ArticleBMC public health2009
Halting HIV/AIDS with avatars and havatars: a virtual world approach to modelling epidemics.
Article in BMC public health, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Usability of a Consumer Health Informatics Tool Following Completion of a Clinical Trial: Focus Group Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- The Use of Avatar Counseling for HIV/AIDS Health Education: The Examination of Self-Identity in Avatar Preferences.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Article
- Exploring design requirements for repurposing dental virtual patients from the web to second life: a focus group study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Article
- Social media: a review and tutorial of applications in medicine and health care.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Review
- Behavioral responses to epidemics in an online experiment: using virtual diseases to study human behavior.PloS one · 2013Article
- Online social networking technologies, HIV knowledge, and sexual risk and testing behaviors among homeless youth.AIDS and behavior · 2011Article
- The OptAIDS project: towards global halting of HIV/AIDS.BMC public health · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA major deficit of all approaches to epidemic modelling to date has been the need to approximate or guess at human behaviour in disease-transmission-related contexts. Avatars are generally human-like figures in virtual computer worlds controlled by human individuals.
methodsWe introduce the concept of a "havatar", which is a (human, avatar) pairing. Evidence is mounting that this pairing behaves in virtual contexts much like the human in the pairing might behave in analogous real-world contexts.
resultsWe propose that studies of havatars, in a virtual world, may give a realistic approximation of human behaviour in real-world contexts. If the virtual world approximates the real world in relevant details (geography, transportation, etc.), virtual epidemics in that world could accurately simulate real-world epidemics. Havatar modelling of epidemics therefore offers a complementary tool for tackling how best to halt epidemics, including perhaps HIV/AIDS, since sexual behaviour is a significant component of some virtual worlds, such as Second Life.
conclusionHavatars place the control parameters of an epidemic in the hands of each individual. By providing tools that everyone can understand and use, we could democratise epidemiology.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.