Multimodal emotion recognition in the metaverse era: New needs and transformation in mental health work

This editorial comments on an article recently published by López del Hoyo et al. The metaverse, hailed as "the successor to the mobile Internet", is undoubtedly one of the most fashionable terms in recent years. Although metaverse development is a complex and multifaceted evolutionary process influenced by many factors, it is almost certain that it will significantly impact our lives, including mental health services. Like any other technological advancements, the metaverse era presents a double-edged sword for mental health work, which must clearly understand the needs and transformations of its target audience. In this editorial, our primary focus is to contemplate potential new needs and transformation in mental health work during the metaverse era from the perspective of multimodal emotion recognition.