Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Area company uses virtual reality to transport patients and fitness buffs to new places Kansas City Business Journal Virtual reality isn't just for entertainment. OmniLife Virtual Reality is offering VR for more. iStock/Michal Krakowiak. A North Kansas City company wants to use technology to help patients visit new and exciting, or old and familiar, places.

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Area company uses virtual reality to transport patients and fitness buffs to new places - Kansas City Business Journal

Milpitas Unified School District classrooms with the aid of virtual reality technology, have become portals for students to experience the Apollo Mission to the moon alongside Neil Armstrong, to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex up close or to visit parts of the country and world they have only read about.

What used to be two-dimension viewing experiences through photos or video are now fully immersive learning experiences, allowing students to literally step into events, like watching former President Barack Obama giving a speech at Yosemite National Park last summer.

Last summer, Milpitas Unified acquired $6,000 worth of virtual realty technology. The district then began what Chin Song, the districts director of technology services, calls the research and development phase of implementing virtual technology as a supplemental tool to teaching. During the last school year, the technology was taken into classrooms on an on-call basis. Song expects the number of requests to use the technology to increase with this school year, which begins Aug. 17.

Song explained that there are two versions of virtual reality being used: Oculus, a fully immersive experience which pairs a powerful computer with handheld controls; and Google Cardboard virtual reality, which requires a phone to be put into a visual unit for a partially interactive experience.

The acquisition of the units was basically on the idea that virtual reality and augmented reality will be the next phase of computingso having that immersive nature of getting information and ideas and also connecting people, Song said in an interview with the Post. He added it will also broaden how students think and view things, when they go from seeing things as two-dimensional on a page or screen to three-dimensional around them, the learning opportunities are just fantastic.

Since last summer, a few teachers have used Occulus virtual reality, while teachers at multiple sites have used the cardboard virtual reality in some way, additionally several teachers have had Google Expeditions, where entire classes are able to take a virtual field trip, Song said.

With Occulus, in which one person puts on a headset and can use different applications on a computer to immerse in different experiences, one application in particular interested the special education department in Milpitas Unified and William Burnett Elementary School student Gianna Ciardella. An application that simulates the visual and auditory experience of someone with autism.

Ciardella, who wants to be an elementary special education teacher when she grows up, teamed up with the special education and technology departments in February to introduce her classmates to what it is like for a person with autism to process incoming sensory information.

This was meant to supplement a sensory tool kit that she created as part of her class genius hour, where students create something useful. The toolkit includes a variety of items to support students with autism in the classroom with noise-cancellation headphones and a number of fidget toys, among other things.

Marissa Ciardella, program manager for student services and special education in the district and step-mother to Gianna, said it was the districts hope to bring more of these experiences districtwide in order to better understand students and their peers with disabilities. She said the use of virtual reality technology to provide experiences like the one showing just one of the experiences of someone with autism, could do wonders to help further understanding and create empathy districtwide.

Ciardella said while school districts in the past have aimed to keep students with disabilities separated from general population students, districts like Milpitas are aiming to be inclusive.

Inclusive practices are embracing community and including students with disabilities in general education classrooms, Ciardella said.

As the virtual reality technology gets better and more efficient Song said the use of virtual reality in classrooms will become wide-ranging and more prevalent.

We are still very much in the research and development stage, what value we will get out is a combination of the software that is available and how our teachers are able to tie that into their instructional practices, Song said.

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Milpitas: Virtual reality technology take students to a land far, far away - The Mercury News

A general overview of Virtual Reality is given and its relevance to business in 2017. Applications of VR in recent years which offer new opportunities and value propositions are listed for each industry, with a case study analysed. Strategies for navigating Virtual Reality as a enterprise software or IT services company are assessed and the imperative for both to invest and experiment is explained.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a set of technologies with create immersive experiences through digital simulation. VR exists on a spectrum of digital experiences from reality to full digital immersion. Breakthroughs in computing performance, hardware economies of scale and 3D expertise have enabled a resurgence of VR's promise in recent years, and 2017 could mark the beginning of VR's hockey stick growth trajectory.

Companies across vertical industries are testing and implementing different applications of VR from pure branding exercises through to training and customer service optimization. The Healthcare, Defense, Manufacturing and Automotive sectors have plenty of historical experience with simulation technologies including VR. However, the current wave of software innovation, low price point for hardware and growing developer ecosystem bring radical new possibilities at a much lower cost.

There are many unexplored opportunities in VR across training, media and simulation. Each industry may find new solutions to their own unique challenges. Experimentation is key to finding the biggest opportunities for innovation. This dynamic may be led by content and media platform producers over single-product startups, given the efficiency benefits of reused assets and optimizations for realism in VR. Facebook and Google have already made bold strides towards this future with Social VR application experimentation and YouTube experience respectively.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction to Virtual Reality

3. Virtual Reality Hardware, Development, and Distribution

4. Virtual Reality Content and Industry Applications

5. Key in Virtual Reality

6. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

7. The Last Word

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ll5j92/global_virtual

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Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

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Global Virtual Reality Ecosystem Markets and Trends 2017 - Immersive Technologies Creating New Opportunities ... - PR Newswire (press release)

Samsung andLive Nationwill broadcast Coldplays A Head Full of Dreams Tour live in virtual reality from Chicagos Soldier Field onAugust 17, starting at9:30 pm ET.

Fans using Samsung Gear VR in more than 50 countries will need a Gear VR headset with a compatible Samsung smartphone, and navigate to the Samsung VR service. A concert replay will also be available on Samsung VR for a limited time.

Through our industry-leading VR hardware and platform ecosystem, we are thrilled to offer Samsung Gear VR owners access to premium, immersive live entertainment and experiences in full 360, saidMichael Schmier, Vice President of Content and Services, Samsung Electronics America. Live Nation is a trailblazer when it comes to producing live virtual reality concerts, and weve been excited to bring Coldplay into the mix since announcing our collaboration with Samsung and Gear VR in late May,added Kevin Chernett, Executive Vice President, Global Partnerships and Content Distribution, Live Nation.

Coldplay has performed before 5 million fans on its Head Full of Dreams Tour since its launch in March of last year, according to promoter Live Nation.

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Samsung and Live Nation to Stream Coldplay's Chicago Concert in Virtual Reality - Variety

Any medium is an advertising medium, so the industry is now waking up to the prospect of advertising in virtual reality.

A growing number of experimental technologies are trying to place advertising in VR, a technology that still lags behindaugmented reality (think Pokmon Go) and mixed reality (a 3D version of AR).

Unity, a VR development company, announced last month it would launch Virtual Room, an ad network of sorts that lets brands to place ads across VR apps. The company worked with Lionsgate to use the platform for the upcoming movie Jigsaw, so people will see ads in an immersive VR experience.

Thats a step ahead ofbrands current forays in VR, which have mostlybeen standalone experiences and not ads. For example, USA Networkcreated a VR experience that let fans of its show, Mr. Robot, venture deeper into the dystopian world the showinhabits. Korean company Innisfree let people take a VR bicycle ride through Jeju Island, which is known for its natural wonders. Samsung, in a bid to increase attention for its VR products, created Bedtime VR Stories that let parents and kids go on far-flung adventures right from their bedrooms.

Another big player in the VR ad bonanza will, of course, be Google. In late June, it announced it was working on native, mobile VR ad formats at Area 120, its workshop for new, experimental ideas.

The first experimental idea is a cube that VR users will see. When a user taps it or looks at it for slightly too long, it will open a video player the user can watch.

Google is asking VR developers to apply to Google if theyre interested in testing the format.

VR ad formats should be easy for developers to implement, native to VR, flexible enough to customize and useful and non-intrusive for users, developers Aayush Upadhyay and Neel Rao wrote in a blog post about the cube.

But like most things in advertising, the hype is so far unfounded.

A Forrester Research report found that 42 percent of adults in the U.S. have never heard ofVR headsets. A report by Yes Lifecycle Marketing found just 8 percent of marketers are using VR in ads, with 35 percent saying they have no intentions to use it. Widespread adoption is years off. According to Deutsche Bank, there will be 154 million mobile VR usersby 2020. By then, hardwarewill have improved and gaming and entertainment companies will have increased their use ofthe technology, with othersfollowing suit, according to Forrester analyst Samantha Merlivat.

A lot of it is just about how slow the consumer adoption rate is, said Joe Croson, director of interactive production at BBDO, which last year debuted a traveling VR experience for AT&T and Toms that let people take a virtual shoe-giving trip to Colombia. Because so few people ownheadsets, he sees the most promise in brands have to put their ads in an installation where people can experience it.

Cost is another hurdle. While brands would love immersive, entertaining ad formats that people actually want to watch, VR ads can be pricey. Time and money is spent at just the concept stage, even beforeresearch and development and production costs come in.

In a Forrester report,Ogilvy innovation director Dayon Daumont said for a high-quality VR experience, brands need to spend $500,000 just for content creation. Meanwhile, the reportestimated the cost to createa 360-degree video, which is considered VR-light, runs between $10,000 and $100,000.

Jourdain May, senior content producer at The Program in Portland, Oregon, said brands can cut costs can be cut by doing 360-degree video, which doesnt require a headset as VR does. Focusing on things like spatial sound design, branded interactive menu selections and noise-canceling headphones can make the video feel more like reality youre there in the scene,May said. Cameras with multiple lenses will do the 360 stitching internally and spit out an image that can be posted directly to social media, May added.

Thats why 360 ads are slightly ahead of the market. Many companies now create sponsor ads. One is VirtualSky, which makes five- to 10-second 360-degree experiences that play when someone is in the middle of VR content. The company also makes longer ads up to 30 seconds long. Viewability is not an issue, companies say, since the advertising literally surrounds viewers. VirtualSky recently worked with Posts Fruity Pebbles cereal for a 30-second pre-roll spot that sprays viewers with water and hits them with dodge balls. Other brands such asBMW and AT&T have all used 360-degree film, which is supported on YouTube and Facebook.

For Croson, the ideal approach now isto make experiential VR ads like BBDO did with AT&T, which can be watched usingGoogles inexpensiveVR headset, Cardboard,then shoot 360-degree videos for Facebook or YouTube, which dont require any headset. Platform developers need to provide more of the technology and adoption needs to get there, he said. Gaming is driving forward a lot of this interest, but were a waysbehind. And so people find that a 360-degree video is a more effective way, or mixed reality.

What may drive intent for brands to create VR ads will be the technology itself catching up.

Weve seen the most success with 360-video and VR-type work when the client finds the right opportunity to use immersive experience, said May. If its not something that would be best communicated through an immersive experience, then stick to traditional mediums.

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Virtual reality ads are still more hype than reality - Digiday

In Brief Startup Neurable just unveiled the first virtual reality game that users can control with their minds. The game is just one example of the rapidly growing field of tech based on brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Telekinetic Powers

Part of the appeal of virtual reality (VR) is the ability to control the digital world using only your hands and simple movements. Startup company Neurable, in collaboration with the Madrid-based company Estudiofuture, is eliminating controllers and hand movements altogether with their first game:Awakening, which aims to show what its like to have telekinetic abilities.

Neurable Vice President Michael Thompson announced the game last week ahead of its appearance at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH. The game, set to be released in VR arcades in 2018, has a story similar to that of the Netflix series Stranger Things:You are a child held prisoner in a government science laboratory. You discover that experiments have endowed you with telekinetic powers. You must use those powers to escape your cell, defeat the robotic prison guards, and free yourself from the lab.

Speaking with IEEE Spectrum, Neurable CEO Ramses Alcaide explained that his companys headset strap, attached to a modified HTC Vive headset, uses several electrodes positioned in specific areas that detect brain signals known as event-related potentials. These small electric changes in the brain are tied to movements, sensory experiences, or thoughts as they happen.

Though Neurables technology might be exciting for gamers, such brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are being researched for much more widespread applications: from neuroscience research to mind-controlled web development, to brainwave-based marketing and tracking brain activity the way many track their steps. The technology is also being developed to help those with locked-in syndrome unable to move or talk communicate with the outside world.

Some researchers have expressed skepticism that this technology can ever be commercially viable; Jack Gallant, head of UC Berkeleys Neuroscience Lab, told theGuardianitwas conceptually trivial but just about impossible to do due to the difficulty of decoding brain signals through the thick human skull. But Alcaide seems to think the ease with which people have usedAwakeningbodes well for the techs future.

A lot of people come in highly skeptical, because BCI has been a disappointment so many times before, Alcaide told IEEE. But as soon as they grab an object, theres a smile that comes over their faces. You can see the satisfaction that it really works.

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The First Mind-Controlled Virtual Reality Game Has Arrived - Futurism

The virtual reality revolution is here. A new generation of VR headsets brings immersion to new levelsthe feeling of presence, of actually being in another place. Instead of watching a computer screen that seeks to emulate reality, VR feels like reality. You turn your head and see a nurse standing to your right. You look down and see a patient. You hear the sound of the MRI machine to your left. Room-scale positional tracking allows you to physically walk around and see your hands for realistic interaction and haptic feedback.

Consider a recent front page Wall Street Journal feature that examines VRs critical role in the future of brain surgery training. I can figure out how best to approach a tumor and practice it so that when I get into the operation, its as if Ive been there before, said Dr. Gary Steinberg, Stanford Universitys head of neurosurgery.

No doubt, VR technology is hacking our senses of sight, hearing, and feeling to create an intense and convincing sense of presence in the virtual reality that is unrivaled by any other medium. All for the cost of just a few hundred dollars for each hardware headset, and software cost is dropping precipitously as well. In fact, medical virtual reality simulators can be created for any task thats too dangerous, expensive, or inconvenient to practice in real life.

VR offers embodied cognition, which means learning with your mind and body, and numerous research studies have confirmed the importance of activating the muscle memory. Its no surprise that every medical student learns and practices with cadavers and in high-fidelity simulation labs with mannequins and actors.

Virtual reality offers these embodied experiences and more. One thing VR does better is to change scale and perspective. Users can travel inside the human body and explore it at molecular level. Fr example, flying through a cell or riding a rollercoaster through the arteries, patients can experience their own anatomy and students can learn complex medical concepts.

The in-body VR experience can be based on CT or MRI scans of an individual patient or a computer-generated environment. The best approach depends on the purpose. Meanwhile, 3D models provide superior interactivity, fidelity, and 3D effect. Stanford Children's Health developed a 3D model of the heart for patient education. Instead of describing the complex 3D dimensional process of the heart in words and flat images, they let parents strap on the Oculus Rift VR headset and step inside the heart. Using hand controllers, parents can grab and rotate the different pieces of the heart and see their childrens defects.

The visceral sense of embodying another person is why virtual reality has been hailed as The Ultimate Empathy Machine by film maker Chris Milk. For instance, experiencing your future self in VR reduces stereotypical attitudes towards the elderly and even encourages people to save more for retirement.

Research has validated the Proteus Effect, in which the behavior of an individual, within online virtual worlds, is changed by the visual characteristics of their avatar. Stanford research has even demonstrated how the feeling of being a cow increases connection to the animals. In other studies, cutting down trees in VR impacts users connection with nature, making them recycle more paper.

Imagine using a technology powerful enough to make you feel like a cow or a tree, to make caregivers feel like a patient. Leading healthcare providers are already developing VR patient empathy simulations. Veterinary clinics are even using VR to show the perspective of a cat, dog, or snake. Staff members learn not to startle a cat after experiencing how a cat sees the world in VR.

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Virtual reality is not only disrupting healthcare learning, but also treatment of many conditions. It has already proven more effective than narcotics for pain reduction of burn victims. Patients are distracted during re-bandaging in a Winter Wonderland where they are challenged to throw snowballs at snowmen. Virtual reality is also used to treat amblyopia (lazy eye). One study demonstrated a 60 percent success rate for adult and kids, compared to 40 percent success rate of current treatments.

Mental health treatment is another area of intense focus of early VR applications. One study found that fear of public speaking was reduced by almost 20 percent in just four weeks with VR exercises. Another study found that 87.5 percent of participants reduced their fear of heights with VR. It has even reduced PTSD symptoms among military veterans who didnt respond to traditional forms of exposure therapy.

Whenever a technology comes along that is powerful enough to take you out of your body to reduce pain, rewiring the brain to treat amblyopia, and take veterans to a battle field in Afghanistan to reduce PTSD, the healthcare profession is taking notice.

On the heels of virtual reality is augmented reality, which brings the digital world to the real world. The promise of AR glasses that can give a surgeon x-ray vision is not here yet. But prototypes are already being built on the developer version of the Microsoft HoloLens headset. The AR headsets are expected to hit the mass market in two to four years. Meanwhile, a new generation of inside-out-tracking cameras in iPhones and Android phones and tablets can be used for a number of more mundane healthcare tasks like way-finding and performance support. For example, hold up an iPad to an EKG machine and learn how to trouble shoot it, or watch virtual arrows on the floor to find your way to the imaging department.

How do you get started with virtual reality in your healthcare organization? It starts with demonstrating it to decision makers. VR suffers from the Matrix problemyou have to experience it to believe it. So, get one of the premier PC-powered virtual reality headsets, such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, and run demos with stakeholders. You need to buy a VR optimized laptop too. Dont get a mobile phone-powered virtual reality headset, they will not show the full power of VR. Although there is not a lot of off-the-shelf healthcare content available yet, one good demo to start with is 3D Organon VR Anatomy, which is available for both the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

When your decision makers have experienced VR, you need to identify a healthcare problem that can be uniquely solved with VR. Find a team of VR developers to help bring the idea to (virtual) reality. Most VR is developed in the Unity game engine, which is cross-platform. One effective way to leverage the investment is to develop a desktop or mobile version of the same program for minimal extra cost. My firm recently developed a patient empathy simulation for the desktop for broad distribution and a VR version of the same program featured at events.

Bottom line: virtual reality is here. Dont wait for other organizations to force your hand. Pick a low hanging fruita patient education task or staff performance issue that can benefit from a full-body immersive experienceand create an awe-inspiring, transformative VR experience. The time to leave the glowing rectangular screens to step into the virtual reality of the healthcare future is now.

Want to learn more? Join me September 22 for the webcast How Virtual Reality Is Revolutionizing Healthcare.

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How Virtual Reality Is Revolutionizing Healthcare - ATD (blog)

Consumer spending will account for the lions share of AR/VR revenues in all regions this year

Worldwide revenues for the augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) market are set to jump 100 per cent or more over each of the next four years, according to a new forecast.

Research firm IDC said it expects total spending on such products and services to increase from $11.4 billion this year to nearly $215 billion by 2021, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 113.2 per cent along the way.

The US will lead the way with total spending of $3.2 billion this year, followed by Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) on $3.2 billion. Spending on AR and VR in western Europe is forecast to hit $2 billion in 2017.

The region that will experience the fastest revenue growth over the 2016-2021 forecast period is Canada at 145.2 per cent compound annual growth rate. It is followed by central and eastern Europe, western Europe and the US.

Consumer spending will account for the lions share of such revenues in all regions this year.

The consumer, retail, and manufacturing segments will be the early leaders in AR and VR investment and adoption. However, as we see in the regions, other segments like government, transportation, and education will utilise the transformative capabilities of these technologies, said Marcus Torchia, research director of IDC customer insights and analysis.

With use cases that span both AR and VR environments, we see a significant opportunity for companies to recast how users interact in business processes and everyday tasks, he added.

IDC said the largest industry use cases this year will be retail showcasing ($442 million), on-site assembly and safety ($362 million), and process manufacturing training ($309 million). By the end of 2021, however, the largest industry use cases in terms will be industrial maintenance ($5.2 billion) and public infrastructure maintenance ($3.6 billion), followed by retail showcasing ($3.2 billion).

The consumer segment will be dominated by AR and VR games throughout the forecast, with total spending reaching $9.5 billion in 2021.

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Spending on augmented and virtual reality to soar in coming years - Irish Times

A festival this weekend billed as the first digital carnival at the Orange County Fair will offer virtual reality systems, gaming tournaments and prize giveaways.

The iBuyPower GameFest, meant to introduce PC gaming to casual fans, will be held Saturday and Sunday at The Hangar at the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

Exhibits will include a row of 75 computers and various gaming stations with titles such as Rocket League, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

There will be a virtual reality village presented by Oculus, the company known for the Oculus Rift, a VR headset that immerses users in whatever game theyre playing. Ten stations in the village will enable people to try the headset.

Courtesy of Michael Hoang

A player tries the Oculus Rift virtual reality gaming headset during a 2015 iBuyPower event.

A player tries the Oculus Rift virtual reality gaming headset during a 2015 iBuyPower event. (Courtesy of Michael Hoang)

The company also will hold gaming tournaments both days that the public can play in or watch.

This will be iBuyPowers first event during the fair, though it held a gaming tournament at The Hangar last year that brought out thousands of people over a few days, said Tyrone Wang, development manager for the Industry-based gaming PC company.

That led the fair and the company to partner for GameFest, he said.

The event is free between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. with paid admission to the fair, which costs $14 for adults and $7 for children and senior citizens.

For tickets for access to the festival after 7 p.m. or to sign up to compete in the tournaments, visit ibuypower.com/Site/Event/IBP-GameFest.

The fair will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight both days. It ends Sunday.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot

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Virtual reality gaming, tournaments and more coming to OC Fair's first digital carnival - Los Angeles Times

Virtual reality arcade coming to Summit County

Amani Abraham, WKYC 6:15 PM. EDT August 09, 2017

CUYAHOGA FALLS - A new virtual reality arcade is set to open this week in Summit County, but this arcade is more than just about having fun.

"I realized there was a need in the community for something more," said Myers.

The duo has taken their passion for VR and transformed it into a brick-and-mortar business.

"From nine to four were a creation studio," said Bill Myers. "In the evenings, we open up as a virtual reality arcade."

The team will spend the first portion of the day developing program for local businesses. Take for instance a plumbing company:

"We would build a virtual reality solution for them, so they can put on a headset, and using hand controllers, theyre able to replicate the real world with the tools and piping they may need to fix things."

New Territory's mission is to create a space that encourages using the virtual world in everyday life.

"That's why it was so important for my wife and I to create a space where people can come at all hours of the day, learn about this technology, build with it, grow their businesses, grow personally, learn how to develop and be able to have fun all at the same time."

New Territory VR Arcade is scheduled to open on Friday.

2017 WKYC-TV

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Virtual reality arcade, creation studio to open this week - WKYC-TV