.	[58,60]
			Helping the discovery of potential molecular targets for the inhibition of COVID-19 proteins.	[54]
			Utility in any industry during quarantine.	[52,53,[58], [59], [60]]
AR (Augmented Reality)	Preparedness	Hospital infections	Training cleanup.	[45]
	Preparedness and Response	Viral diseases	Providing education on virus transmission and spreading.	[47]
	Preparedness	Infectious diseases	Improving hand hygiene and preventing infectious disease transmission.	[46]
	Response	Avian influenza	Realizing prevention and training objectives by providing location information and transmission patterns.	[20]
	Preparedness	Influenza	Being used as an educational tool for increasing the elements of the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction (ARCS) model when faced with the negative effects of influenza.	[48]
	Preparedness	Dengue virus	Education and epidemiological surveillance.	[18]
	Response	COVID-19	Providing high-resolution audio and video communication.	[56]
			Directly sending patient data to the healthcare system.	[56]
			In any industry during quarantine.	[59]
			Visualization of invisible concepts.	[49]
			Annotation.	[49]
			Storytelling for training.	[49]
			Encouraging people to donate.	[62]