Exploring the Metaverse: A Novel AI-Based Approach to Medical Training for Dental Students

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted dental education, highlighting the need for innovative remote learning solutions. This study, centered in the United Arab Emirates, explores dental students' perceptions of the Metaverse as an educational tool, contrasting it with traditional digital platforms like Zoom. Our research aims to fill the gap in understanding the effectiveness of Metaverse technology in dental education. Employing Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach, we analyzed data from 833 students across various institutions. The findings reveal that user adoption decisions in the Metaverse are greatly influenced by User Mobility and Users' Accessibility. The ANN model showed superior accuracy in predicting outcomes compared to other methods. These results contribute to the broader discussion on artificial intelligence, particularly its role in environmental sustainability.