Over the past 10 years, advancements in virtual reality (VR) technologies have been profound, yielding significant transformations within the digital milieu. This paper presents an extensive analysis of the cutting-edge research surrounding avatar customization in VR, concentrating on the technologies, methodologies, and challenges pertinent to the creation and management of digital representations. Through a meticulous examination of 45 curated studies, the research investigates three pivotal dimensions: the determinants affecting the aesthetic characteristics of avatars, the progression of avatar creation methodologies, and the practical applications of avatar customization. The investigation emphasizes the critical role of avatar customization in augmenting user identification, social presence, and interaction within virtual environments. Furthermore, it delves into nascent trends in avatar development, including artificial intelligence-driven customization tools and real-time rendering methodologies, which facilitate the production of increasingly realistic and individualized avatars. The concluding section articulates prospective trajectories for innovation within this domain, underscoring opportunities for further inquiry and the formulation of more diverse and adaptable strategies for avatar customization, thereby accommodating users across a spectrum of virtual environments.

The recent growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has brought new possibilities and revolutionary applications in many fields. It has also, however, created important ethical and security issues, especially with the abusive use of deepfakes, which are artificial media that can propagate very realistic but false information. This paper provides an extensive bibliometric, statistical, and trend analysis of deepfake research in the age of generative AI. Utilizing the Web of Science (WoS) database for the years 2014–2024, the research identifies key authors, influential publications, collaboration networks, and leading institutions. Biblioshiny (Bibliometrix R package, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.20, Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands) are utilized in the research for mapping the science production, theme development, and geographical distribution. The cutoff point of ten keyword frequencies by occurrence was applied to the data for relevance. This study aims to provide a comprehensive snapshot of the research status, identify gaps in the knowledge, and direct upcoming studies in the creation, detection, and mitigation of deepfakes. The study is intended to help researchers, developers, and policymakers understand the trajectory and impact of deepfake technology, supporting innovation and governance strategies. The findings highlight a strong average annual growth rate of 61.94% in publications between 2014 and 2024, with China, the United States, and India as leading contributors, IEEE Access among the most influential sources, and three dominant clusters emerging around disinformation, generative models, and detection methods.

Blockchain and deepfake mark a new step in integrating technology into therapeutic treatment, revolutionizing medical data management and patient care. Blockchain, especially through NFTs, secures healthcare data, ensuring transparency, access, confidentiality, and traceability. Deepfake enhances treatments by creating realistic simulations for rehabilitation and immersion therapies. However, these technologies raise ethical concerns about data security, informed consent, and potential misuse. This comparative study examines their applications, benefits, challenges, and ethical issues in healthcare, analyzing their impact on treatment quality and patient well-being. Based on an extensive literature review, findings show blockchain improves data security and traceability, while NFTs enable personalized treatments. Deepfakes, despite potential in therapy, pose risks of image manipulation and consent violations. The study provides recommendations for a regulated and secure integration of these technologies in therapy.

Digital mental health interventions increasingly require robust security frameworks, authenticated content delivery, and personalized therapeutic experiences. This systematic literature review examines the convergence of Blockchain technology, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and deepfake synthesis in mental health applications, addressing a critical gap in interdisciplinary research. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted comprehensive searches across Scopus database (2014-2024), supplemented by IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, and PubMed Central. Our methodology employed PICO framework-based queries, identifying 15 037 relevant studies across seven queries (Q) configurations (Q1-Q7), with 5093 studies meeting inclusion criteria after rigorous quality assessment. Results demonstrate Blockchain provides immutable data governance (3962 studies), NFTs enable secure therapeutic asset tokenization (771 studies), while deepfakes facilitate personalized avatar-based therapy (230 studies). Cross-technology integration remains limited: Blockchain-NFTs combinations (102 studies), Blockchain-Deepfake integrations (24 studies), NFTs-Deepfake applications (2 studies), with only 2 studies addressing all three technologies simultaneously. This review establishes the first comprehensive taxonomy of converged technologies in mental health, identifying critical research directions for scalable, secure, and ethically-compliant digital therapeutic platforms.