Daily Archives: August 4, 2021

Virtual reality (VR) has been plagued for decades now by a lack of understanding about the problem its supposed to solve. There have been at least a few hype cycles over the last few decades, none of which resulted in anything resembling mass adoption. However, VR growth has exploded over the past 18 months and is finally approaching mainstream consumer use. But what about for business use? Does VR have a place outside of niche applications? Does it have a place in the unified communications (UC) suite?

When evaluating emerging technologies, Ive always found it helpful to ask these two questions to determine if something is significant beyond the hype.

1) What problem does the technology solve?

2) What does the technology do better than existing ones?

For this post, Ill answer these questions in the context of the communications and collaboration space.

What Problem Does VR Solve?

So why now? What makes this time different than 2008?

For me, the answer came at the beginning of the pandemic, when I began to think about the question of how do we collaborate when we cant meet in person? I was amazed to see the growth and success of video meetings but was frustrated by the shortcomings of the tools we use today.

My casual interest in VR led me down the rabbit hole of Google searches, a trip to Walmart to buy an Oculus headset, and months spent on various platforms speaking with enthusiasts and researchers from across the globe.

Almost immediately, I began to see VR in the context of a world on lockdown, quickly seeing its power VR as a collaboration tool, one very different than any of the traditional tools we use today. Thats when I began to see the problems that VR is uniquely in a position to solve, such as the following:

How do you network when you cant meet in person?

How do you browse a retail store during a lockdown?

How do you conduct remote learning when schools are closed?

How do you gather for recreation when you cant socialize?

How do you attend conferences when you cant leave the house?

How do you effectively conduct training when you cant travel?

How do you conduct team building and assimilate new hires during a pandemic?

The pandemic forced us to think about the answers to these questions. And the immediate choices were Zoom, Teams, Webex, and other web conferencing tools.

What Does VR Do That Zoom Doesnt?

Weve seen web conferencing tools used in all of the above examples, with mixed results. Many areas exist where Zoom, Teams, and Webex do fine and are even preferable to VR. But there are two big areas where VR truly shines, coming closer to real-life interactions.

1) Support for Casual Conversations

Zoom works great for one-to-one or one-to-many interactions but fails in the many-to-many environments we encounter in the real world. Ive joined dozens of networking groups in VR, where you gather with people from all over the world in a shared space, where thanks to spatial audio, users can mingle, meet each other, and have individual or small group discussions. You cant replicate that functionality on Zoom, Teams, or Webex. These are the conversations that we find the most value in and the reasons we travel to networking groups, conferences, and other business meetings. Zoom can support the keynote at a conference, but it cant replicate the unplanned conversations outside the keynote in the way VR can.

2) Immersiveness

When you put on a VR headset, you block out the rest of the world. You are immersed in the environment you enter, which is about more than teleporting to somewhere cool. It helps drive the emotion of whatever youre doing in VR, thereby driving outcomes when an emotional connection adds to the experience. This connection is why there is already such huge interest in VR as a training tool, where you can simulate a real-world environment in ways that you cant do with others or are impractical or impossible in real life.

One of the big surprises in my journey into VR was how the experience tends to be more intimate than a video call. I know that sounds crazy and counterintuitive, but its exactly what I experienced. How does this happen? How can social VR with avatars be more intimate than a video call? The answer lies in the successful illusion of being in a shared space together. On a Zoom call, theres never the feeling that the group is together in the same place. The fact that their faces are grouped in a grid doesnt translate into the feeling of proximity. In VR, theres an authentic feeling of being in the same space physically with other people, creating a sense of intimacy that doesnt come across in other collaboration tools.

This sense of shared space and proximity provides an interesting opportunity to leverage VR in some unique ways. We already see solutions designed around team building and onboarding where the objective is to build relationships. This level of personal connection isnt needed in all interactions, just as sometimes a phone call is good enough. But we will see more and more of a need to find creative ways to provide more personal connections between our remote employees as we support the long-term adoption of remote workers.

Combining these two areas provides for a completely different experience than any other technologies out there, one that comes the closest to meeting in person. That is where the real power of VR lies and why it will become a big part of our personal and business lives as a communications tool and part of the suite of UC applications.

Stay tuned for part two, the final installment in this series, where Ill discuss how augmented reality will be even more transformational than VR.

This post is written on behalf of BCStrategies, an industry resource for enterprises, vendors, system integrators, and anyone interested in the growing business communications arena. A supplier of objective information on business communications, BCStrategies is supported by an alliance of leading communication industry advisors, analysts, and consultants who have worked in the various segments of the dynamic business communications market.

Read more here:

Virtual and Augmented Reality's Ascension as Collaboration Tools - No Jitter

Ohio University will partner with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, University of Toledo (UToledo), MetroHealth, and Equitas Health to educate Ohios Medicaid providers and other healthcare professionals in the state of Ohio on key health issues impacting the state.

The $6.4 million grant awarded by the Ohio Department of Medicaid and administered from the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center will allow the institutions to make virtual reality (VR) simulations that address three important issues: Health Equity and Cultural Humility for the LGBTQ+ community; Elder Abuse in Older Adults with Disabilities; and Maternal Infant Health and Intimate Partner Violence.

Matt Love, virtual reality production coordinator for the Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab at OHIO, will act as production coordinator, and Elizabeth Beverly,Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., Endowed Professor in Behavioral Diabetes, as well as associate professor of primary care at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, will serve as primary investigator and medical and grant expert on the projects. GRID Lab director John Bowditch is also a co-investigator on the project and is currently working on creating a custom application for screening in headsets, something that will be very valuable to the immersion for patient providers.

My area of expertise is in evaluation, so I will lead the assessment of the three VR simulations, but, because this work is so much fun, I plan to be involved at all stages of the grant from script writing to filming to dissemination of the VR to providers, Beverly said. OHIO has the most amazing team of writers, directors, producers, and cinematographers, and I consider myself lucky to be in their presence. With this new grant, we also get to collaborate with top-notch Medicaid providers and subject matter experts from CWRU, UToledo, MetroHealth, and Equitas Health. The amount of talent assembled on this grant is remarkable.

The simulations, which are continuations of the Medicaid Equity Simulation Project started in December 2018, are being created in order to help healthcare providers and their teams be able to identify signs of elder abuse or intimate partner violence, as well as practice cultural humility in their care of all people.

By receiving this award, I feel a strong validation that our previous project was successful and demonstrates the value of what the GRID Lab and OHIO have created in the past, Love said. The fact that were now being funded for a two-year project goes to show weve made an impact and that the Ohio Department of Medicaid values what weve been doing.

The original simulation included 12 videos for each character that would introduce them, show the relationship of the character to the Medicaid provider, as well as guide simulations which gave participants the opportunity to practice through the VR simulation.

In the new series, each character will have only six videos for participants to watch to allow for the projects to work easier into patient providers schedules; however, the videos will continue to have a similar format, introducing the character and relationship.

We at the GRID Lab are huge believers in collaboration and love working with experts in their fields, whether that is collaborating with other colleges within OHIO or with external entities like CWRU, UToledo, MetroHealth and Equitas Health who have been a huge help in providing subject matter experts in the medical field, Love explained. We couldnt be more thrilled to be partnering with them on this project because of the expertise they bring to the table regarding the subject matter were exploring. As a result of their involvement, our characters and more specifically the educational materials developed around them are going to be that much richer and more complete.

The GRID Lab will work with OHIOs College of Fine Arts, the Scripps College of Communication, and the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine to incorporate students and faculty experts to help in multiple ways, such as acting as the characters and providers, designing the set, filming the simulation, providing medical terminology and expertise, and more.

CWRU, UToledo, and the MetroHealth Simulation Institute were part of the planning team that identified the topics being addressed and created talking points and conversations to help better understand what healthcare outcomes need to be improved and addressed. They will also be heavily involved in the statewide dissemination of the VR simulations, spreading them out to a broader audience, and allowing for a more meaningful impact for the healthcare community.

Subject matter experts from Equitas Health and MetroHealth are providing insightful knowledge from a healthcare perspective, assisting in the development of the storylines to assure that appropriate medical teaching points are included. The lived experiences of these clinicians will be incorporated into the characters, which will make the simulations more meaningful and successful, and are being developed in collaboration with people from the community.

The training videos are intended for healthcare providers and people who have a relationship with a Medicaid patient and are being designed to help primary care teams serving at-risk populations to improve their quality of care and health outcomes, and more readily identify red flags and warning signs.

Together, we will craft complex narratives that address critical issues in health equity in Ohio, Beverly said. These VR simulations will raise awareness about implicit bias in healthcare while simultaneously increasing diversity and inclusion in storytelling. The beauty of these novel VR trainings is that it provides viewers a glimpse inside the lives of their most vulnerable patients. You get to see where they live, see their struggles, and feel their emotions. Its a powerful teaching tool that can transform how we educate practicing and future healthcare professionals.

The Medicaid Equity Simulation Project is funded by the Ohio Department of Medicaid and administered by the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. The views expressed in this press release and VR simulations are solely those of the authors and do not represent the views of the state of Ohio or federal Medicaid programs.

Read more from the original source:

University, partners will collaborate on virtual reality simulations to educate professionals on major health issues - Ohio University

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Global Automotive Virtual Reality Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The automotive industry has been experimenting with VR in manufacturing facilities and dealer showrooms.

The urgency to digitize retail practices has taken priority like never before. VR offers virtual showroom tours, test drives, and 360 views of vehicle interiors for an immersive customer experience. In OEM manufacturing facilities, prototype designing is simplified using VR simulation and helps in making changes seamlessly. Virtual employee training programs, self-driving vehicle simulation testing, and collaborative design reviews are some use cases that can be implemented through VR.

However, VR inside cars are very niche today. Gaming-capable processors are prerequisites to implementing VR in cars and, hence, VR-based entertainment services will be piloted in premium brands (such as Tesla, Audi) between 2023 and 2025. This study will analyze the different VR applications in the automotive industry and the potential growth opportunities and challenges of implementing VR in connected vehicles.

VR is used majorly in automotive digital showrooms and vehicle production environments for an interactive user experience and improved employee productivity. However, VR in cars is still a niche use case, and is expected to be implemented beyond 2023. VR will be used for entertainment purposes, such as movie streaming, media playback, gaming consoles, virtual tours, and online concerts by passengers in future ownership and usership vehicles.

On-demand digital cockpits will redefine the in-car experience for consumers, with focus on comfort and convenience. Future connected vehicles are expected to have individual sound bubbles and dedicated infotainment screens for each passenger. VR will play a critical role to support virtual entertainment options and provide personalized experiences for passengers.

Growth Opportunities:

5G is expected to slowly eliminate the bottleneck of computing power, latency rates, and high-speed network connectivity needed for real-time VR services in the automotive industry. VR will enable automakers to fast-track the self-driving vehicle testing process through multiple virtual simulations. VR simulations will ensure AV safety testing to be done at minimal costs virtually instead of complex road trial programs.

The report predicts that premium vehicles and luxury brands with advanced processors and GPU compute capabilities will be the first ones to launch in-vehicle VR applications. Tesla announced a new gaming computer in Model S and X vehicles to support gaming and entertainment services.

Audi, along with Holoride and Disney, demonstrated an in-car VR experience while the vehicle was in motion. Such developments indicate the inclination of premium brands such as Tesla and Audi to implement VR in vehicles. OEMs such as VW and BMW are expected to follow suit.

Challenges:

The overall cost of a VR setup is expensive and can be integrated with only high-performance computing devices to see the best results, thereby, increasing the overall service subscription costs for passengers. For a fully immersive experience, a 360-degree view is critical in VR.

This requires robust Internet connectivity throughout the vehicle journey with low latency rates and higher speeds. Else, the VR experience will be poor with less real-time response and a disorientating experience that can lead to motion sickness for users. Lack of regulations to monitor automotive VR deployments, safety protocols, and best practices when viewing VR content will challenge VR implementation in vehicles.

Key Topics Covered:

Strategic Imperatives

Growth Opportunity Analysis, Automotive VR Market

Automotive VR Overview, Trends Analysis and OEM Initiatives

Current and Future Trends of Virtual Reality in the Automotive Industry

Virtual Reality Supplier Ecosystem and Competitive Analysis

Conclusions and Future Outlook

Growth Opportunity Universe, Automotive VR Market

Next Steps

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ompnu6

Continued here:

Global Automotive Virtual Reality Market Report 2021 - 5G Connectivity Will Spearhead the VR Technology in Connected Vehicles - ResearchAndMarkets.com...

DUBLIN, July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Automotive Virtual Reality Growth Opportunities" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The automotive industry has been experimenting with VR in manufacturing facilities and dealer showrooms.

The urgency to digitize retail practices has taken priority like never before. VR offers virtual showroom tours, test drives, and 360 views of vehicle interiors for an immersive customer experience. In OEM manufacturing facilities, prototype designing is simplified using VR simulation and helps in making changes seamlessly. Virtual employee training programs, self-driving vehicle simulation testing, and collaborative design reviews are some use cases that can be implemented through VR.

However, VR inside cars are very niche today. Gaming-capable processors are prerequisites to implementing VR in cars and, hence, VR-based entertainment services will be piloted in premium brands (such as Tesla, Audi) between 2023 and 2025. This study will analyze the different VR applications in the automotive industry and the potential growth opportunities and challenges of implementing VR in connected vehicles.

VR is used majorly in automotive digital showrooms and vehicle production environments for an interactive user experience and improved employee productivity. However, VR in cars is still a niche use case, and is expected to be implemented beyond 2023. VR will be used for entertainment purposes, such as movie streaming, media playback, gaming consoles, virtual tours, and online concerts by passengers in future ownership and usership vehicles.

On-demand digital cockpits will redefine the in-car experience for consumers, with focus on comfort and convenience. Future connected vehicles are expected to have individual sound bubbles and dedicated infotainment screens for each passenger. VR will play a critical role to support virtual entertainment options and provide personalized experiences for passengers.

Growth Opportunities:

5G is expected to slowly eliminate the bottleneck of computing power, latency rates, and high-speed network connectivity needed for real-time VR services in the automotive industry. VR will enable automakers to fast-track the self-driving vehicle testing process through multiple virtual simulations. VR simulations will ensure AV safety testing to be done at minimal costs virtually instead of complex road trial programs.

The report predicts that premium vehicles and luxury brands with advanced processors and GPU compute capabilities will be the first ones to launch in-vehicle VR applications. Tesla announced a new gaming computer in Model S and X vehicles to support gaming and entertainment services.

Audi, along with Holoride and Disney, demonstrated an in-car VR experience while the vehicle was in motion. Such developments indicate the inclination of premium brands such as Tesla and Audi to implement VR in vehicles. OEMs such as VW and BMW are expected to follow suit.

Challenges:

The overall cost of a VR setup is expensive and can be integrated with only high-performance computing devices to see the best results, thereby, increasing the overall service subscription costs for passengers. For a fully immersive experience, a 360-degree view is critical in VR.

This requires robust Internet connectivity throughout the vehicle journey with low latency rates and higher speeds. Else, the VR experience will be poor with less real-time response and a disorientating experience that can lead to motion sickness for users. Lack of regulations to monitor automotive VR deployments, safety protocols, and best practices when viewing VR content will challenge VR implementation in vehicles.

Key Topics Covered:

Strategic Imperatives

Growth Opportunity Analysis, Automotive VR Market

Automotive VR Overview, Trends Analysis and OEM Initiatives

Current and Future Trends of Virtual Reality in the Automotive Industry

Virtual Reality Supplier Ecosystem and Competitive Analysis

Conclusions and Future Outlook

Growth Opportunity Universe, Automotive VR Market

Next Steps

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/q821qd

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

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Global Automotive Virtual Reality Market Report 2021: Key VR Use Cases for OEMs, Key Conclusions and Future Outlook - PRNewswire

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common but often misunderstood anxiety disorder. The condition is characterised by repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations, known as obsessions, accompanied by urges to repeat an action over and over to alleviate the thought, known as compulsions. Some people with Pure O OCD only experience the obsessions, without the compulsions alongside them.

While all people exhibit habitual behaviour and experience intrusive thoughts, the actions associated with OCD are beyond control of the person experiencing them and can cause distress and interfere with their quality of life.

Most cases of OCD fall into one of four general categories: contamination, a fear of dirt and germs often accompanied by compulsive cleaning behaviours; checking, where a person will repeatedly check things like doors being locked or ovens and light switches being switched off; symmetry and ordering, a compulsive need to have things arranged in a certain way; and ruminations and intrusive thoughts, where a person will obsess over a certain line of thought that can sometimes be violent or disturbing.

The thoughts are intrusive, theyre constant and that fear is transformed into actions where they might do a particular behaviour, like counting, to try and negate that feeling, says London Anxiety Clinic owner and senior consultant Mike Ward. Patients want to be able to learn to adapt and reduce that level of obsession and compulsion.

Ward, and other therapists like him, have been using virtual reality (VR) therapy to help patients with OCD for several years now. The condition is known to respond well to exposure response prevention (ERP) therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), making it an ideal candidate for this kind of treatment.

ERP is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that encourages patients to engage with their obsessive thoughts without carrying out their associated compulsions. The treatment will start with placing the patient in situations which cause a tolerable level of anxiety and gradually build up to settings they find more difficult, helping them to relieve their distress and prevent their compulsive responses.

A person who experiences contamination OCD, for example, may find themselves unable to use a public bathroom or unable to do so without carrying out compulsive behaviours, such as washing and drying their hands a set number of times due to their obsessions about germs and dirt. ERP would see them gradually exposed to this triggering setting, starting with lower exposures until they are able to tolerate it without carrying out compulsions.

ERP is one of the most effective treatments for OCD and is an area where VR therapy can prove especially useful. Wearing a VR headset, patients can enter simulated situations that trigger their OCD symptoms in a safe and controlled environment.

VR therapy can be used in a number of ways to help people with OCD. A patient may choose to have a few sessions of VR therapy as part of a traditional course of ERP to help them prepare to face their triggers in a real-life setting. Their therapy may also be entirely VR-based, for example if their OCD involves a fear of flying and the cost of getting a flight is prohibitive. Far from being a poor relation to carrying out in-person exposure, Ward says the VR treatment can still have a significant impact on patients.

Clients are pleasantly surprised, they dont realise that the VR is so real, he says. Thats the experience we want with the VR, it creates a sort of meta state where were able to think about our thinking and observe how the body is responding to a stimulus.

VR therapy company Psiouss head of health and science Iris Stracke says VR therapy comes with several distinct advantages compared to real-world ERP, which can help therapists have a better understanding of the progress their patients are making.

It is said that the gold standard for OCD is exposure therapy and this is one of the areas where VR is especially useful for several reasons, says Stracke. One of them is that it allows for standardisation and control, because with OCD and its specific triggers its very helpful in therapeutic settings for the therapist to know how many triggers there are and when and where they will occur. Its also useful to track the therapeutic progress, because you have very clear standardised benchmarks.

Another advantage of using VR over normal exposure therapy for OCD is that you can repeat exposure as many times as you want in the exact same setting. You also have complete control over the parameters between sessions; there are no surprising variables and you can personalise it to the specific patient.

The VR healthcare market is expected to be worth $30.4bn by 2026 according to Fortune Business Insights, having been valued at just $1.56bn in 2018, with the therapy aspect having a significant part to play in this explosive growth. University of Oxford spinout Oxford VR is using the technology to help patients overcome anxious social avoidance and a free, VR-enhanced treatment plan has been launched by the UK NHS to help patients with needle phobias prepare for their Covid-19 vaccination.

The efficacy of VR therapy for OCD hasnt been studied extensively. Psious is reportedly setting up a multicentre study with Oxford Medical School, Brown Medical School and Kings College London to study the effects of its platform on patients, which features numerous scenarios for different mental health conditions that are specific to or repurposable for OCD.

Psious founder & CEO Xavier Palomer says: OCD is one of the disorders that has been growing due to Covid-19. The fact that you need to wear masks, wash your hands, social distancing, thats a really good mix of ingredients to boost the number of people suffering from OCD.

Even before Covid-19, the mental health sector was really struggling to deliver all the services needed. We need tools to help this growing number of patients and I truly believe that technology is a very good candidate to help this growing demand. VR is one of the key players in this space.

Optical System Design and Development for Medical Industries

28 Aug 2020

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VR therapy for OCD can enhance the delivery of exposure response prevention - Medical Device Network

Five physical challenges offer free sweaty fun for enthusiasts of all ages

'A Drop Over Lok Fu' features the first-ever virtual reality skydiving experience that uses the breath-taking setting of Hong Kong's cityscape

Special drinks and gym passes from merchants add a cool and electrifying splash to the summer

HONG KONG, Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dive into a sizzling summer holiday with Lok Fu Place. To promote a green and healthy lifestyle to the widest possible audience, Lok Fu Place is organising the 'SPORTIVAL' campaign, which combines a sports gala with a carnival to celebrate an active summer. Kicking off on 31 July, SPORTIVAL will turn up the heat on sporting fun with exciting games and the first-ever virtual reality (VR) skydiving experience featuring Hong Kong's cityscape, creating memories for energetic, fun-loving jocks of all ages.

The large-scale SPORTIVAL campaign organised by Lok Fu Place combines a sports gala with a carnival to promote a green and healthy lifestyle.

Five Physical Challenges to Beef up Your Muscles

During the campaign, the outdoor leisure area in Zone B of Lok Fu Place will be transformed into a free fitness boot camp, where five physical challenges (bouldering, vertical wall climbing, slacklining, standing high jump and quintuple steps) will be open to all. The five checkpoints for these challenges will have gradations of difficulty, offering multi-level trainings for participants of different ages and fitness levels to boost their muscular power, stamina, balance and vertical leap abilities.

Shoppers with $200 or more of net spending* via electronic payment methods during the campaign period are each eligible to get one 'SPORTIVAL Fast Pass' and one day pass for Physical Fitness & Yoga Lok Fu. Holders of the Fast Pass can join the 'Weekly Physical Challenge' to score points at the checkpoints. The top three challengers on the weekly scoreboard will win fabulous prizes!

'A Drop Over Lok Fu' in a VR Skydiving Experience

Complementing the physical challenges is a VR skydiving experience that offers a virtual drop from 10,000 feet above the ground into the pulsating heart of urban Hong Kong the first such experience of its kind. Try out 'A Drop Over Lok Fu' and glide over the stunning Victoria Harbour and steer your way through the sky to land in Lok Fu Place while enjoying the familiar cityscape of our home city from an unusual perspective thanks to the state-of-the-art VR headset.

Story continues

This unique VR skydiving experience, enjoyed from the comfort of an armchair, is available for redemption with cumulative spending of $300 or more at Lok Fu Place via electronic payment methods*.

After a day of adrenaline-pumping activities, enjoy a slice of the great outdoors in the urban farm adjacent to the event venue, where seasonal greens such as edible sunflower, winter melon and hairy gourd are planted. Meanwhile, Fullhouse Kitchen at Lok Fu Place is joining hands with 'Taiko no Tatsujin' to present a special seasonal drink exclusively for the summer holiday to quench your thirst after a fun day out.

Terms and conditions apply. The programme is subject to change without prior notice.

For more details about the event, please visit Linkhk.com.

*Electronic payment methods include Credit Card, EPS, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Tap & Go, AlipayHK, WeChat Pay, Octopus or other mobile payment applications

About Link

Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Hong Kong stock code: 823), managed by Link Asset Management Limited, is a leading retail-focused REIT in the world. Listed in 2005 as the first REIT in Hong Kong, Link has been 100% held by public and institutional investors and is a Hang Seng Index constituent stock. From its home in Hong Kong, Link manages a diversified portfolio including retail facilities, car parks and offices spanning Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, London and Sydney. Link seeks to extend its portfolio growth trajectory and grasp expansion opportunities in different markets in pursuit of our medium-term target Vision 2025. For details, please visit https://www.linkreit.com/.

SOURCE Lok Fu Place

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Lok Fu Place Presents the Summer 'SPORTIVAL' Campaign - Virtual Reality Skydiving over Urban Hong Kong - Yahoo Finance

Miami Cancer Institute has teamed up with healthcare technology manufacturer Reimagine Well to create a virtual-reality experience for MR patients where staying perfectly still is rewarded in a gaming simulation.

"This Xbox-style educational game is a part of pre-MR acclimation. First, the patient can explore an MR suite in an Xbox-style environment on the laptop. The patient then puts on the VR headset and lies down. The headset can measure tiny movements of the head, and the game gives feedback to the patient (and staff) about their stillness," Roger Holzberg, founder of Reimagine Well, told HCB News.

One of Reimagine Wells Experiential Education programs, the VR-based MRI Stillness Game comprises three levels that are timed to last the duration of the scan. The aim is to fill black and white worlds with vibrant colors, which is achieved by the patient keeping still. The first level is the rainforest, followed by a balloon fiesta and then a coral reef.

Ad StatisticsTimes Displayed: 417382Times Visited: 2995

In addition to lowering anxiety and creating better patient experiences, the game is expected to reduce the need to reschedule appointments and increase facility throughput by shortening the duration of MR scans.

"For the hospital, when a patient is still, sequences do not need to be repeated, or MRs rescheduled," said Holzberg. "For patients, studies are suggesting that repeated sedation is harmful in young children. A strategy of preparation with experiential education has lowered the mean age of sedation at Nebraska Medicine from age ten to three."

Video games are becoming more common as tools to prepare and reduce anxiety in patients. They also are being used to teach clinicians practices that help enhance care and hospital operations. Level Ex, a video game manufacturer, for example,

Original post:

Using virtual reality to gamify (and reward) stillness for MR patients - DOTmed HealthCare Business News

Cyber security, 5G, drones and virtual reality are the technological developments expected to have the biggest impact on real estate in the next two years, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.

The survey also found that 36% percent of agents spend $50-$250 per month on technology, while 23% spend more than $500.

The figures released Tuesday stem from 3,104 online responses to a June survey of NAR members. About 1.4 million real estate agents the vast majority of U.S. home sale professionals are dues-paying members of the Chicago-headquartered NAR.

Thirty-one percent of agents surveyed believe 5G will have the biggest impact in the next 24 months. Meanwhile, 30% named virtual reality as the most likely to impact real estate on a day-to-day basis.

The survey also examined the current use of technology by agents, finding that the most valuable tools used in the past 12 months were eSignature, local MLS apps/technology, social media, lockboxes, and video conferencing.

Indeed, agents are on social media more than Charli dAmelio. Ninety percent of agents use Facebook in their day-to-day operations, followed by Instagram (52%), LinkedIn (48%), YouTube (24%) and Twitter (19%).

Less clear is whether real estate agents are big believers in social media or just feel they have to be on. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they use social media, because, well, They are expected to have a presence on social media.

That said, social media does top the list of where real estate agents generate leads, with 52% of respondents saying they get their tips from one of the aforementioned websites and apps. The agents customer relationship management system was the second best tech source for leads, responsible for 31%. The salespersons affiliated Multiple Listings Services site contributed to 28% of where the next deal may land.

The survey includes a statement from NAR President Bob Goldberg that, The pandemic has caused more of our members to use social media and video to creatively market themselves and their properties.

However, the majority of agents do not use video in marketing. Of those surveyed, 37% said they used it, while 29% said they dont, with the remainder stating they dont deploy video but they plan to do so going forward.

One intriguing question is whether real estate brokerages are providing agents with the technology they need. Basically every single brokerage today bills its value proposition as providing talented agents with the tools they need to maximize their productivity.

And, according to the survey, brokerages are largely delivering. Sixty-four percent of agents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that their brokerage provides technology tools needed to be successful. Only 13% disagreed or strongly disagreed with 23% stating they neither agree or disagree.

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Drones, 5g, and VR dot future of real estate tech - HousingWire

From gaming to entertainmentto training, Georgia companies have been pushing VR/AR space forward over the years.

Now, two different Georgia universities are using VR to improve our health and wellness, which is estimated to be a $11 billion by 2026.

We heard from a Georgia Tech graduate commercializing a VR meditation program to address critical mental health gaps and from the team behind a SCAD initiative to help those going through hospice care.

One Create-X startup is taking a zen approach while entering the fast-moving VR space.

Matthew Golino earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgia Tech, and worked previously as a software engineer for General Motors. During this classwork in the HCI program, he tells Hypepotamus that his interest in VR as an emerging medium converged with his experience in meditation.

Meditation, he says, became a more central part of his life during his graduate work. Throughout the course of his thesis, Golino spoke with expert and novice meditators alike on a quest to better understand how the practice of meditation is both taught and learned.

The result was eight meditation lessons taught completely through VR, aptly named ZenVR.

15 Georgia Tech students used the VR technology and educational modules during the prototyping phase.

We had people come in twice a week for 20 to 30 minute long classes. And by the end of the year, we were seeing these statistically significant increases in a number of mental health metrics. A lot of masters projects kind of end therebut given my personal interest, it was my belief that this could make an impact.

After completing the Create-X program last year, the team joined the Oculus Start Program.

ZenVR can now be downloaded in the Oculus Quest store.

For Teri Yarbrow, Immersive Reality Professor at SCAD, a new VRx Immersive Therapy program on campus is a combination of academic and personal passions.

I am a VR evangelist, Yarbrow tells Hypepotamus. I have been working with Hospice Savannah and the Steward Center of Palliative Care for more than two years. It began with a woman with stage 4 pancreatic cancer who wanted to skydive as a bucket-list request. She was too ill to skydive, so we brought her skydiving via VR. It was quite liberating for her as jumping out of a plane, and skydiving is a great metaphor for letting go and embracing the end-of-life experience.

As SCAD grew its BFA program in immersive reality, tangible applications took center stage. While students in the class were introduced to VRs role in commercial, architectural, fashion, gaming, engineering, experimental and medical fields, Yarbrow says students were particularly drawn to the medical opportunities.

18 students on campus have been involved in the project as far, which harnesses VR to alleviate pain, reduce anxiety in patients, and provide positive engagement for hospice patients. SCAD has created three unique experiences:

Virtual reality has proven effective in reducing pain, anxiety, stress, depression, dementia, Alzheimers and enhancing the quality of life. For those in palliative care or hospice who are bed-bound or confined to wheelchairs, this can be quite miraculous and life-enhancing. Our students visit patients at Hospice Savannah and Hospice Homecare. Based on the patients condition and specific requests, they implement VR experiences, adds Yarbrow.

Yarbow adds that she sees emerging opportunities to bring this technology out of the classroom even more. The FDA has now validated immersive VR therapy with a designation: Medical Extended Reality, MRX. This will create many career opportunities. Our goal is for SCAD to be a leader in the emerging field of immersive health, and, armed with the understanding of all facets of the design process and professional experiences even before graduation, our students will be at the forefront of creating the next generation of immersive medical experiences.

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In the middle of the pandemic, the Portland Art Museum managed to score a partnership with one of the biggest events in the art world.

Last September, the museum and NW Film Center hosted the only U.S. exhibit of the Venice Biennial, a 126-year-old art festival and one of the most prominent in the world. For 10 days, the Portland Art Museum was home to the Venice Biennials virtual reality competition, Venice VR Expanded.

Now, the competition is about to return to Portland for the second year in a row. The Portland Art Museum announced today that it is one of the exhibitions 14 international satellite venues, and still the Venice Biennials sole U.S. outpost.

There are over 30 virtual reality films from 21 countries in this years show. The immersive works range from animated to nonfiction, and from story-focused to abstract experiences.

Like last year, a ticket gets you a one-hour time slot to explore dozens of VR headsets and their respective programs. The event will be held in the museums Fields Ballroom, and local duo Mobile Projection Unit will deck out the space with vibey lighting and projection art.

Venice VR Expanded will take place Sept. 1-19. Tickets go on sale in late August.

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The Venice Biennial's Only U.S. Exhibit Is Returning to the Portland Art Museum This Year - Willamette Week