Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Technology today is moving towards a new era where you will experience and interact with the world in innovative new ways. The latest innovations include Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Block-chain, Internet of Things, and many more.

Today we will discuss about Virtual Reality and the 5 most popular types of virtual reality that exists today.

Virtual Reality refers to generating a virtual environment or projection which creates a realistic experience but does not exist in reality. It is a virtual experience which you can observe, listen to and interact with, but cannot touch.

For example, in a remote virtual tour, you will feel like you are actually taking a tour in that place. However, in reality, you are sitting at your home and taking a virtual tour through your computer, while still getting to look around the place as if you are physically there.

Over the years, people have developed many forms of virtual reality which they are using for innovative purposes such as virtual medical training, virtual skills practice, games, virtual tours of homes or hotels, and many more.

Industries such as real estate, hotels, amusement parks, research facilities, army officials, motor companies, machine development companies, and many more industries have started using some forms of virtual reality to attain greater results in their business and purposes.

For example, Porche has introduced theProche VR experience, which allows prospects to take a ride in the latest car virtually, mainly to experience the cars finesse, luxurious interior, the technology used and customization visualization. Thus attracting prospects even before taking a test drive.

Among tons of VR formats, these are the 5 most influential ones:

Now lets learn more about each of these VR formats:

Non-immersive virtual reality refers to a virtual experience through a computer where you can control some characters or activities within the software, but the environment is not directly interacting with you.

For example, when you play video games such as World of WarCraft, you can control characters within the game that have their own animations and attributes. Technically, you are dealing with a virtual world but, you are not the center of attention in the game. All actions or features are rather interacting with the characters within.

So basically, all basic forms of gaming devices such as PlayStation, Xbox, Computer, etc are providing you with non-immersive virtual reality experience.

However, the US Defence forcesuggested that strategic games may help to develop the planning and strategic expertise of the US Army back in 2017. This has been put in effective use since summer 2018.

On contrary to non-immersive virtual reality, a fully immersive virtual technology ensures that you have a realistic experience within the virtual world. It will be as if you are within the physically present in that virtual world and everything is happening to you for real.

This is an expensive form of virtual reality that involves helmets, gloves and body connectors with sense detectors. These are connected to a powerful computer. Your movements, reactions and even a blink of an eye are detected and projected within the virtual world. You will feel like you are within the virtual world physically.

One example could be a Virtual Shooter gaming zone where you will be equipped with the gears in a small room and you will be viewing a virtual world through the helmet where you are facing other shooters trying to kill you. You will move your arms and body to run, jump, crouch, shoot, throw and many more within the game.

A new concept ofvirtual medical training is being looked at to train neurosurgeons to avoid disasters during risky brain operations. Many more such concepts are coming to life and hopefully will result in making our lives better.

A fully immersive virtual reality is costly and not so widely created yet.

A semi-immersive virtual reality is a mixture of non-immersive and fully immersive virtual reality. This can be in the form of a 3D space or virtual environment where you can move about on your own either through a computer screen or a VR box/headset.

So all activities within the virtual world are concentrated towards you. However, you have no real physical movements other than your visual experience. On a computer, you can use the mouse to move about the virtual space and on mobile devices, you can touch and swipe to move about the place.

Most semi-immersive virtual environments support Gyroscope, which means the virtual space will be fixed on your phone based the vertical axis, and you have to literally move your phone about in different directions to view the virtual environment in those directions. Swiping will not work.

The ones that are connected to VR boxes are more interactive since they are also a form of Gyroscope, but without you using your hands. When you wear a VR box/headset, you will only be able to see the virtual environment and not your real world even with the corner of your eye. Thus creating a realistic experience.

Semi-immersive virtual reality is the most cost-effective and commonly used among all forms of virtual reality after non-immersive VR.

A virtual tour is the most popular semi-immersive virtual reality that most businesses are embracing today. They can be both device-based or web-based. Overall, they provide an interactive virtual experience.

It is mostly used in businesses such asreal estate websites, hotels, local bars or pubs, universities, schools, and many more businesses that rely on highlighting and promoting their locations.

Augmented Reality is when a certain entity or device seems to be present in reality but is actually not. Rather than putting you into a virtual world, a virtual entity is placed in the real world through any device.

For example, through your mobile screen, you can view your room, and probably place a cartoon character at the corner. You will be able to see the character through your mobile screen and not in reality.

It is mostly used by businesses such as furniture suppliers or decorators. For example, a person willing to buy a table will be able to place the table in his room through his phone display. This will let him understand if this table is suitable and looks good in his room, or he has to choose another design.

Augmented reality often is argued to be a unique form of technology rather than VR. But its ability to place entities virtually often puts it within the VR category.

This is a form of a virtual world where different people from various locations can come into contact within a virtual environment, usually in the form of 3D or projected characters.

For example, there is a video game called PUBG (Players Unknown Battle-Ground), where tons of players come to existences as individual virtual characters which they can control. Here they can interact with each other through microphones, headsets, and chatting.

Recently people are getting used to virtual meeting rooms to conduct business meetings remotely, or for conducting virtual debate competitions.

The main goal of this form of VR is the collaboration between people.

As you can see, these are the most popular forms of virtual reality available out there. With time, the quality of virtual reality is getting better and better.

More and more businesses are implementing different forms of virtual reality, mostly virtual tours and virtual meeting rooms, to improve their engagement with their prospects and their business module.

If you havent looked into it yet, I suggest you start thinking about using virtual reality to stay on par with this advanced world.

**If you want to learn in details about creating a virtual tour then you must check out this article: Complete Guide To Create A Virtual Tour

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5 Types Of Virtual Reality Creating A Better Future

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Tech CEOs keep talking about the metaverse. Mark Zuckerberg insists that Facebook will be seen as a metaverse company instead of a social media company. Satya Nadella proclaims Microsoft is creating a metaverse stack for the enterprise. Well explain whats going on, starting withSnow Crash.

Author Neil Stephenson coined the term metaverse inSnow Crash, a dystopian cyberpunk novel published in 1992.

In the novel, the metaverse is a sort of 3D virtual world. Its not simply a virtual reality game but is a persistent, shared virtual world. Or rather, the metaverse is a whole universe of shared virtual spaces seemingly linked togetheryou could, essentially, teleport between them.

If you think this all sounds a bit likeReady Player One or a higher-tech version ofSecond Life, youre right.

In fact, in 2011, Stephenson told Forbes that he saw video games likeWorld of Warcraft as the real metaverse: Virtual worlds you could inhabit with your friends. In 2021, games likeMinecraftandFortnite are perhaps closer to the vision of the metaverse he foresaw.

Lets be honest: When Mark Zuckerberg talks about the metaverse, part of the puzzle is just a desire to rebrand virtual reality. No, its not just running games or social apps on a Facebook Oculus VR headset: Its accessing the metaverse!

In 2017, Stephenson made that case to Vanity Fair, pointing out that virtual reality (VR) and not augmented reality (AR) was necessary for that kind of vision:

If youre in an AR application, you are where you are. Youre in your physical environment, youre seeing everything around you normally, but theres additional stuff thats being added. So VR has the ability to take you to a completely different fictional placethe kind of thing thats described in the Metaverse inSnow Crash.When you go into the Metaverse, youre on the street, youre in the Black Sun, and your surroundings disappear. In the book, Hiro lives in a shabby shipping container, but when he goes to the Metaverse, hes a big deal and has access to super high-end real estate.

RELATED: Today's VR is Just the Start: Here's What is Coming in the Future

So is that what the metaverse is? A big alternative digital simulation we access through VR headsets where we can pretend to live a good life while we live in shabby shipping containers and the world decays around us, as in the novel?

No no, of course notnot according to Mark Zuckerberg, anyway. Heres what he told The Verge:

The metaverse is a vision that spans many companies the whole industry. You can think about it as the successor to the mobile internetyou can think about the metaverse as an embodied internet, where instead of just viewing content you are in it. And you feel present with other people as if you were in other places, having different experiences that you couldnt necessarily do on a 2D app or webpage, like dancing, for example

I think a lot of people, when they think about the metaverse, they think about just virtual reality which I think is going to be an important part of that But the metaverse isnt just virtual reality. Its going to be accessible across all of our different computing platforms; VR and AR, but also PC, and also mobile devices and game consoles

Zuckerberg goes on and on like this, insisting that the metaverse is going to be the next big thing and that, in the next five years or so, Facebook will be seen as a metaverse company instead of a social media company.

To Zuckerberg and other tech CEOs, the concept of the metaverse seems to have more in common with Web 2.0. Its a bunch of new technologies: VR headsets! Presence! Persistent digital worlds! Imagine having an office meeting in VR while working from homebut dont worry, you can avoid the VR headset and just participate on your laptop if you like!

When you realize Facebook owns Oculus, the companys desire to strongly push a future VR-based platform makes a lot of sense.

Microsofts vision of the metaverse seems to take the form of rambling, buzzword-heavy talk about digital twins and converging the physical with the digital with mixed reality. Microsofts Azure cloud can do it!

Of course, as we learned with Windows 10s Mixed Reality headsets, that term often just means Virtual Reality to Microsoft. However, it can also mean augmented reality: And, little surprise, Microsoft also has a headset to sell you: The HoloLens.

Coined the Term

$9.99

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What Is the Metaverse? Is It Just Virtual Reality, or Something More? - How-To Geek

Some astronauts say the experience of traveling to space causes a shift in their perception of their world, a deepened feeling of interconnection with humanity sparked when they look down upon the Earth from so far above it (its called the overview effect). Looking out through the cupola of the International Space Station (ISS) and down onto the planets surface 250 miles below for myself, Im inclined to believe them. A profound mixture of discovery, awe and comfort bubbled up inside of me when faced with that view.

The thing is, Im not an astronaut. Even if space tourism is making headlines this summer, only the luckiest or richest among us will actually get to experience such a magnificent view firsthandbut its been made accessible to all through The Infinite, a virtual reality (VR) exhibition that makes you feel like youre an ISS crew member. The worlds largest VR experience to date using the largest production ever filmed in space as its core material, The Infinite takes visitors on an hour-long journey by using 360-degree, 3D footage from the VR film Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, a Primetime Emmy-nominated virtual reality series produced by Felix & Paul Studios in association with TIME.

It took the team behind The ISS Experiencethe third part of an ongoing four-part serieshalf a decade to plan, coordinate and create the film, with help from NASA and other space agencies. The team designed two types of cameras required for the production and sent them into space: One model is compact enough for the cramped quarters of the ISS (a pressurized zero-gravity environment), and the other is a tank-like model capable of operating in the vacuum of space, able to withstand extreme temperature highs and lows caused by direct sunlightand the lack of it.

For all of its technical achievements, The ISS Experience is built on human moments. When we started this project, we wanted to capture the human experience, to see it through a genuine and intimate connection with the astronauts, says Felix & Paul Studios co-founder and Creative Director Flix Lajeunesse. The crew was instructed to relate to the camera, thereby becoming both the subject of the film and their own film crew. Scenes run the emotional gamut from shots of highly-trained scientists playing football in zero gravity and dressing up for Halloween to explaining the physical training they must undergo to reduce bone density loss or waxing philosophical about the nature of purpose and belonging.

If The ISS Experience is the film, consider The Infinite to be its grand augmentation: a 12,500 square-foot theatre that deepens viewers immersion into the simulated experience of low-orbit spaceflight. Its a multisensory combination of architecture, a dizzying art installation commissioned from Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda, and VR presentation that turns The ISS Experience into something concrete to experience beyond a screen. Designed by the scenographers and storytellers of PHI Studio and currently on display at Arsenal Contemporary Art in Montreal, Quebec, participants are directed to explore instead of staying still and passively observingsomething thats most apparent when entering a free-roam area filled with a giant model of the space station to wander through simultaneously with other visitors. Its one of the many ways The Infinite turns its source material into a shared experience.

Its the intimacy we have an opportunity to witness that I find comforting, says Phoebe Greenberg, The Infinite chief creative officer and the founder of PHI. Theres such a vastness to the amount of people thats required to get these elite people to space, and from what [The Infinite] demonstrates, [they] are still human and bring the quotidien to space. It makes them all the more relatable, and we dont get that lens from other media. Its the intimacy, and we feel the presence of those astronauts.

The main challenge was finding the right way to position the ISS in the space, to make sure that people are able to keep a certain distance from each other and track them throughout, adds Julie Tremblay, PHI Studios executive producer for installations and touring exhibitions. Through monitoring, the staff can see whos on the floor, if their headsets are on, the battery life of the equipment, to detect and fix technical problems, all to create something seamless.

And it is: While experiencing The Infinite, people in the same section as you show up as cosmic avatars walking about. Its an elegant solution to keep visitors from accidentally bumping into one another, but it also acts as a reminder of where you arethe experience of looking up at the stars overhead or down onto the Earth for a taste of the overview effect is your own, but by being aware that others are around you, it transforms into a communal environment that blurs the lines between the physical and the digital.

We tend to think of those worlds as separate, but in The Infinite, they are combined to achieve a sense of connectivity. Its about connecting to one another through technology, through emotions, through artwork and design, andperhaps most of allthrough an unforgettable view from aboard the ISS that connects visitors with all humankind.

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'The Infinite' Virtual Reality Exhibit Offers a Taste of Life in Outer Space - TIME

PALM BEACH, Fla., Aug. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary - VR Technology has gained widespread recognition and adoption over the past few years. Recent technological advancements in this field have revealed new enterprises. Numerous players are emerging in this market with the hopes of navigating it toward mainstream adoption. Virtual Reality (VR) is a digitally created experience where a three-dimensional environment is simulated with the real-world. The technology offers an immersive experience to the viewers with the help of VR devices, such as headsetsor glasses, gloves, and bodysuits. The technology has brought a transformation in the gaming and entertainment industries by allowing users to experience immersion in a highly virtual realm. In addition, the increasing usage of this technology in instructive training, such as for training mechanics, engineers, pilots, soldiers in defense, field workers, and technicians, in the oil & gas and manufacturing sectors is driving the market growth. Mordor Intelligence reportedthat the Virtual Reality (VR) market was valued at USD 17.25 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 184.66 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 48.7% over the forecast period 2021 - 2026. Mordor pointed out that the investments by the technology vendors are creating advancements in the field of display technology, which is going to change the vision of the traditional methodology. With technology giants, like Google, investing considerable amounts in tech startups for the development of VR devices and other prominent players investing in their R & D over this segment, the future of the market will be more competitive. Active Companies in the markets today include Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WRAP), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

The Mordor Intelligence report continued: "The consumers are widely using VR applications, which is based on different purposes, such as the automobile, gaming, and media and entertainment industries. The latest technologies across the consumer electronics segment are boosting the growth of virtual reality for multiple applications across the marketplace. For instance, consumers are moving toward virtual reality in gaming with high definition, stunning graphics, and motion with high-end audio. North America is one of the prominent regions for the virtual reality market. It has also been a pioneer in adopting innovations, which provides North America with an edge over other regions. Further, the region has the highest number of startups focusing on bringing innovative VR technologies for various industries Other industry verticals, including aerospace, healthcare, military, gaming, and retail, are also investing in this technology to take advantage of the growth potential."

Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WRAP) BREAKING NEWS: WRAP announces new VR training platform powered by Amazon Web Services - Wrap Reality will utilize AWS GovCloud (US) for Service, Delivery, and Storage - Wrap Technologies, Inc. (WRAP), a global leader in innovative public safety technologies and services, announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support Wrap Reality through AWS GovCloud (US). AWS will provide consulting and advisory services to support Wrap Reality's complex technology initiatives, assistance in developing and executing our product roadmap, and streamline access to AWS subject matter experts.

"Following several months of planning and discussion, Wrap Reality worked with AWS to deliver our Virtual Reality (VR) training platform to law enforcement, built on AWS GovCloud (US)," said Tom Smith, Chief Executive Officer and President of WRAP Technologies. "As WRAP continues to map out our vision for enhancing law enforcement training with Wrap Reality, choosing a collaborator with extensive support and government approved cloud services was a key decision. AWS brings a wealth of knowledge to Wrap Reality along with infrastructure and cloud services that are proven in the industry. Wrap Reality enhances its capabilities by working with AWS. AWS has experience managing sensitive state and local government data and systems with AWS GovCloud (US)."

"Events in 2020 have underlined how law enforcement must adapt and innovate fast to unforeseen challenges as well as the importance of trust and transparency. WRAP Reality's fully-immersive experience allows training of real-time scenarios that address the priorities of today's communities. AWS is proud to assist by providing services to WRAP that innovate on training and create a better future of policing," says AWS Justice and Public Safety (JPS) leader Ryan Reynolds.

The relationship with AWS provides the framework for development, training, and collaboration to support next-generation applications that have the scalability, resiliency, and security AWS offers. It will assist WRAP in accelerating innovation and the development of strategic initiatives. These initiatives will bring the most advanced cloud-native services to WRAP clients, improving the flow of information and providing a better experience for law enforcement agencies.CONTINUED Read this full release for Wrap Technologies at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-wrap/

Other recent developments in the markets include:

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) recently announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021.Operating cash flowincreased 16% to $59.3 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $51.2 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2020.

Free cash flowdecreased to $12.1 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $31.9 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2020; Free cash flow less principal repayments of finance leases and financing obligationsdecreased to $0.6 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $21.3 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2020; Free cash flow less equipment finance leases and principal repayments of all other finance leases and financing obligationsdecreased to $4.2 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $19.4 billion for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2020. Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 522 million on June 30, 2021, compared with 517 million one year ago.

Net salesincreased 27% to $113.1 billion in the second quarter, compared with $88.9 billion in second quarter 2020. Excluding the $2.5 billion favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 24% compared with second quarter 2020.

Operating incomeincreased to $7.7 billion in the second quarter, compared with $5.8 billion in second quarter 2020.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) recently announced it has been contracted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide a data analytics tool that will help advance the agency's modernization objectives for aviation safety.

Palantir Foundry will support the FAA's aircraft certification and continued operational safety activities, including the ongoing monitoring of the 737 MAX fleet's return to service. The one-year contract with two additional option years is valued at a maximum of $18.4 million.

On 26 March 2021, the United States Army awarded Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) a fixed price production agreement to manufacture the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).

This award transitions IVAS to production and rapid fielding to deliver next-generation night vision and situational awareness capabilities to the Close Combat Force (CCF) at the speed of relevance. The unique and innovative partnership between the Army and Microsoft accelerated prototype system development through the Soldier Centered Design approach to deliver an unprecedented system to our CCF.

The IVAS aggregates multiple technologies into an architecture that allows the Soldier to Fight, Rehearse, and Train using a single platform. The suite of capabilities leverages existing high-resolution night, thermal, and Soldier-borne sensors integrated into a unified Heads Up Display to provide the improved situational awareness, target engagement, and informed decision-making necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries. The system also leverages augmented reality and machine learning to enable a life-like mixed reality training environment so the CCF can rehearse before engaging any adversaries.

The AES Corporation (AES) announced recentlythat it has signed an agreement to supply the electricity to power Google's (NASDAQ: GOOGL)Virginia-based data centers with 24/7 carbon-free energy under a 10-year supply contract. With this first clean energy procurement deal in the world of its kind, AES will help ensure that the energy powering those data centers will be 90% carbon-free when measured on an hourly basis. AES will become the sole supplier of the data centers' carbon-free energy needs on an annual basis, sourcing energy from a portfolio of wind, solar, hydro and battery storage resources to be developed or contracted by AES. The agreement will start supply later in 2021 and is an important step in meeting Google's previously announced goal to run its business on 100% carbon-free energy on an hourly basis by 2030.

"Last year, Google set an ambitious sustainability goal of committing to 100% 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030. Today, we are proud that through our collaboration with Google, we are making 24/7 carbon-free energy a reality for their data centers inVirginia," said Andrs Gluski, AES President and CEO. "This first-of-its-kind solution, which we co-created with Google, will set a new sustainability standard for companies and organizations seeking to eliminate carbon from their energy supply."

DISCLAIMER:FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated forty six hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by Wrap Technologies, Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

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The Virtual Reality (VR) Market Expected To Exceed $180 Billion By 2026, At A CAGR Of 48.7% - PRNewswire

The combination of pandemic lockdowns and Zoom have spawned a new way of being Catholic. Or, they have spawned a new way of seeming to be Catholic. We are moving toward a Catholic Metaverse.

A metaverse is a virtual world, like those existing in virtual reality games such as Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnight, where individuals exist as avatars, or three-dimensional icons of themselves. These games are precursors to an even larger virtual world, where individuals would be able to hide their identities, interact and present their views anonymously.

The future, however, is upon us. Now, it is possible to be wherever you want, say whatever you want and find like-minded folks to be with, even to worship with, all within a cocoon of anonymity.

The word "parish" has taken on a new meaning.

In pre-pandemic times, folks chose parishes according to their likes and dislikes: the community, the location, the pastor and the liturgies, pretty much in that order.

Now, the good news is the bad news. It is easier to shop around.

Community has nothing to do with it. Location only presents temporal considerations: What time zone is the parish in? It is the pastor and his liturgies that make or break the choice. Tridentine or novus ordo? Intelligent homilies? Women altar servers and readers?

Community is increasingly disconnected from both online and in-person parochial life. While once the parish church was the one down the block, where the Friday potluck suppers helped cement social interaction, now the "parish" is virtual. Community is in a Catholic Metaverse created through social media in which you can participate anonymously. Or not.

Most folks are conversant with the ways and means of, say, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like. What they may not see, even if they participate in them, is the solidification of distinct virtual communities on these platforms. Each virtual community has a different aim and ethos. Each has a different outlook on church teaching and discipline. None is controlled by Rome.

We are not there yet, but on the horizon is a virtual reality far beyond online Masses and Catholic Twitter-fights. We are on the verge of a genuine metaverse, a grandchild of the internet, which expands to encompass more than just words and pictures. What is upon us is a development in online gaming platforms that will allow people as avatars to move from one platform to another. Individuals will no longer need distinct Facebook profiles, Twitter handles and internet accounts. They will be able to invent themselves and exist in the virtual world and move around (virtually) in real time, seamlessly from one platform, or community, to another.

The metaverse will not be a game. It will be an alternative reality. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says that within the next five years or so Facebook will be a "metaverse company," an "embodied internet." He predicts "a persistent synchronous environment" in which users are embodied as holographs. The entire point is to build community.

How? Zuckerberg says the present research objective is to deliver a much stronger sense of presence, a more natural way of interacting. Think of it as a new way of being present to other people, a three-dimensional Zoom with surround sound and holographs that you can access anywhere.

Religion is included in the plans. Already, Facebook has been partnering with faith communities, such as the Hillsong megachurch in Atlanta, the Assemblies of God, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The company is creating products for churches, including audio and prayer sharing and online tools to build congregations using Facebook.

As Zuckerberg moves Facebook to a metaverse company, he predicts even more. His vision is a genuine metaverse, where different companies' platforms will be compatible and which will include public spaces and social systems anyone can access, including churches.

That is in the future. What is upon us now is remote access to worship, spiritual direction, preaching, Bible study, after-church socials, just about anything the in-person parish might provide in terms of information and interaction. Remote access allows people to choose whom to listen to and with whom to interact. It is moving to the point where Catholic fact and Catholic fiction are in competition.

The question: Will there be a Rome-controlled Catholic Metaverse? Or will the various Catholic virtual communities continue to grow in their own directions? Then, there is the big what-if in all this: What happens to sacraments?

Someday, the pandemic will be under control. But the church is changing. It won't be your grandfather's Catholic church. It is not that already.

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Virtual reality and the coming Catholic Metaverse - National Catholic Reporter

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

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

1) What problem does the technology solve?

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

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

What Problem Does VR Solve?

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

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

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

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

How do you network when you cant meet in person?

How do you browse a retail store during a lockdown?

How do you conduct remote learning when schools are closed?

How do you gather for recreation when you cant socialize?

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

How do you effectively conduct training when you cant travel?

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

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

What Does VR Do That Zoom Doesnt?

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

1) Support for Casual Conversations

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

2) Immersiveness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Growth Opportunities:

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

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

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

Challenges:

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

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

Key Topics Covered:

Strategic Imperatives

Growth Opportunity Analysis, Automotive VR Market

Automotive VR Overview, Trends Analysis and OEM Initiatives

Current and Future Trends of Virtual Reality in the Automotive Industry

Virtual Reality Supplier Ecosystem and Competitive Analysis

Conclusions and Future Outlook

Growth Opportunity Universe, Automotive VR Market

Next Steps

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

Continued here:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Growth Opportunities:

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

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

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

Challenges:

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

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

Key Topics Covered:

Strategic Imperatives

Growth Opportunity Analysis, Automotive VR Market

Automotive VR Overview, Trends Analysis and OEM Initiatives

Current and Future Trends of Virtual Reality in the Automotive Industry

Virtual Reality Supplier Ecosystem and Competitive Analysis

Conclusions and Future Outlook

Growth Opportunity Universe, Automotive VR Market

Next Steps

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

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

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

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

SOURCE Research and Markets

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Optical System Design and Development for Medical Industries

28 Aug 2020

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