Daily Archives: October 21, 2021

Amid a flutter of snowflakes floating aloft on gentle winds, you hear the snorts of caribou and the crunch of their hooves on the frozen tundra. But youre not watching the herd while shivering in the Arctic.

Youre in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The museum has long offered visitors a window into the habitats of wild animals by recreating snowy landscapes, lush jungles and more through its dioramas. (Just ask the average Angeleno who trekked there on school field trips.) But now people can go beyond looking at the landscape. They can immerse themselves in environmental education through virtual reality, thanks to USC students.

A group of game design, computer science and journalism students relied on a high-tech 3D scanning tool and hours of research and design to create Beyond the Diorama, an interactive VR experience that transports you to an icy world.

Its a project with purpose. We wanted to create something that could help with climate change, says Rong Deng, a masters student in interactive media and game design at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the projects creative director. For both the caribou and permafrost, there is a direct connection with climate change.

The climate project reveals that melting permafrost could release up to 53 times as much carbon as sources of pollution like cars in a major city like Los Angeles.

As Deng explains, the trouble starts with bugs. Insects called warble flies surround the herd and lay their eggs in the caribous hair. When the larvae hatch, they burrow into the flesh, leaving the caribou wounded and at risk of infection and predators. Normally, the herd would seek refuge from the flies in colder areas during the summer. But climate change means they have fewer places to escape the pests.

Another major consequence: As the tundras permafrost thaws, it emits carbon, creating a feedback loop of more warming. The USC student-led interactive virtual reality climate project reveals that this melting process could release up to 53 times as much carbon as sources of pollution like cars in a major city like Los Angeles.

The caribou turned out to be the perfect heartbreaking story, says Robert Hernandez, professor of professional practice at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He has led similar immersive journalism projects with his students as part of an initiative called JOVRNALISM. It has such good conflict and drama.

The caribou project brought together students and other collaborators from across campus: USC Annenberg, the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USC Games and the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. Overseen by Hernandez and Vangelis Lympouridis, a lecturer in computer science at USC Viterbi and USC Games, the project received support from the USC Office of the Provost.

This was an opportunity for students to make something that has an impact and is not in the traditional realm of a video game or cinema.

Robert Hernandez

This was an opportunity for students to make something that has an impact and is not in the traditional realm of a video game or cinema, Hernandez says. But the true secret was these students with different backgrounds coming together to work as equals.

Lympouridis has seen a trend toward more virtual and augmented reality experiences in media and entertainment, not to mention other industries like education, so the cross-campus partnership felt like a natural fit. Leica had loaned him a high-end lidar scanner to use in his class on augmented, virtual and mixed reality. The powerful device uses lasers to create a 360-degree digital model of an environment.

And what better fit for this high-tech approach than digitizing the natural history museums famed dioramas?

These dioramas were the virtual reality technology of the 1920s, Lympouridis says. Explorers were traveling to exotic, undiscovered places and then trying to recreate these environments to show others what its like to be in Africa or the Artic pole, what its like to experience the animals and their habitats there, and so on.

During COVID-19, when all museums had closed, he says this project illustrated the potential global reach of museum exhibits via VR and immersive technologies.

Users can download the USC Beyond the Diorama content and watch it on a virtual reality headset, including interactive quiz questions about climate change and its impact on caribou. An augmented reality version lets viewers enter the diorama through their handheld device. (iPhone and iPad options are currently available.) The team also created a 360-degree video version so people can watch the experience play out, even if they dont have a VR headset or smartphone.

More than 15 students worked on the project over two semesters. As creative director, Deng still marvels at how the effort involved many different disciplines across the university.

I worked with scientists and journalists and engineers so many different perspectives, she says. The journalists were super professional. They did research and prepared questions and worked so hard on the script. The engineers said: Tell me what to do. So Id tell them, We need snow here and the flies should move like this. It only took them a short time to create a vivid game experience.

Along with capturing the diorama with the lidar scanner and translating the data into an immersive experience, the team also had to ensure they used scientifically accurate content. Students interviewed experts at the museum and the USC Wrigley Institute to learn more about the caribous plight. Once they gathered their material, they had to shape it into an emotional arc to keep viewers engaged.

We make the people think about how this is an environment we need to protect.

Rong Deng

I hope users initially have curiosity and want to explore the environment, Deng says. After 45 seconds or so, we build into our story. These caribou are living in a terrible environment right now with these terrible flies that bite them. We make the people think about how this is an environment we need to protect. And we actually can do things to make this better, to stop the glaciers or permafrost from melting, like driving less or using public transportation.

Lympouridis said the project offered a valuable opportunity for his students to work with the latest 3D scanning technology and learn to collaborate with people from different fields. They got a chance to create a project that demonstrates their ability to understand the medium of augmented and virtual reality and engineer solutions that have purpose and impact, he says. This is a lever for students to excel in their careers and get good opportunities in the industry.

Similarly, Hernandez sees immersive reality as the future of journalism and entertainment. And he doesnt want to wait for media companies to determine the path forward.

I want diverse voices voices that are often left out to proactively shape this world, he says. Projects like this position them to be leaders and pioneers in those spaces.

Science/TechnologySocial ImpactClimate ChangeInnovationJournalismStudentsSustainabilityVirtual Reality

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USC Students' Stunning Virtual Reality Project Takes You to the Arctic and the Front Line of Climate Change - USC News

Virtual reality might have a bright future, but the path to get there is still bulky, heavy and uncomfortable.

Now, HTC is making a VR headset thats so small and lightweight its more like wearing a pair of glasses than a giant pair of goggles.

Follow Rich DeMuro onInstagramfor more tech news, tips and tricks.

The HTC Vive Flow isnt as powerful as a giant headset, but its a indication of where things could go with virtual reality. The easier it is to put on the technology, the more people will want to use it.

I checked out the HTC Vive Flow at a private meeting space in Santa Monica. There, the company explained that they are positioning this more as a health and wellness device as opposed to a serious gaming headset.

I tried out two experiences: a snake-style game and a meditation app called Tripp.

The snake game took some getting used to as you use your smartphone as a controller. Its not something I would spend a whole lot of time playing but its a good example of the casual games this headset is good for.

The meditation app was interesting, although it was a bit tough to fully get into it amid the gazes of half a dozen developers and corporate types at the location.

Still, I get the gist of this new style headset. It makes VR approachable, convenient, and always available.

You could simply come home from work, put on the headset and escape to the (metaverse?) in no time. The HTV Vive flow is powered by a 5G Android smartphone and requires an external battery back.

The device can mirror content from your phone, like Netflix or YouTube (think your own private viewing theater) or there will be an HTC app store that runs $5.99 a month for a subscription.

At $500, its not something the average consumer should rush out and buy just yet, but a few versions down the line could usher in a new form of personal entertainment.

Listen to theRich on Techpodcast for answers to your tech questions.

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HTCs new virtual reality headset is so small and lightweight you might actually want to use it - KTLA

What is VR?

Virtual reality creates a Stage, imaginary system Or simulated with a look similar to reality. It surrounds the user in an amazing 3D environment. Virtual reality environments, through computer-generated simulation, try to bring us closer to the true senses of our senses. To live this kind of experience, two components are needed: a communication device such as a content generator and VR glasses.

Todays virtual reality technology includes all kinds of add-ons to make the experience as close to reality as possible: surround sound systems, mirrors, walking platforms and many more advanced controls. In this way it is achieved that we are not fully engaged Virtual reality games, But without leaving the sofa at home on operating room functions or virtual trips.

The process of initiating virtual reality simulation begins by placing some VR glasses. We can start living as soon as we wear glasses Deep experience With motion controls, control the experience through a screen and move our body through the virtual environment. The Software The video game engine used in this type of experience is capable of delivering very realistic and high-resolution images. The presentation of this process converts an information Three-dimensional display, Lighting, textures and 2D frames. Having high-performance graphics cards is essential for the operation of virtual reality applications, because for optimal experience, a rate of at least 90 frames per second must be achieved.

When creating content and virtual reality contexts, there are three possibilities.

To recreate an actual scene, it is necessary to use a 360 degree camera Record the selected location in detail and take a photo. Once we have documented the space with videos and photos, it is necessary to send them to the developer for digitalization. Although it sometimes gives us the impression that we are observing a real image, it allows all the scenes that are part of a virtual reality environment to be fully created and even organized with a computer Virtual events With assistants.

Another way to create virtual reality content is to create 100% imaginary environments. In this case, the photos or videos were not taken in real space, but the design of the virtual world was created entirely by the imagination of the developer. This method is widely used to create virtual worlds of video games, but it is also used in the world of medicine or architecture. This leads us to reflect that not everything that is digitally designed has to be an exclusively invented world. For example, this technique can be very effective Project Buildings 3D On a plane.

It mixes virtual contexts based on real scenes and adds new elements. For example, this method would be a good choice Guided tours of museums For natural environments. You can recreate a cave based on images taken in 360 degrees and add elements like a virtual avatar in the form of a tour guide.

Every virtual reality system or environment has some key characteristics that should achieve a good experience.

The basic feature is to immerse the user in the new environment and feel as close as possible to reality. This is achieved through the users full external view using VR glasses and sound canceling headphones.

The ability for users to interact with the scene and control the elements that make it up. Lifting objects and interacting with other characters enhances the feeling of immersion in the virtual environment.

Story-based experiences that gamers want to stay in for a long time in a virtual reality environment. By Good stories Users can create a more emotional state with the virtual reality device and environment.

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What is a virtual reality environment and how does it work? - The Press Stories

Target markets for the hiring include the Republic of Ireland, which unlike Northern Ireland remains part of the European Union, as well as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Netherlands. A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed to Bloomberg the UK wasnt being included.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking up metaverse since July and the buzzy word, first coined in a dystopian novel three decades earlier, has been referenced by other tech firms such as Microsoft.

The technology might, for example, allow someone to don virtual reality glasses that make it feel as if they're face-to-face with a friend -- when in fact they are thousands of miles apart and connected via the internet.

"No one company will own and operate the metaverse," Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, said in a blog post. "Bringing this to life will take collaboration and cooperation across companies, developers, creators and policymakers."

"The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social, and economic opportunities. And Europeans will be shaping it right from the start," the Facebook blog post read.

Using technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), Facebook plans to create a greater sense of "virtual presence", which will mimic the experience of interacting in person.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted much of the office meetings online, leading to the rise of conferencing apps such as Zoom, and big tech companies are looking to capitalize on this shift.

Facebook, which has invested heavily in VR and AR, including buying companies like Oculus, intends to connect its nearly three billion users through several devices and apps.

The Facebook CEO believes that the metaverse would be accessible across VR, AR, PC, mobile devices and game consoles.

It has already committed $50 million for building the metaverse, and testing a new remote work app where users of Oculus Quest 2 headsets could hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves.

While Facebook did not say what roles it would hire for and where they would be based, the company has been facing antitrust probes in the region, and is often criticised over online safety and hate speech on its platform.

"We look forward to working with governments across the EU to find the right people and the right markets to take this forward, as part of an upcoming recruitment drive across the region," Clegg wrote.

What is the 'metaverse'?

Metaverse is a broad term. It generally refers to shared virtual world environments which people can access via the internet.

The term can refer to digital spaces, which are made more lifelike by the use of VR or AR.

Some people also use the word metaverse to describe gaming worlds, in which users have a character that can walk around and interact with other players.

There is also a specific type of metaverse which uses blockchain technology. In these, users can buy virtual land and other digital assets using cryptocurrencies.

Many science fiction books and films are set in fully-fledged metaverses - alternative digital worlds which are indistinguishable from the real physical world. But this is still the stuff of fiction. Currently, most virtual spaces look more like the inside of a video game than real life.

Blurring the lines

Metaverse evangelists point out that the internet is already starting to blur the lines between virtual experiences and "real" ones.

Stars such as pop diva Ariana Grande and the rapper Travis Scott have performed for huge audiences, watching at home, via the hit video game Fortnite.

In Decentraland, another online platform widely seen as a forerunner to the metaverse, you can already get a job as a croupier in its virtual casino.

"No one company will own and operate the metaverse. Like the internet, its key feature will be its openness and interoperability," Facebook said.

Other companies are pouring millions into developing the technology that could turn a fully-fledged version of the metaverse into reality.

Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, has raised $1 billion in new funding, with some of that money set to support its vision of the metaverse.

Meanwhile, other technology giants Google and Amazon are investing heavily in innovations that could prove crucial to the development of the metaverse, not least cloud computing and data storage.

With agency inputs

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What is metaverse? Why Facebook is hiring 10,000 for the virtual reality plan? - Mint

Formula One drivers use virtual reality to simulate a race, Walmart (WMT) employees don the headsets to prepare for unruly customers, and Bank of America (BAC) workers practice sensitive financial conversations on the devices.

But as a labor shortage stifles companies struggling to make hires in the first place, some firms have turned to virtual reality for help attracting and retaining new employees who may never set foot in the office.

Julie Sweet, CEO of the Ireland-based consulting giant Accenture (ACN), tells Yahoo Finance that the company is giving virtual headsets to thousands of hires as part of its remote onboarding process.

The headsets make up part of the company's strategy of replicating the intimacy of an in-person work environment, while preserving the safety and flexibility of working from home, Sweet said.

"When you started a new job, but pre-pandemic, you showed up someplace," she says. "You had the excitement, you went home, and you said, 'This is what the coffee's like, this is who I met.'"

"Well, we have all these people who are shutting their laptops, and then the next day opening their laptop from Accenture, and there is no physical connection," she adds. "So we said, well, how do we solve that?"

Story continues

"Our new employees now get a welcome box. Sure, it has its computer. But it has these little signs that are ... are like the posters they would have seen in the office," she says. "... At the same time, we just ordered thousands of Oculus headsets. Why? Because our onboarding is now going to include virtual reality."

Accenture, which works with more than three-quarters of Fortune Global 500 companies, has seen a surge in business as clients sought their advice ramping up digital operations amid the pandemic. To keep up with growing demand, Accenture has hired 118,000 employees over the past year, Sweet wrote in a letter to shareholders.

Dan Howley, Yahoo Finance's tech editor, tries out the Google Daydream View virtual-reality headset and controller following a product event, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Sweet began her career as an attorney at the high-powered firm Cravath, Swaine, & Moore and later joined Accenture as a general counsel. In 2019, she became CEO.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Sweet emphasized the importance of establishing personal relationships and company culture within the remote workplace.

"Really thinking about how you build connections, and you bring the physical and the digital world together differently," she says. "We think is the long term success of how you both engage, attract, and retain employees."

"We do believe it is a permanent experience that all companies will have more people who work remotely," she adds. "We've really rethought that experience."

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Why Accenture is giving VR headsets to thousands of new hires - Yahoo Finance

Virtual reality was introduced to the library in the past few years but is still struggling to gain traction.

Kevin McDonough, professor, and reference and electronic services librarian at the Lydia M. Olson Library, describes virtual reality as a technology that is not very familiar but holds great potential for learning.

What are we [the library] here for? Were here as a sandbox where people play around with VR, McDonough said. Students, faculty, staff and just get a feel and imagine possibilities.

For Noah Shevy, a freshman physics major, the idea of virtual reality was intriguing because of its enhanced skills and coordination.

I found Beat Sabre when I first started playing it. I could barely move my arms around, Shevy said. But then, after I played it for a while, it got a lot easier I was actually one of the top players in the world for a split second.

Shevy also noted that coordination is not something that can really be taught and learning varies for everybody.

The library offers virtual reality for communities on and off campus through scheduling and requests via their website. With varying tutor availability, virtual reality is open to students roughly 30 to 36 hours a week.

Hiring tutors for the digital media tutoring center, which virtual reality is a part of, can be a difficult process, according to McDonough.

Its not just hiring someone to do VR, they also have to help students with media-based projects and video editing and audio editing and stuff like that, McDonough said. Theres a lot of people that play games that could do VR but they cant do video editing, and so I got to have that.

It is critical for tutors and other staff to be available in order for patrons to access the virtual reality equipment. They are unable to leave equipment available when someone on staff is not working in electronic services, but McDonough assured the hours were shaped around common student tutoring hours that are available on their website.

Even with somewhat minimal access to the virtual reality equipment, the machines have not been as busy as the staff expected. As virtual reality becomes more popular globally, McDonough and other library technicians were expecting a larger increase in student involvement.

Its not knock the ball out of the park popular, I dont know why that is, McDonough said. I dont know if it is [because] people arent aware of it, although every tour that comes in here points it out Im surprised there arent more people coming in.

The lack of overwhelming student interest could also be attributed to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID has made a big deal. People are in masks and that can kind of be awkward sometimes, McDonough said. When COVID was at its peak we didnt offer this at all.

While COVID-19 is still a concern, the library is using widespread sanitation techniques including sanitizing machines and ultraviolet cleaners that McDonough claims provide a higher level of cleanliness. These are used on top of the already necessary procedures the library takes with sanitizing.

Despite the cleanliness and health precautions taken by the library, they are still seeing less attention on their virtual reality equipment than expected.

Harrison Bouche, junior triple majoring in communication studies, multimedia production and computer science, contributes some of this lack of interest to the stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding virtual reality as well.

I think most people assume that [virtual reality] is for people who are super hardcore into video games. When really theres software where you can just go in and talk to people or fitness software, games that are all about dancing, Bouche said. Its really a wide-open field for so many different people to play in, but it has a connotation because it started in video games that its only about video gaming, which isnt true.

Looking at the future, McDonough is thinking about potential developments and growth within the virtual reality industry and how NMU might be able to incorporate it into education. However, as with all instruction, virtual reality learning starts with the basics and taking the first steps into exploration.

Its more about the experience, what is the art like, thats what were about, McDonough said. Come and try it out. Our tutors are great at getting you started; you dont have to know anything. Like how to put the headset on, theyll walk you through it, theyll even suggest some starting apps.

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Virtual reality offers gaming, educational resources The North Wind - North Wind Online

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Any road warrior will tell you its a jungle out there! The congested highways of our lives make it all the more critical to feel confident when you get behind the wheel and head toward the traffic. While many 16-year-olds are excited by the prospect of driving and the freedom it affords, getting your drivers permit and license can also be daunting for both teens and parents. Such was Sara Beniwals reality when her 16th birthday came around in January 2020. She and a group of entrepreneurially minded friends soon bonded over their drivers license angst and turned to innovation, building VirtuRoad, a virtual reality driving simulator designed for nervous new drivers to practice driving in real-life scenarios.

The Wharton Global Youth Program recently caught up with Sara, a high school senior in California who also studied in our online Business Leadership Academy this summer, to talk about her VirtuRoad business journey. Click on the arrow at the top of this transcript to listen to the podcast.

Wharton Global Youth Program: Hello and welcome to Future of the Business World! Im Diana Drake, managing editor of the Wharton Global Youth Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Each month we interview teen entrepreneurs from around the world, with stories of their challenges, successes and unexpected detours. Together, we explore the innovation process and learn what it means to embrace the entrepreneurial spiritall before the age of 20.

Todays guest is here to talk about something totally relatable being a new driver.

Back in January 2020 which for many of us feels like a lifetime ago Sara Beniwal was freaking out. She had just turned 16 and didnt yet have her drivers license even though she was eligible. Around the same time, she joined an entrepreneurship program and met up with a group of other teens who bonded over their struggles with learning how to drive and getting their licenses. Maybe they could somehow use innovation to address this new-driver anxiety?

They pooled their collective entrepreneurial energy and came up with VirtuRoad, a VR driving simulator designed for nervous new drivers to practice driving in real-life scenarios.

Sara, its great to speak with you. Welcome to Future of the Business World!

Sara: Thank you. Im so happy to be here.

Wharton Global Youth: Take me back to January 2020. Why were you panicking over not having your license? What were you feeling that you think other drivers-in-training also feel?

Sara: As you mentioned, my 16th birthday was in January of last year. Its common for teens to get their license when they turn 16 so they can drive to school or places they want to go freely. I was really behind and I only had my permit. Both me and my parents were really afraid of me holding the steering wheel. Anytime we would practice it would end up with me nearly hitting the trash cans or using the right indicator to turn left. So, I felt like driving, which is a really common practice, would be something I could never do well. To answer your second question, I feel a lot of drivers-in-training feel this immense sense of responsibility when they sit in the drivers seat. They know that theyre in real life and if anything goes wrong they will face real consequences that could be fatal. Knowing that youre responsible for the lives of others could be really daunting for new drivers.

Wharton Global Youth: Once you hooked up with your team of entrepreneurs, you did some market research. What did you learn?

Sara: Market research taught me a lot about how to determine key customers. We did our research through two mediums: the first one was through looking at existing data and research about new drivers. We found some shocking numbers about new drivers. According to some research we discovered, 40% of teenagers are scared to drive, 25% of young adults are also scared to drive and 58% of parents are scared of their teen driving. That really gave us a lot of context about how teen drivers and their parents are stressed out about this process.

The second way we learned about our market was through customer validation. We reached out to community members for their opinions about our product and its need and we interviewed over 80 people to determine that VirtuRoad had potential to help new drivers and their parents.

Wharton Global Youth: Id be remiss to not ask you about the team of students you met in your entrepreneurship course. Who is on your team?

Sara: Were a team of four members right now and were all female entrepreneurs. Its exciting to work together since were around the same age and we all connect to our product really well.

Wharton Global Youth: Describe VirtuRoad. What is this technology all about? Take us through a simulated VirtuRoad experience. Is it like a video game?

Sara: VirtuRoad is a VR driving simulator designed for nervous new drivers to practice driving in real-life scenarios, while in the comfort of their own home without any risks. We have a real-world terrain, driving scenarios and a testing portion for the user to learn effectively without any extra equipment. We chose to leverage virtual reality (VR) because it offers a 3D realistic experience that is essential for our product to help people learn how to drive. VR allows us to bring the experience of sitting in a real car right to your home. VirtuRoad has two apps: a mobile app and a VR app. The mobile app tracks account information such as how youre doing in the simulations, and theres also a testing portion where you can answer questions from our drivers handbook. Our product also provides all the equipment needed to use the simulator. The user puts on the headset and can then use a VR app to enter either free drive, which is where there are simulated roads you can practice on, or driving scenarios where you can practice skills such as four-way stops or parallel parking with voice instruction. Weve created these scenarios so the driver can receive feedback on how they performed a specific skill.

Wharton Global Youth: Why virtual reality? Is this a particular area of interest for you? Had you studied it before?

Sara: Virtual reality was really important to us because you want to see whats happening to your right in the right-hand mirror, you want to look whats happening behind you in the back mirror. Just sitting there and looking at a screen wasnt effective enough to get this realistic experience that you would need to get actual, effective driving skills from this product. We figured why not leverage this technology, which has really been developing a lot over the past few years, and see where we can go with it and try to develop a realistic terrain so that when youre learning how to drive, you dont feel like youre not on the road. You are basically on the road, but in a safer location.

Wharton Global Youth: When did you launch the apps and how many users do you have? Tell us about the community youve built around VirtuRoad?

Sara: Weve finished our mobile app at the beginning of the year, but the mobile app is only one part of our entire product, so we havent released it to the public. Right now, its just my team and I working with developers to do quality-assurance testing. In the future, we do hope to reach out to our supporters. A lot of people have been promoting our product along the way through social media and weve also been using YouTube to reach out to people. Weve been focused on getting customers who would be interested in our product, but we havent really been able to let any of our customers test out VirtuRoad.

Weve been told by investors that we had a good idea, but they didnt feel comfortable funding a startup raised by teensIf I wanted to be respected as an entrepreneur, I had to step up and show that I was serious about what I was doing. Sara Beniwal, Co-founder, VirtuRoad

Wharton Global Youth: How do you make sure youre creating features that appeal to the end user?

Sara: Appeal to the end user is definitely something we talked a lot about. One way that we did that was through storyboarding. We were able to figure out how to create a product that would have a better UI (user interface) by reaching out to a couple of our friends to test out our product and tell us what they thought of it. For the most part, its been consulting with developers who have had experience in the past. As high schoolers, theres only so much we can do about user experience. Weve definitely considered the simplicity of our app and how easy it would be for our users to use it.

Wharton Global Youth: I was excited to speak to you today about virtual reality, and also another topic. I hear often that one of the biggest challenges of teen entrepreneurship is people not taking you seriously. Has that also been a challenge for you?

Sara: There have definitely been a lot of times when my age would stop me from being taken seriously. Weve been told by investors that we had a good idea, but they didnt feel comfortable funding a startup raised by teens. These words helped me to become stronger in real life. If I wanted to be respected as an entrepreneur, I had to step up and show that I was serious about what I was doing. And so, there were competitions where I would make the judges completely unaware that I was under 18. I would quickly spit out details about gross margins or five-year projections or our driving school partnership model. This constant situation of being underestimated has really helped me grow stronger, not only as an entrepreneur but as a person. If you know what youre doing and you know it well, no one can take that away from you.

Wharton Global Youth: Driving school partnership model? What is that?

Sara: Our product isnt just B-to-C or from us to a customer directly. Were considering working with driving schools because we feel driving schools will give us this opportunity to market out to people in a different way. We often emphasize the fact that VirtuRoad is not an alternative to driving schools or a driving instructor, its really a supplement. We know you cant replace in-person driving. We do want to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with learning how to drive. So, we wanted to work with driving schools and create a revenue-share model where we would give our products to driving schools for free and in return we would give them some revenue for however many headsets they sold or rented out. That way we could really develop relationships with a big, established industry.

Wharton Global Youth: Have you had success building those partnerships?

Sara: Building partnerships with driving schools has been something weve had to struggle with. Driving schools arent just a franchise or an industry, its a lot of local driving schools run by a single person. Weve had to do a lot of calls where we reach out to driving schools and see if they would be interested in our product. Weve got a lot of positive feedback and responses from driving schools, so thats really made us excited that we have potential there. We worry how we are going to scale that because driving schools are pretty local-based. Scaling is the one thing were concerned about, but we think that driving schools open up a lot of opportunity to market ourselves.

Wharton Global Youth: So, I hear these terms like scaling. Youre throwing a lot of business terms at me. You spent some time with Wharton Global Youth this summer studying virtually in our Business Leadership Academy. Have you been able to apply anything from that experience to your VirtuRoad development?

Sara: I was super excited to be part of the Business Leadership Academy this summer, and I learned a lot about not just leadership, but teamwork, communication and a lot of essential skills that you need whenever youre working in a group. And I was able to do this with a bunch of people across the globe, which was super amazing. One thing Ive been able to apply to VirtuRoad is the importance of delegation. In one of our activities at the Business Leadership Academy, we did this simulation called the Saturn Parable. Without giving anything away to someone who might do it in the future, there were so many tasks we had to do. Our group focused on delegating tasks. We would pull up a GoogleDoc and list each item and who would finish them so we would get everything done on time. That strategy helped us become one of the top teams at the end of the simulation. In VirtuRoad, Ive applied this by focusing on delegation and making sure we know exactly who is doing what so we can successfully meet deadlines or competitions.

Wharton Global Youth: What ultimately do you see for this product that is still very much in development?

Sara: Once we finish VirtuRoad, our goal is to do a geographic expansion. So we start small in California and San Diego, which is where were located, and then hopefully we want to go nationwide in a couple of years if we can. Aside from that, we dont think VirtuRoad is limited just to cars. Were venturing into considering motorcycles or other types of transportation that might require people to learn how to drive.

Wharton Global Youth: Where are you today in your own new-driver journey? Do you have a license? A car? Have you gotten rid of those jitters?

Sara: This is going to sound ironic, but Ive been so busy with VirtuRoad that I still havent gotten my license. I started driving behind the wheel finally. I think working with VirtuRoad inspired me to go in the car finally. Im considering being one of VirtuRoads first customers, so unfortunately, I dont have my license yet. I think that this product pushed me out of my comfort zone and I feel more comfortable sitting in a car and learning how to drive.

Wharton Global Youth: I hear about different technologies targeting teen drivers, like GPS tracking. What intel have you learned about new drivers that you think the business world should know as they innovate in this space?

Sara: I would say that new drivers are a lot more tech-savvy. They are focused on efficiency and quality of the product, which we had to incorporate a lot into our own product. Making the product just fun and exciting, something you would want to use on a daily basis, is a great way to catch their attention. Im also speaking as someone who fits the demographic of a new driver, so if I were a new driver, I would definitely want something with these characteristics. Another thing we talked a lot about was affordability. A lot of users mentioned that they wanted an affordable product that they didnt feel would press a burden on their finances. A lot of the products on the market right now are on the pricier side. So we focused on making VirtuRoad inexpensive for the everyday driver.

Wharton Global Youth: How much does it cost?

Sara: Our product costs $150 a month. Its a subscription basis, so you dont have to buy our product directly, you can rent it out. This is actually a really good deal because our product can be used any time in the comfort of your own home. You can spend as many hours as you want in that month period to test out our product and practice how to drive from home.

Wharton Global Youth: Are you a senior in high school right now?

Sara: Yes, I am a senior in high school.

Wharton Global Youth: I feel often these entrepreneurial projects go by the wayside because you get busy with life after high school. Will that happen, do you think?

Sara: Weve had this discussion quite a bit. We have come to consensus that we do want to continue developing our product in college. It may not be as fast-paced as it is now, but even now we are all busy with school and were still able to manage working on the business and making progress. I would say we would love to continue our product. Weve also considered hiring and recruiting other teen entrepreneurs who want to touch their toes in the water of entrepreneurship. Weve gotten a lot of interest from [people] who want to help us out. I think thats where the future of VirtuRoad is.

Wharton Global Youth: Is technology in your future? Has this helped to inform your path forward?

Sara: I think technology is definitely in my future. Im a very STEM-oriented person and I think we can really leverage technology in a lot of meaningful ways in the future. I think VirtuRoad is just one example of that. There are a lot of different ideas created out of new tech. Im really interested lately in blockchain. Thats definitely something I would want to consider and see if we can implement that in different industries. Blockchain isnt specifically for crypto anymore. Its also expanding to the insurance industry and voting. Blockchain is another form of technology that I would want to investigate further.

Wharton Global Youth: One question that I like to ask everyone on Future of the Business World is if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Sara: I would like to change the stigma that surrounds teen entrepreneurship. When I started learning about business, I thought that I could never have a startup at this age. There are actually so many different ways to begin a company now thanks to technology. Especially during the pandemic, the fact that everyone was online helped put them on an even playing ground because a lot of work that we did was completely digital. This shows that technology is helping teens like us get more opportunities in creating our own startups. If you have a good idea, you can go out there and make it a reality regardless of your age.

Wharton Global Youth: Lets wrap up with our lightning round. Please try to answer these questions as quickly as you can.

What is a technology, other than VirtuRoad, that you just cant live without?

Sara: Definitely cars.

Wharton Global Youth: If you would win a senior superlative, what would it be?

Sara: Most likely to sleep through an earthquake. Ive been told I sleep a lot.

Wharton Global Youth: What book, video or podcast are you bingeing on these days?

Sara: When I get time, Ive been reading a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear. Im hoping that I can use some habits and fix my sleeping pattern.

Wharton Global Youth: A skill you have that you feel will serve you best as a future business leader?

Sara: I think when you hear the term leader it has to be about speaking and projecting. Another important skill is just being able to listen.

Wharton Global Youth: If you could invite one business person to lunch, who would it be?

Sara: I would probably invite Facebook CTO Andrew Bosworth, because I want to discuss making a deal about oculus VR headsets for VirtuRoad.

Wharton Global Youth: Sara, thanks so much for joining us on Future of the Business World. Its been great talking to you!

What did Sara Beniwal learn through market research? Do you agree with some of the team's data about new drivers?

Would you use VirtuRoad to become more confident behind the wheel? Why or why not?

How do you think VirtuRoad might have greater success with its driving school partnership model?

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Future of the Business World: A Virtual Reality for Nervous New Drivers - KWHS - Knowledge Wharton Highschool

Virtual reality is a concept that has been highly talked about for the past few years now. There has also been a debate on the use of virtual reality in recruitment and training. The world is moving towards a time when sophisticated technology wont be something to argue about. Many professionals regard virtual reality and a real money casino as a must-have concept for companies. It would help boost organizational efficiencies to survive in the present day competitive business environment.

According to the research, virtual reality technology has been of great benefit to employees in numerous ways. Some of the ways how virtual reality can help employees include allowing employees to experience a real feeling of an actual day at work. The use of virtual reality also helps boost employees confidence as it allows them to practice real-life scenarios. It also improves their performances and engagement.

Is the word virtual reality new to you, or are you clueless about its use in recruiting and training? Then take your time to go through this article as it provides you with vital information about virtual reality and how it has been applied in recruitment and training.

Virtual reality is a concept used to explain a three-dimensional technology generated environment that can be interacted with or explored by an individual. As the person gains access to the virtual environment, they can perform a series of actions or manipulate objects.

Though virtual reality might be likened to games and fun over a couple of years, it has made a name for itself, and it is fast becoming a must-have concept as it is widely used in career fairs and recruiting events. As a result, the number of employers and individuals who can interact with or explore technology-generated virtual reality is rapidly increasing. They use it to pinpoint suitable candidates with the perfect skills sets for the job.

Although recruitment of new workers relies majorly on interviews and resumes, some organizations or companies are somewhat concerned about recruiting employees with the right skills. For this reason, they make use of technology to help them solve this problem.

Virtual reality makes it possible to immerse employees into their future work environment to allow them to have more exposure to the job and showcase their ability or skills needed to fill the position. In addition, virtual reality is a technology that can also be used to train technicians to complete service tasks.

Virtual reality has dramatically impacted the hiring process by different companies and organizations in the COVID and Post-COVID eras.

There are different ways in which you can use virtual reality in recruitment and training presented below.

Virtual Reality in Training

With virtual reality, you would be able to create artificial scenarios that you would not recreate on the floor. Moreover, merging sound and movement with visual elements can be the best method to retain novel information and recall it to use in practical life situations.

Some companies use virtual reality to increase happiness in the workplace in cases when job stress builds up. With virtual reality, you would be able to partake in different training modules, for example, new technologies, new processes and new project launches. In addition, multiple scenarios that are specific to different positions can be created in training using virtual reality.

This training includes; training for the customer service agents, sales agents, staff, and managers and so on. Another exciting feature of virtual reality in training is that scenes can be rerun as many times as possible to enable trainees to manage the situation better.

Virtual Reality in Recruitment

Employers or recruiters can combine skill assessment and virtual reality in their recruitment methods. For example, employees resumes might sometimes be misleading as they wont show the immersive skills in that person. Virtual reality helps to highlight the skills or knowledge necessary to fill a particular position.

Virtual reality is a great tool that helps you test job candidates real-life decision-making skills rather than engaging them in cumbersome behavioural interviews. Virtual reality in recruitment helps to provide candidates with an in-depth understanding of the position they are to fit and their responsibilities. With this tool, candidates are exposed in a way to the company culture before joining.

There are several reasons to implement this innovation in recruitment. They are:

It is essential to employ suitable candidates for your work. However, interviews are not perfect means of measuring how well a candidate can perform in a particular position, as some are shy. Virtual reality helps to break this barrier of uneven judgement as it provides a level ground for all candidates through technology to show their skills.

Although actualizing virtual reality for your workplace might be expensive, when you think about all involved, like hiring programmers, graphic designers and others to help create a virtual reality scenario. There are cheaper reality devices like Daydream virtual reality or Google cardboard that would help satisfy your needs for the time being.

Job candidates can feel more relaxed in a comfortable environment with virtual reality. It is because they feel less scrutinized when going through the interviewing process, which can generally reduce stress levels substantially.

There are some reasons to use VR in recruitment as well; you can read about them below.

Virtual Reality is a Hands-On Practice Concept

Virtual reality offers you the opportunity to learn by doing rather than learning by just observing. Thus, this technology helps to make learning enjoyable and more fun when compared to undergoing tedious conferences.

Virtual Reality is Very Safe

VR allows trainees to complete tedious and dangerous tasks in a completely safe environment comprising all the variables, unlike real-life training, which is controlled.

Virtual Reality is Genuine

Virtual reality helps create the exact environment or scenarios that trainees would go through to handle the job. Furthermore, the scenarios can be built entirely from scratch with complete control of every single variable.

Virtual Reality is Measurable

VR can set benchmarks on how well the trainees or staff should perform and can also show how a persons performance improves or decreases over time.

Virtual Reality is Cost-Effective

Educating or training a large workforce using virtual reality proves cost-effective as staff can be trained remotely using virtual reality headsets.

The use of virtual reality in the present business world cannot be overemphasized, as many companies have been adopting this concept more and more. Moreover, it provides a ground for job seekers to showcase what they can do rather than depending only on their resumes which can be misleading.

Virtual reality also provides a comfortable environment for the training of staff in organizations and companies.

Related

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Virtual Reality is on Duty in Recruiting and Training - The Game Haus

Posted on October 17, 2021 | 11:55 a.m.

Pilot study held at Maravilla senior living facility in Santa Barbara

Residents at a senior living community on the East Coast engage with virtual reality devices. (Rendever)

COVID-19 life has taken a toll on us all, but its hit older adults particularly hard. Separated from family and friends, and less able to travel than before, many seniors have become lonely and depressed.

The pandemic struck just as UC Santa Barbara professors Tamara Afifi and Nancy Collins were conducting a pilot study to determine whether virtual reality (VR) experiences could improve quality of life for seniors and their adult children.

After conducting a phase I pilot study at Maravilla, a senior living community in Santa Barbara, the team has now received $2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to begin a two-year clinical trial.

The question here is basically, what does it mean to age successfully? said Afifi, chair of the Department of Communication. To me it means being able to thrive despite cognitive and physical challenges. Even someone whos bedridden should still be able to thrive, should still be able to challenge themselves, try new things and be innovative.

To that end, Afifi and Collins conducted a small study in 2020 with 21 pairs of Maravilla residents and remote family members usually adult children.

The goal of the project is to test the impact of VR technology on social connection and quality of life for older adults in senior living communities as well as out-of-town family members, said Collins, a professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences.

The long-term goal is to find ways to use innovative technologies to reduce social isolation, strengthen family bonds and improve quality of life for older adults with varying levels of cognitive impairment, she said.

The results showed that joint VR sessions reduced the older adults loneliness, while improving both their mood and their overall quality of life, the researchers said. On the family members side, the activity enhanced mood and also reduced caregiver guilt.

A family is a system, so when you help one person, youre helping the whole family, Afifi said. This is especially true for caregivers, who can bear a particularly heavy burden in terms of stress and guilt.

In the pilot study, the researchers recorded seniors using the VR, capturing their body movements and expressions. They used these data classified and annotated by humans and algorithms in an effort to see how different stages of memory decline correlated with peoples engagement when they were using the VR.

They found older adults with mild cognitive impairment were more kinesthetically engaged in the experience: They moved their bodies more. However, participants with mild to moderate dementia self-reported being more immersed in the experience.

Sometimes, when youre with someone who has dementia, you might think theyre not interested in the thing that theyre doing because their bodies might not be able to express it, Afifi said. But inside, theyre really excited about it; they just might not be able to show it in the way that you expect them to show it.

Based on the pilot studys success, the NIH granted the team funding for a two-year clinical trial. The goal is to rigorously test the social and psychological benefits of VR activities compared with standard video communication to determine if the shared, immersive experiences provide added benefits for older adults and their family members, Collins explained.

The trial will include 200 participant pairs across 12 senior living communities, six in and around Santa Barbara and six in Boston, where their VR partner Rendever is located. The companys CEO, Kyle Rand, is the projects third principal investigator. The east and west coast teams will each collect data from one community at a time.

Each pair of participants will be given a baseline survey and then randomly assigned to either a number of video calls or a series of shared VR experiences once a week for one month. The VR experiences will be similar to those in the pilot study.

For instance, one session will involve reminiscence therapy. The participant will use the VR to revisit their favorite places from the past like childhood neighborhoods or holiday spots alongside their out-of-town family member. The researchers will conduct follow-up interviews with participants first after one month and again after three months.

The pandemic has only highlighted the importance of interpersonal connections to mental health, the researchers noted. Even before the pandemic, loneliness and social isolation among older adults had been a national crisis, Collins said. Conditions over the past year and a half have amplified this crisis and broadened the issue to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Collins hopes the increased exposure and urgency created by the pandemic will compel further research and action on this issue. Now, more than ever, we need to develop creative solutions through technology as well as other pathways to foster social connection even when families and friends must be apart, she said.

Communities like Maravilla were busy, social places before the pandemic, Afifi said, with all sorts of visitors and events. Theres a feeling among many of the residents that theyre still waiting for that energy to return. The participants are really excited about doing this study, she added. They want their lives back.

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Clinical Trial to Examine How Virtual Reality Can Help Older Adults and Their Families - Noozhawk

Virtual reality has moved beyond gaming and is an emerging technology in the treatment of schizophrenia and potentially in shaping the portrayal of this mental health condition for younger generations.

Host Rachel Star Withers, a person living with schizophrenia, and cohost Gabe Howard explore how virtual reality technologies are used to help people with schizophrenia.

Deepak Gopalakrishna, the founder and CEO of virtual reality therapy platform Rey, joins to share how Rey is revolutionizing exposure therapy for people with anxiety, PTSD, depression, and schizophrenia.

And later in the show, Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, the producers of Goliath: Playing with Reality, share the inspiration behind their new award-winning virtual reality movie. Goliath: Playing with Reality is the true story of a mans experience with schizophrenia, and is narrated by Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

Deepak Gopalakrishna

Deepak Gopalakrishna, the founder and CEO of Rey, is a highly accomplished customer-centric innovator. A seasoned entrepreneur with deep expertise in healthcare, AI, blockchain and digital innovation, he has founded and led the growth of seven companies.

With an MBA and a doctorate in genetics and Molecular biology, Deepak has the unique ability to merge the rigor of a scientist with the creativity of an entrepreneur. The vision for Rey was born: Take the best mental health clinicians in the world and transfer their methodologies into user-friendly automated digital treatments. You can find out more at http://www.getrey.com.

May Abdalla

May Abdalla, the co-director, writer, and executive producer of Goliath: Playing with Reality, is an experimental documentary filmmaker who has won numerous awards for her work in the immersive and interactive arts. She founded the production company Anagram in 2013 to explore immersive technologies, especially in the documentary genre.

Barry Gene Murphy, the director and writer of Goliath: Playing with Reality, is an award-winning filmmaker and artist with over 15 years experience in animation, 3D and special effects, and more recently in mixed-reality works.

Barry Gene Murphy

Goliath: Playing with Reality is Available to download for FREE on Oculus now:

Oculus: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/3432432656819712/ Website: https://goliathvr.io/ Discord: https://discord.com/channels/864490434927788072/874057550654472213

Gabe Howard

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations, available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now cant imagine life without. To learn more about Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

Producers Note: Please be mindful that this transcript has been computer generated and therefore may contain inaccuracies and grammar errors. Thank you.

Announcer: Youre listening to Inside Schizophrenia. Hosted by Rachel Star Withers, an advocate who lives openly with Schizophrenia. Were talking to experts about all aspects of life with this condition. Welcome to the show!

Rachel Star Withers: Welcome to Inside Schizophrenia, a Healthline Media podcast, Im your host, Rachel Star Withers here with my incredible co-host Gabe Howard, and this episode of Inside Schizophrenia is sponsored by Intra-Cellular Therapies.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, its always great to be here. Thank you, as always, for having me.

Rachel Star Withers: And, Gabe, last episode, we talked about technology. Our wonderful tech world, and this isnt really a part two, but maybe a little bit were going to get a little bit deeper into a certain type of tech. Let me tell you, Gabe, we are living in the future. Its time to upgrade. So Im pretty excited because today were talking about virtual reality.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, I was not a fan of this topic. First off, virtual reality, I just I have this very 1990s version of virtual reality where it just wasnt very good. And number two, I really struggled to see the application for the treatment of schizophrenia. We have two guests coming up, two incredible guests, that really did an excellent job of showing me not only the treatment applications as it pertains to schizophrenia, but also people who live with schizophrenia have desires and hobbies and need to fill their time just like the rest of us. And I really failed to connect that this is a way for people who are maybe struggling to leave home or maybe dont have a big social group or may be isolated to connect with other people in a very meaningful way. Just right up front, I want to say Gabe was wrong. Rachel was right. This is a common occurrence in our meetings.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, absolutely, Rachel is always right. Just kidding. Whats amazing is that virtual reality has actually been used in a lot of different ways the past, lets say, going on 30 years now to treat mental disorders, whether its fears, anxiety, depression, PTSD and, of course, schizophrenia. But up until now, its been confined to different labs and trials, stuff that the normal everyday people like you and me, Gabe, we wouldnt have access to. But this has been going on kind of behind the scenes for a while and now were starting to have access to it. So we have these incredible guests coming on here in just a little bit. Our first one is Deepak Gopalakrishna, who is the founder and CEO of Rey, R E Y, and that is a virtual reality therapy system. Our second guest coming on a little later in the show are actually the directors and producers of a movie called Goliath: Playing with Reality, and its the true story of a man with schizophrenia and its incredible and were going to hit all of these guests here in just a little bit. But first of all, lets establish what is virtual reality? Because like you said, Gabe, I think some of us are stuck in the 90s. Were not really sure what exactly that even means. Like, are we talking about Tron, the movie? What are we imagining here? Today what were talking about virtual reality is the immersive experiences and usually for the normal consumers, you buy a headset and then you have like two controllers that you, you know, hold in your hands and they have buttons, but they also kind of track your hand motions.

Gabe Howard: And whats important is that the outside world is largely locked out. Right, so think of it like goggles. In fact, I believe theyre called virtual reality goggles, but there are computer generated environment that you see through your headset and what the user sees and hears is only presented through that headset. So its not like playing a video game where you can talk to your buddies. Its largely immersive. Obviously, if somebody taps you on the shoulder, thats from the outside world, but its just a much more immersive experience than your typical console video game that you would play on your television.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, completely different than just kind of looking at a screen. With the head set, it is like three sixty. So when you turn your head like youre looking around in the environment, if you were to look downwards at your feet, youre going to see whatever it is they want you to see. So you usually see the floor of the environment, you look up, you see the sky of that environment thats been created. And its much more, I guess, in depth. As far as like the visual field, when I tried it out, well get into, it didnt look like I was just looking at a screen. It definitely was like you could reach out into the environment and feel like you could interact with it.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, would you say another good example would be similar to the 3- D experience at like our local cinema?

Rachel Star Withers: I wish I could say it was like that, but its so much better.

Gabe Howard: Ok.

Rachel Star Withers: Its technology has come so far. That is honestly what I thought it would be like was kind of like that little 3-D like, Oh, no stuff popping out at you. But where were at now, as far as like what me and you can buy on the market for virtual reality, is incredibly impressive.

Gabe Howard: And just to make sure that were on the same page with what were talking about, the headset that Rachel used cost approximately $350. It stands alone. You obviously need content for it, but the hardware is approximately $350. Its not a $10,000 headset running on a $10,000 computer connected to a $10,000 mainframe. Its relatively inexpensive considering everything that you get and its so immersive that it can actually provide exposure therapy. I know Ive stolen the lead from you, Rachel, but what does virtual reality used to treat right now?

Rachel Star Withers: Theres three different ways that VR is being used currently to treat different mental disorders, one of them is exposure therapy, like you said, and thats where it puts you into the situation. Its really great for people who have social anxiety, phobias, fears because they can, like, put you in a bus, they can put you in a subway terminal. Different things like that. Another thing that theyre using it for is cognitive therapy, which we know and love. If youve been to any sort of therapist, youve done some sort of cognitive therapy exercises. Theyre finding new ways to implement pretty much that into the video game atmosphere. But that 360 and I honestly, I do get a little annoyed when I go to the therapist, you know, and they hand me like a journal to fill out. Like it gets kind of old, you know, the fiftieth time you filled out a journal exercise for cognitive therapy. So some of these ones for the virtual reality are like nothing Ive ever experienced. Im hoping more therapists look into this area because I would love the next time I go to a therapy session them to hand me like a video game to do instead of a journal with a little cartoon person on it. Anyway, the other way virtual reality is being used is social skills, and they have seen some amazing areas as far as helping people with autism, adults and children, learning how to function in social situations. And theyre just starting to use the social skill areas for people with schizophrenia, especially if youre coming out of an extended stay in a mental hospital or something. You know, a lot of us have to, kind of, readjust to society. If youre coming off your first major psychotic episode, its scary because you lose a lot of that confidence you had previously. So very interesting ways theyre finding that people of all different backgrounds can use VR.

Gabe Howard: And remember, this is science, this is being studied, it is being looked at, somebody didnt just take a VR headset, plop it on somebody and say, Oh, were accomplishing things. Like everything, it may work for you. It may not work for you. It may work on some issues. It may not work on other issues. Its emerging science, its emerging technology. And as Im very fond of saying in the real world, your mileage may vary, but its exciting to think that new things are coming out because, as Rachel said, if somebody hands her a pencil and paper and tells her to keep a journal one more time, shes going to scream. And largely we have found this in the schizophrenia community that theyre just being asked to do the same things over and over and over again. And while nobody can guarantee that this can work, at least its something new. And for many people who are experiencing, you know that hitting the wall or they want to move past it or whatever, its exciting. And I wanted to point all that out because the guest that you interviewed, Rachel, has been studying this and implementing this for a long time. Hes an expert, and you talked to him. Set him up.

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, so Deepak Gopalakrishna, he is the founder of Rey, and this is pretty much the first platform available to lay folks like us, Gabe, to do VR therapy. Rey is also connected with the Oxford VR and really incredible the stuff that Oxford, the university, has been doing in this area, focusing on trying to help people with different mental disorders, especially schizophrenia, find new ways to treat it using virtual reality.

Gabe Howard: Awesome. All right, well, here we go.

Rachel Star Withers: Joining us now is Deepak Gopalakrishna, who is the CEO and founder of a brand new system called Rey. Thank you so much for being with us, Deepak. Now, right away, I need to ask what is Rey? Tell our listeners what exactly this platform is.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Sure, but also, thank you for having me on, Rachel. Its really a pleasure to be here. So, Rey is essentially what we term as Mental Health 3.0, where we want to give everyone access to high quality care.

Rachel Star Withers: And what is unique about Rey?

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Theres a couple of things that we have done and that we are built on top of that is very, very unique. When you think about sort of the first iteration of mental health care that was I drive to a doctors office, I park in the parking lot, I walk into the room and I sit down on their chair or on the couch, right? And I talk to someone and maybe we unpack a few problems, etc. Where we are today, for the most part, is I do almost the same thing, except I dont leave my house. I sit here on a Zoom call like we are today and sit in a Zoom room, essentially recapturing the same room, except Im sitting on my own couch. But its still the same thing, and its still you dont know whether youre seeing the right person, whether that person is actually going to get you better. And theres also the next component of that, which is you see that person in the environment within which you need to see that person. So for example, if you want to build up confidence around other people, you dont want to do that just in a one on one setting in a Zoom room. You want to do that on a crowded bus, right? You want to do that in a doctors office. And thats what we do. We would take that person, we download them into a virtual environment and we create the virtual environment that allows people to do everything from sort of, make eye contact, be more confident, challenge things like persecutory beliefs, for example, right? Because it isnt just exposure that solves the thing that you need to solve. You have to practice the skills. You have to be able to be coached to practice those skills in those environments. And thats fundamentally what separates us; access to the high quality clinician in a scalable way, and the ability to do that in the environment within which you need to do it in. And thats actually what gets people better because, and you probably know this, is you can spend years in therapy in a room and never actually be able to translate that into real life.

Rachel Star Withers: To put us in that situation, whats really innovative is that youre using virtual reality, the headsets and everything. Now, tell us, how does that part work?

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Yes, to sort of give people those tools, we create virtual reality environments that actually just demoing our fear of heights product yesterday to someone and we put them on a suspension bridge,

Rachel Star Withers: Wow.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Right? And let them sort of move across the suspension bridge to the coach and the coach is sort of giving them instructions from the other side. We create the programs, Daniel Freeman, our scientific founder, one of the foremost thought leaders in psychosis, for example, he starts with a clinical brief. We have the artist. We have the engineers. We have other clinicians who all collaborate to build this. We test that in a clinical setting to make sure that it is actually delivering the right kind of outcomes. For example, our fear of heights, it decreases peoples fear of heights by 70% almost in about four weeks, and its just better than pretty much anything else out there, right? Our persecutory delusions that allows people to challenge those persecutory delusions that decreases it by 40% within several sessions. Our social avoidance for psychosis or social avoidance for social anxiety, were dropping it by 50% within six weeks. I mean, these types of things just dont happen in any other way. So we build those things. We test that in clinical settings and then we put those into VR headsets and people who join our clinic, we actually send them headsets and itll show up at your house. Youll have a coach who guides you into sort of actually putting on the headset. I mean, these things are relatively new technology, right? So we help people sort of get into it. And then we have coaching sessions and therapy sessions that are combined with the sessions that you do with the best in the world at what youre trying to get better at.

Rachel Star Withers: Well, what made my ears perk up just now when you were saying that the way youre dealing with delusions. Here at Inside Schizophrenia, a lot of people with schizophrenia, obviously, we deal with delusions, hallucinations. Can you tell us a little bit more about the delusions application?

Deepak Gopalakrishna: And we actually get people to challenge their persecutory delusion beliefs, the belief systems. You have a therapist there with you and you have other people around, youre sort of encouraged and motivated to get closer to that person, make eye contact. So it allows you to challenge those beliefs that these things are actually dangerous for you. And by doing that and sort of doing that in multiple different scenarios, whether thats in a train or in a lift or in a variety of other areas, what we found is that within several sessions we were able to decrease the PSYRATS scores and the outcome score is by about 40%, almost half. It is by challenging those beliefs rather than encouraging the safety behaviors which people often exhibit. Lets get you out of sort of exhibiting those safety behaviors. Lets get you out of sort of exhibiting those safety behaviors, lets highly challenge those beliefs. Lets help you do that in an environment where those quote unquote threats might exist so that when you actually come out of that, you have essentially rewired the brain. The brain is an amazing sort of place. The plasticity of the human brain is exceptional, right? It can learn a lot of new things. Same thing with social avoidance is this building confidence, building of self-assurance, being able to make that eye contact, interacting with other human beings and getting over those fears through a lot of different activities that we might do that essentially take the trigger that elicits that response and reprogram the brain to actually build a new memory.

Rachel Star Withers: Very interesting, I feel some of this its almost a little scary when you think about like what youre saying, like reprograming, pretty much the brain. But I also think that most of us who have schizophrenia or very serious mental disorder, especially ones that deal with psychosis, thats our every day. Were constantly, our reality is already kind of distorted. So I think thats one of the most interesting things when it comes to the idea of treating people who struggle with what is reality and then treating it with virtual reality. Its almost like kind of meeting us where were already at.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: And youre absolutely right, and the brain does perceive. Its the perception of reality, right? Its amazing how it perceives it as real, even though you know that it is not real. But its that its the training and the practice and the cognitive behavioral therapy that happens within these environments that allow us to decrease those types of physiological responses and sort of get the brain back into perceiving things as they should be perceived or as you want to perceive them so as to live more of a normal life. I mean, thats the end goal.

Rachel Star Withers: Rey does seem like another level. And it seems like youre able to actually do these exercises.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Absolutely. We lets think of it in terms of modalities. You have talk therapy, which is what you do in the Zoom room. You have medication management because I think there is a role for medication. And then what we have is a third modality, which is the ability to practice the skills in the environment that you need to practice that skills. So we offer those first two, but we actually bring an entirely sort of new modality to the table that just fundamentally changes the game and gives people the ability to translate those skills into real life.

Rachel Star Withers: How do you see using Rey for the treatment of schizophrenia?

Deepak Gopalakrishna: It isnt necessarily for a diagnosis per say, but every diagnosis has symptoms and processes that are impacted, right? So you might have social avoidance. You might not want to go meet other people. You might have persecutory delusions or beliefs. You might have other threat factors. You might also have other phobias or you might have attention issues, worry issues, right? So we build programs that actually address those inherent things that people are feeling. So its for prosecutorial delusions, its for worry, its for rumination, its for attention deficit to address those threat beliefs. The social avoidant behaviors also

Rachel Star Withers: Oh, yes.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Is relatively prevalent in schizophrenia, so thats also something thats really well tested. We had like a 500 person clinical trial. This really, really nice stories that were going to be able to tell pretty soon. Thats sort of how we think for psychosis and schizophrenia that we actually do have tools that no one else has.

Rachel Star Withers: How can our listeners learn more about Rey if theyre interested in getting part of the program, if theyre interested in talking to their doctor about maybe using Rey somehow? Tell them what to do.

Deepak Gopalakrishna: Talk to your doctor. Give them the information, its at GetRey.com, so G E T R E Y .com. So you can either access it directly through our clinicians or, you know, see if your doctor can reach out to us. And were always super happy to work with clinicians around the world. Were happy to work directly with individuals. So theres lots of different avenues to reach out to us. We have our own clinicians in-house, so we have therapists, highly qualified therapists who know the space. Our scientific co-founder is one of the foremost thought leaders in the space as well, so its built very specifically for folks who are who are dealing with this in their lives. So either through our website or even having your doctor call us or drop us a note, have them drop me a note, Im happy to talk to them directly, right? Its Deepak@OxfordVR.org, and we can get a get a headset out to you.

Rachel Star Withers: Well, thank you so much for joining us, Deepak. Its wonderful speaking with you.

Gabe Howard: Great interview, Rachel, now you talked a lot about therapy, but what did you gain as far as in therapy, in the schizophrenia space from that interview?

Rachel Star Withers: I was absolutely enamored when he talked about the use of Rey and VR for delusions and thats something that I know many of us with schizophrenia struggle with. And its something thats very hard to deal with. You know, outside of medication, it is. Its hard to find like any sort of therapy to help you with the delusion other than like writing about it. You know, its like, OK. I want to try that out. When he mentioned that right away, I want to be like, sign me up. I would love a new type of therapy to try something to help me with, like delusional thoughts. Another area would be the paranoia. Many of us who have the, outdated, terms for schizophrenia, but I originally was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. I dont even know how they would begin to acknowledge, you know, my personal symptom with the paranoia, but I would love to find out.

Gabe Howard: One of the things that I think is important to reiterate is this is virtual reality therapy. Its not something that you just grab on your own and you do without guidance. So people with schizophrenia that are doing this are doing it in conjunction with a therapist, medical personnel. Theyre not just downloading weird apps and declaring that theyre going through therapy because theyve taken a virtual reality program. Thats something that I took away from this interview. Just its just another therapy just happens to use virtual reality. But a question that came up that I wanted to ask you, Rachel, is if somebody with schizophrenia is having trouble distinguishing from reality or delusions or hallucinations, is virtual reality OK for them? Because I know that you struggle with different types of hallucinations and delusions, and you have spoken very highly of virtual reality. But wasnt that difficult for you? What was your experience with virtual reality?

Rachel Star Withers: Whats fascinating to me is that so many times people have brought this up to me in the past and I really couldnt answer because I had never tried it myself, but people would be like, Oh well, do you even think youd be able to tell the difference? Or what if you got stuck in the virtual reality? Because I have gotten kind of stuck for periods of times in a psychotic episode. You know, and in my mind, I was kind of like, that probably wouldnt happen, but I never tried it for myself. Now that I have, and I was incredibly impressed with where tech is nowadays. No. No, I dont think anyone with schizophrenia is going to get stuck in the virtual reality, no more than I would get stuck playing, you know, my super NES Mario Game. Um, you know, growing up when I would play video games, I would never turn off the Nintendo and think, OK, Im Mario, lets go plumb. You know? I mean, that just wasnt a thing. It was the exact same way. When I took the headset off, its over. I feel personally that people with schizophrenia really would not have a problem telling the difference between virtual reality and the world around them. Our issue is that the world around us is what gets confusing. I liken it to watching a movie that Im really, really into. Once the movie is over, though, I dont still think Im in the movie. I dont still think Im watching it. I understand that its over. Now, of course, these are my experiences. Yes, if Im in the middle of a psychotic episode where I keep thinking that my arm is crawling away from me and my mom is trying to get me to stay in the bed because Im not making sense, no one should put a VR headset on me. So, yeah, I do think there needs to be a line. But at the same time, if Im in that state, you probably shouldnt turn on The Exorcist and put it in front of me playing on the TV.

Gabe Howard: Theres safety concerns with everything,

Rachel Star Withers: Yes, yes.

Gabe Howard: Whether its VR therapy, whether its cognitive behavioral therapy, whether its group therapy. That makes perfect sense. People with any sort of illness are not always capable of doing the things when theyre symptomatic that theyre not able to do. You know, if I have the flu and I have 103 degree temperature, you probably shouldnt put a virtual reality headset on me, either.

Rachel Star Withers: Something that you should also take into account for my people with schizophrenia out there. It probably isnt the best idea to run out and like buy a headset and try and do all this on your own. You do need a therapist kind of helping you, to debrief you. The other thing is that even just playing certain games could trigger some troubling thoughts. If youre prone to suicidal ideation and tendencies, it very well could trigger some of those in you. So I do stress that if you have schizophrenia, be careful. Dont try and just go out and buy a headset and download a bunch of content that, yeah, it could cause some problems. And I say all this, Gabe, because what do you think one of the first games I downloaded was when I bought the headset?

Gabe Howard: Oh, Rachel.

Rachel Star Withers: It was a horror game, and of course, I like scrolled

Gabe Howard: [Sigh]

Rachel Star Withers: Through and I was like, you know, Im like reading the ratings. Theyre like made for teens, teen. Im like, Whatever, Im an adult. Oh, this ones very mature. Let me buy it. That was some money down the drain. I jumped so hard that the headset flew off and landed on the floor and I was like, I cant play that again. That was a little too intense for me. The graphic, even though I knew it was fake, it was a little too much because and I want to say this, I do think its important for people out there who are running out to try a VR headset, you cant look away. And thats what struck me and actually made the game very unnerving for me was that it wasnt like watching a scary movie. You know, where I can look to the side is because Im wearing the headset, there is no looking away. And I do think that is something very important to stress to people out there who do have problems with visual hallucinations like I do. They love to just kind of be like right around the corner. So the game? Yeah, it played on that a little. So I do want to let people know that it can be a little jarring. Please be careful what you download. Yeah, and, dont do what Rachel did.

Gabe Howard: Rachel, I always knew that you would become a cautionary tale. Dont try this at home.

Rachel Star Withers: And now, a word from our sponsors.

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Rachel Star Withers: And were back talking about virtual reality in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Gabe Howard: Our next guest is super cool and, full disclosure, we met them when they contacted Inside Schizophrenia because they had questions about schizophrenia, and Rachels voice actually appears in the virtual reality experience. Now its narrated by Tilda Swinton, who is several levels above Rachel Star Withers. But you still shared space with Ms. Swinton, so I think that is super cool. Rachel, can you tell us about our next guest?

Rachel Star Withers: So actually, they were in contact with me over a year ago, and they found us through the podcast, Inside Schizophrenia. And the director, writer, producers listened to the podcast to kind of help them understand schizophrenia. Actually there is a clip inside of the movie. I dont really know what I am. Maybe a brain stem? If you are playing the movie, my voice does pop up a little bit, just a small snippet. And at the time, I had no clue how big this was going to get. You know, Gabe, youre very popular, and I know so many people message us asking, Hey, Im writing a movie, Im writing a book, I want to understand schizophrenia, bipolar. People from all walks of life, students. So when they reached out to me, I honestly, I mean, I didnt know its was just like a student film? What it was? But I treat everyone the same. So its been very exciting for me to see this turned into something big because most of the time I never even hear back from the people who ask for my help. This has been really incredible, and they were very respectful when they talked to me, the questions that they asked. I was just very impressed. And to see what the movie actually was, that it didnt exploit people with schizophrenia has been just absolutely wonderful.

Gabe Howard: Well, Rachel, you sat down with the creators and had a very cool conversation, lets go ahead and play that interview and see what they discussed.

Rachel Star Withers: Excited right now to be speaking with Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, who are the directors and producers of Goliath: Playing with Reality. Thank you both so much for being here.

Barry Gene Murphy: Thanks for having us.

Rachel Star Withers: Before we even get into the movie / game / virtual reality experience, you guys just won something really big. Tell us about that.

May Abdalla: We won the Grand Jury Prize for VR at the Venice International Film Festival last week.

Rachel Star Withers: I was stalking the Instagrams, and I think I saw a picture there of maybe was it you with Penelope Cruz?

Barry Gene Murphy: Thats in the press room, that was kind of crazy. She just walked in and sat down next to me. Yeah.

Rachel Star Withers: Im actually like a huge fan of hers, so like a minute like that little picture popped up, I was like, Oh wow, no, this is legit.

Barry Gene Murphy: It was great.

May Abdalla: Yeah, it was. It was mad, it was like the proper paparazzi red carpet experience.

Barry Gene Murphy: Yeah.

Rachel Star Withers: Well, that is incredible, and that was pretty much Goliaths, thats its first big showing? Or second or third?

May Abdalla: No, that was the premiere, the premiere was at Venice, and now its live on the Oculus Store. It will continue to tour, but that was the beginning of its journey.

Rachel Star Withers: Well, first, tell us what exactly is Goliath?

May Abdalla: So Goliath is a 25 minute virtual reality experience that tells the story of a man called John, who is Goliath, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, spends seven years in an institution and when he comes out, is pretty isolated, but then discovers the world of online gaming. So its an exploration both of kind of his story of this management of this unreal world of psychosis and the kind of non-reality of games, but also it uses VR to explore kind of how we create our perceptions of reality and like, how do we piece our stories together?

Rachel Star Withers: Why this story? Why did you decide that we want to bring Johns story to life?

Barry Gene Murphy: Like John is a friends brother, and I heard this story from him like about 10 years ago when he was fresh out of hospital and my friend didnt recognize his brother and his slurred speech, his gait, his just his countenance was just it was such a change in the way, even though hed been visiting like, you know, out in the real world, is like a fish out of water. And what happened was when he noticed he was playing online games, he was his old self again. He was in the world and he was witty. He was like the old, the old John. That story kind of like just caught on to me, and I just I thought I wanted to make like an animated documentary about it because VR hadnt really been out in the world. And then me and May worked together on a couple of VR projects. And I kind of convinced May that this would be a good idea, the story, because it just kept coming back. And then the more we kind of wrote the idea out and planned it and thought about it, the more active for VR it became, you know, it started to write itself.

May Abdalla: And I think for me, the question was like, Well, you know, you dont really want to use VR for a story where it felt like really critical, really meaningful. And many people know somebody whos experienced something like psychosis. And I think the idea of trying to tell that story, kind of an ordinary story, meant to give it the justice of the form or just really trying to get inside of something which, you know, when its in cinema, its like super dramatized and really extreme. And then people actually who are experiencing it kind of get ignored and have to kind of get through really difficult experiences kind of alone. And we started.

Barry Gene Murphy: The more we dug into it, the more we realized that actually in the media, the representation of conditions like this is really terrible, you know what I mean? And people have quite a bad in-built bias to it. And we wanted to tell an everyday story we wanted to like, just put people in. This is how it is with this person, and its largely positive. You know what I mean? Were not trying to make you pity anybody. Were not trying to victimize the person. Were just trying to show how they live, whats good for them. How gaming is good for them. And, you know, and then also ask you like, how sure are you of your reality?

Rachel Star Withers: One of the things I love about, and Im going to say experience, because like, movie and game dont really justify it, so well go with experience, is that it has nothing to do with horror. I think most of the time, if you were to hear, Hey, do you want to play a game about a schizophrenic person in a psych ward? Youre expecting it to be a horror or a horror type game. Im expecting like mental patients like coming out of the walls and, you know?

Barry Gene Murphy: OK. Yeah. Bedlam.

Rachel Star Withers: Yeah, and if you watch or experience Goliath, it avoids all of that stuff. And I loved that being someone with schizophrenia. I just got to ask though, like, were you tempted to kind of add some horror to it? Or like, how did that go?

Barry Gene Murphy: Actually, at the beginning, we were never tempted to because its so uncomfortable anyway, that like to make someone uncomfortable in that space is just a step too far. Were not ready for it in a way. Its like we even have Tilda in the intro as Echo saying, its a cheap trick. Because we do a split second of horror and then we go, but thats just a cheap trick, you know? So we were definitely not in any way interested in scaring people. If anything, we wanted them to feel the sublime like horror. But like, you know, from an eternal perspective, you know, like because the fear of your mental illness is forever, you know what I mean? That there is a kind of terminal kind of fear. We were kind of more interested in portraying that kind of idea, but not scaring people out of their wits.

May Abdalla: I also think that when people are scared and Im often scared in VR because Im such a scaredy cat. At some point when we were testing playing back your voice and I had recorded my own voice saying my own name to me and putting it in the mix. And actually, I jumped out of my skin when I heard it again because I was so easily scared, I thought somebody was in the room talking to me. I think the problem with introducing fear into something like this is we really wanted people to feel like they could listen and engage and think and kind of enter the kind of compassionate space. And when youre scared, you really cant listen.

Rachel Star Withers: And just for our listeners out there, when I was doing the experience, I have to say, I was at no point ever scared or fearful of anything, really. The word that comes to me was wonder. I was very impressed with how you guys presented the experience, and it was almost just like, Wow, there is so much going on here because you pretty much take us inside of a persons brain, you know, the best we can. And I really, though, that was the word that came to me was, Wow, this is incredible. This is like just wonder all around me.

May Abdalla: Thats, thank you, thats amazing.

Barry Gene Murphy: Yeah.

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Podcast: Virtual Reality for the Treatment of Schizophrenia - PsychCentral.com