Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Before he taught his spring semester classOceania: Indigenous Sovereignty and Settler Colonialism,Assistant Professor of Anthropology Willi Lempert wanted to find a way to convey to his students the enormity of the giant heads of Easter Island.

The sculpturesknown asMoaiby the Rapa Nui people who carved the figures from volcanic rock between1100 and 1680 CEare massive. The biggest one is more than thirty feet high. But it's hard to assess their impressive scale without actually visiting the island in person.

When Thais Carrillo 23 and Cobra Curtis 23 heard about Lempert's dilemma,they volunteered for the challenge. Both have experience working with virtual reality (VR): Carrillo has made a VR version of the Giant's Stairs on Bailey Island, and Curtis has been helping build a VR version of the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island.

(This project, to be precise, uses augmented reality, which is when digital information is superimposed on the real world through a viewfinder of some kind.)

The two students first selected one among the many sculptures on the island to work witha manageable thirteen-foot-high head. That's also the average size of the figuresof which there are nearly 900 located around the island. Basing it on an existing Moai head model, they rendered the digital head in 3D with a software program called Blender.

After they were satisfied with their life-like depiction, they deployed remote-sensing technologyor LiDAR, which is activated in newer phones and iPadsto enable users of their tool to bring up the head on their device (an iPhone or iPad) and place it anywhere they like.

So students can call up and anchor the towering head in their dorm room, in Thorne Dining Hall, outside on the Quadany space they can quickly scan with their gadget's camera. Then they can compare the head with objects and landmarks they know firsthand.

(Additionally, the tool allows users to minimize the head, so if you would like to pretend you had a paperweight Easter Island head for your desk, you can make it very small.)

"Through this augmented reality program, students were able to place Moai from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) into the world around them. Using their LiDAR-equipped iPads, they were able to walk around and approach these iconic statues to get a sense of their scale and the incredible amount of ingenuity that it took to create them." Professor Willi Lempert

Link:

What's That on Campus Over There? Oh, Just a Giant Head - Bowdoin News

VR is more accessible than ever, thanks to affordable, stand-alone headsets like the Oclulus Quest lowering the barrier to entry. And from addictive games like Beat Saber to immersive story-driven games like Half-Life: Alyx, there's plenty to keep you busy in your virtual world.

Unfortunately, VR still comes with a few downsides, with one of the most notable being motion sickness. Even if you aren't the kind of person who gets motion sick on a boat or airplane, some VR games may make you feel dizzy or nauseous, ruining what should be a fun experience.

Experts think motion sickness is primarily caused by a mismatch between cues sent to your brain. If your eyes see one thing and your inner ear is experiencing another, you might experience nausea, explains Adrian Priesol, an otoneurologist in the Division of Vestibular Disorders at Mass Eye and Ear. "Sitting in the back seat of a moving vehicle maximizes this sensory mismatch and can make symptoms worse," he explains. "In the case of VR, the sensory mismatch is the converse: Visual stimulation is sending a signal to the brain that the person is in motion, while balance organ signals indicate the person is not."

You may be more likely to experience this in certain virtual-reality games than others, depending on how the experience requires you to move. Almar Suarez is the R&D manager at Tapptic, a European digital agency focusing on innovative mobile apps, VR, AR, and other connected experiences. In some of their experiments with VR, they found that motion sickness was especially common in environments most of us aren't used tothink zero-gravity games (like ADRIFT) or vertigo-inducing scenarios (like The Climb). It can also happen if your frame rate is too low, which may be a problem on less powerful PCs.

From my own experienceI've owned and reviewed a number of VR headsets as a tech writergames that require control sticks to move get me feeling nauseous. If I move with my body alone, like in Space Pirate Trainer or Superhot VR, I'm perfectly finebut throw me into Skyrim VR and I feel like I need to lie down after a few minutes.

You can, however, mitigate some of these symptoms. First, says Suarez, make sure your lenses are clean and that your IPD (interpupillary distance) is set properly on the headset, if it offers IPD adjustment. If you wear glasses, you can often find this value, in millimeters, on your prescription. If you don't, you may just have to adjust it while in-game to find the right setting.

Speaking of glasses, if you can't wear contacts, try to accommodate your glasses in the headset by adjusting the strap or using a glasses spacer on a headset that offers them (they may be sold separately). Oh, and make sure the headset is comfortable and that your PCif you're using oneis capable of running the games at a high enough frame rate. Sixty frames per second is good, but the higher you can go, the better. Most of the big-name headsets can display 90 frames per second or higher.

Once you have the basics out of the way, you can start digging into your games' settings. "The best way to avoid sickness is to use the control schemes that work better for each particular type of experience," explains Suarez. "In general, standard video game

controls are the worst of them all, especially when trying to turn your view. Its more natural to just turn your head." Try to turn your body instead of using the thumb stick whenever possible, and if your game offers an option to switch to teleportation modewhere you point to where you want to move and appear there instantlyit can reduce motion sickness quite a bit, even if it's a bit less immersive.

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How to Reduce Motion Sickness in Virtual Reality - WIRED

DUBLIN, April 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Virtual Reality Market by Devices, Hardware, Software, Services, Applications and Content 2021 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides an analysis of the virtual reality market including an assessment of the VR ecosystem and the role of value chain members, analysis of price metrics, VR devices, apps, and content. The report also provides an assessment of key VR companies and solutions, evaluation of emerging business models, and assessment of VR component market: devices, software, hardware, platforms. The report identifies key VR growth drivers, market challenges, and emerging opportunities with associated forecasts from 2021 through 2026.

This report provides an in-depth assessment of the VR market including the following:

Forecasts in Report:

Select Report Findings:

Immersive technologies include augmented reality, haptic Internet, and virtual reality. The term "immersive" is used as this category embodies those technologies that facilitate a fully engrossing human experience, often including multiple senses as well as interaction with virtual objects and/or interaction between the real and virtual worlds.

Virtual Reality (VR) aims to create a new form of human-machine interaction allowing people to experience their sense of reality on a 3D computer-generated virtual environment. With VR, people are able to perform a series of actions and manipulation of objects as an integral part of a virtual environment. VR allows someone to fully immerse within a virtual environment through the exploration of their senses and create new patterns of communication and understanding.

Previously encumbered by a combination of technology gaps and consumer readiness issues, the virtual reality market is poised for substantive global growth, providing abundant opportunities for service providers, content developers, and ecosystem component providers. However, the high-growth phase for VR is anticipated to start within approximately two years, which is coincident with substantially lower broadband costs as a whole (wired and wireless connections) as well as greater user acceptance within both the consumer and business market segments.

5G provides substantial bandwidth where needed as well as significantly lower latency for next virtual reality. Previously encumbered by a combination of technology gaps and consumer readiness issues, the global 5G applications market for immersive apps such as VR is poised for considerable growth, providing abundant opportunities for service providers, content developers, and ecosystem component providers.

Coupled with the deployment of gigabit Ethernet fiber, 5G will transform the VR market, leading to a fully immersive experience with haptic capabilities becoming embedded in many applications. We see an important portion of VAS applications being ultra-high definition voice-enabled next-generation apps such as virtual reality.

It is important to note that the virtual reality market and other immersive technologies (such as the mixed reality market) will also be important to many industries for a variety of enterprise purposes including internal operations, managing supply chains, and supporting customers. Important industry verticals include commercial real estate management, automotive, public safety, education, and training. The leading sector is anticipated to be the instruction (education, training, and simulations).

For the consumer virtual reality market, we see entertainment and lifestyle enhancements leading the way with the former including VR enhanced gaming and the latter including a plethora of new apps such as virtual location experiences in which groups of people get together virtually in the cyber-world.

Examples include everything from virtual alumni events to watching your favorite football team play in a virtual stadium with ultra-real sights, sounds, and even feelings and smells of game day. The advancement of AI embedded within the VR market will add to the realism by introducing random events that happen within a given experience.

For enterprise and industrial virtual reality market segments, the publisher sees simulations and training leading the way. We see everything from situational training (such as Verizon using Striver to train its employees how to better deal with robberies) to more traditional expectations such as VR enhanced simulations for flight and vehicle training.

Businesses will also seek to use VR as a means to destress employees by offering them a virtual experience of their everyday work with random events thrown into the mix, both to add interest/amusement as well as to test and train them to see how they might react given a real-world experience such as how to best deal with a senile shoplifter.

Key Topics Covered:

1.0 Executive Summary

2.0 Virtual Reality Market Segmentation

2.1 VR Market Segments and Sub-Segments

2.2 Key Report Findings

3.0 Introduction

3.1 Immersive Technologies

3.2 Virtual Reality Market Overview

3.2.1 Virtual Reality Systems

3.2.2 Virtual Reality Technologies, Systems, and Architectures

3.3 Virtual Reality Ecosystem

3.3.1 Virtual Reality Devices

3.3.1.1 Head-Mounted Displays

3.3.1.2 Gesture Tracking Devices

3.3.1.2.1 Haptic Gloves

3.3.1.2.2 Haptic Suits

3.3.1.2.3 Other VR Devices

3.3.1.3 Projectors and Display Walls

3.3.1.4 Heads-Up Displays

3.3.2 Virtual Reality Hardware Components

3.3.2.1 Sensors

3.3.2.1.1 Accelerometers

3.3.2.1.2 Proximity Sensor

3.3.2.1.3 Magnetometers

3.3.2.1.4 GPS System

3.3.2.1.5 Gyroscopes

3.3.2.1.6 3D Image Sensor

3.3.2.2 Semiconductor Component

3.3.2.2.1 Haptic Controller and Integrated Circuits

3.3.2.2.2 Graphics Processing Units

3.3.2.2.3 VR Displays

3.3.2.2.4 Central Processing Units

3.3.2.2.5 Memory

3.3.2.2.6 Tracking System

3.3.2.2.7 Process Acceleration Cards

3.3.2.2.8 Input Devices

3.3.2.2.9 USB Connector

3.3.2.3 Audio Hardware

3.3.3 Virtual Reality Software Market

3.3.3.1 Virtual Reality Applications

3.3.3.2 Software Component

3.3.3.2.1 Reality Engine

3.3.3.2.2 Software Development Kits

3.3.3.2.3 3D Modeling

3.3.3.2.4 2D Graphics

3.3.3.2.5 Digital Sound Editing

3.3.4 Virtual Reality Services Market

3.3.4.1 Virtual Reality Simulation Services

3.3.4.2 Virtual Reality Application Store Services

3.3.4.3 Deployment and Management Service

3.3.5 Virtual Reality Content Market

3.3.5.1 Games and Entertainment

3.3.5.2 VR, Video, and an Emphasis on Instructional Content

3.3.5.3 VR Theme Park: An Immersive Experience

3.3.5.4 VR Content Developer Engagement

3.4 Virtual Reality Market Drivers

3.4.1 Increasing Popularity of Immersive Vision

3.4.2 Usability to Increase Adoption of VR Devices

3.4.3 Virtual Reality Functions Embedded in Devices

3.4.4 Virtual Reality in Training and Simulation

3.4.5 Increasing Affordability of Devices and Components

3.4.6 Virtual Reality in Enterprise and Industrial Settings

3.5 Virtual Reality Market Challenges

3.5.1 Adverse Impact on User Health

3.5.2 Fully Immersive Virtual Reality is Costly

3.5.3 Ensuring Usability in Design and Tracking

3.5.4 High Energy Consumption

3.6 Virtual Reality Market Outlook and Opportunities

3.6.1 Virtual Reality Investment Trends

3.6.2 Virtual Reality Mergers and Acquisitions

3.6.3 Virtual Reality Complements Mixed Reality

3.6.4 Virtual Reality in Defense and Homeland Security

3.6.5 Virtual Reality and Telepresence Apps

3.6.6 Virtual Reality meets Immersive Social Platforms

3.6.7 Virtual Reality in Drone Operation and Telerobotics

3.6.8 Virtual Reality in Pornography and Sex Industry

3.6.9 Virtual Reality Accelerates 3D TV and Printing

3.6.10 Virtual Reality in Life Saving Applications

3.6.11 Virtual Reality Opportunities for Network Operators

3.6.12 5G to take Haptic Virtual Reality Experience Mainstream

4.0 Virtual Reality Ecosystem Analysis

4.1 Virtual Reality Stakeholder Analysis

4.1.1 Virtual Reality Device Manufacturers

4.1.2 Virtual Reality Component Manufacturers

4.1.3 Virtual Reality Software Solution Providers

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Outlook on the Virtual Reality Global Market to 2026 - Increasing Popularity of Immersive Vision is Driving Growth - WFMZ Allentown

Erik Maltais, CEO of Immertec

As more people move away from cities to live in more rural areas, driven away by the pandemic or looking to simplify their day-to-day routines, access to healthcare is becoming more challenging. Healthcare is an essential need, but a complicated factor for many people who live far from hospitals, medical experts, and other specialists.

MedTech entrepreneur Erik Maltais took note of all of these competing factors and, driven by a desire to do good in the tech world, utilized Virtual Reality (VR) technology to make healthcare specialists accessible to all.

Virtual reality (VR) systems are currently understood as entertainment tools, used for watching movies, playing video games, and even to immerse oneself into the digital NFT market. But Maltais saw a bridge between VR and the medical world and applied his entrepreneurial spirit to make a way for it to transform the healthcare industry.

Within three years of their initial idea, the Maltais and his partner Jon Clagg built VR software that went beyond entertainment and offered something that could benefit society. With their newfound focus on the medical training market, Maltais and Clagg founded their award-winning company, Immertec.

Leading the Way in MedTech Innovation

Maltais is leading the way in an area of healthcare where experts see great potential. According to medical professionals at Cedars-Sinai, VR is a new frontier in medical innovation. It helps doctors learn necessary procedures more easily, provokes further empathy among healthcare providers that leads to greater progress in treatments, and helps by giving at-risk people a hands-on education about the disease.

Virtual reality gives people a hands-on experience of just about anything. When applying this technology to medicine, years of training are essential, for the safety of the practitioner and the patient. But once trained, the possibilities are endless. Maltais system provides another way for healthcare professionals to practice their skills, to have them ready in times of emergency.

Making Specialized Procedures More Accessible

Immertec serves as a new way for surgeons and medical professionals to observe, communicate, and collaborate in real-time through virtual reality. Through Immertec's specialized technology known as Medoptic, cameras are placed throughout an operating room and regardless of location, doctors can throw on a VR headset and watch a surgical procedure take place; it also allows them to speak with one another and zoom in closer to the surgical site if they so choose.

Maltais began the company because of its potential for decentralizing specialization. Through VR, the most innovative procedures and techniques are made more accessible. In turn, more physicians can be exposed to surgical innovations and therefore provide greater access to those medical advancements, without geographical limitations.

Immertec's network lag time runs at less than 500 milliseconds, giving itself an advantage due to its high speed because the company's competitors use simulations for training instead. Everything happens in real-time, which is essential in this kind of work a lag could cause a significant communication barrier in a high-stakes environment.

In 2019, Immertec launched a pilot program with one of the worlds top 3 medical device companies that gave 3,000 doctors access to its technology. Theyre well on their way to transforming the industry.

People-Focused Tech Moves Forward

Maltais attributes his companys success to the work ethic of the people behind the technology. Theyre motivated by the staggering statistic that over 60% of Americans dont have reasonable access to trauma level one and level two care. This is the driving force behind Immertechs innovation because, at its core, the company exists to fulfill an essential need: a lack of specialized healthcare access.

Maltais believes that at the core of any technological advancement is a human need. People need to use the technology, it needs to meet a significant need in society, and people need to be able to support that technology for further growth and development.

Maltias creativity is showing people in the tech industry how programs and systems originally designed for entertainment or fun can be optimized as solutions for human-centered problems, even high-stakes ones like healthcare. Virtual reality began as a fun toy for gamers or tech junkies, but now innovators like Maltias are pushing it further into the medical sphere.

Entrepreneurs can learn from this creativity when thinking about how their inventions can contribute to the greater good.

The rest is here:

How Virtual Reality Is Making Healthcare More Accessible - Forbes

TipRanks

The stock market pulled back from all-time highs this week, as investors paused to consider just whats been goosing stocks and what the future may hold. A flood of stimulus cash, unleashed by the Biden Administrations big spending bills, is set to push GDP growth to 9% for 3Q21, but next year looks like it will slip back as the spending runs its course. Economists are predicting 5.5% GDP growth next year. This bodes poorly for cyclical stocks, which tend to reflect macro volatility. As Morgan Stanleys chief US equity strategist Mike Wilson said, Peak rate of change on economic data and earnings revisions... are all contributing to the deterioration in lower-quality, smaller-capitalization, and the more cyclical parts of the market. Dividend stocks, however, are more stable than the cyclicals, and while their average returns are lower, they offer the advantage of a steady return regardless of economic conditions. B. Riley analyst Matthew Howlett has been looking into the real estate trust segment, a group of stocks long-known for dividends that are both high and reliable. Howlett pointed out two stocks, in particular, that are showing dividend yields in excess of 7% and deserve a 'buy' rating. Ladder Capital Corporation (LADR) Well take a step into the real estate investment trust (REIT) niche, with Ladder Capital, a specialist in commercial mortgages. Ladder has operations in 48 states, and 475 cities. The average loan size is $19 million, and the company has securitized or sold a cumulative total of $16.7 billion commercial loans. Operations are backed by companys $5.9 billion in assets. Ladder Capital has seen a series of headwinds in the past year. The corona pandemic, of course, was the major crisis but for a commercial mortgage lender, the problem was broader. Loan customers were taking their own hits, and finding themselves unable to meet payments. As a result, Ladder saw its quarterly results in 2020 show deep declines, and greater volatility, when compared to 2019. On the positive side, Ladder finished the year 2020 with $1.25 billion in cash and cash equivalents. The final quarter of 2020 saw top line revenues of $77.9 million, compared to $135.4 million in the prior years Q4. Distributable earnings, however, came in at $4.9 million and the company declared a dividend of 20 cents per common share, which was paid out on April 15. This marked the fifth quarter in a row with the dividend at this level. The current payment annualizes to 80 cents per share, and gives a yield of 7%. Despite the challenging economic environment, LADR shares are up an impressive 79% over the past 12 months. B. Riley's Matt Howlett expects the momentum to continue, and sees Ladder with a firm foundation to move forward. [The] companys loan originator has been a top CMBS loan contributor since the 2008-2009 financial crisis and is well positioned to contribute to LADRs earnings growth as the conduit market rebounds post-pandemic, Howlett noted. Howlett especially likes the companys cash position, noting that it should allow the company to accelerate growth of its core investment portfolio." The analyst sees "upside potential to the dividend (forecasted to increase to $1.05 in 2022) as originations ramp steadily and legacy higher cost debt (Koch/legacy CLO) pays down. Backing these comments with a Buy rating, Howlett sets a $14 price target to suggest room for 21% growth in the next 12 months. (To watch Howletts track record, click here) Overall, Ladder gets a Moderate Buy rating from Wall Streets analysts, based on 6 recent reviews that include 5 Buys but also a single Sell. LADR shares are currently priced at $11.58, with an average target of $12.58 pointing toward 9% upside potential this year. The real attraction for investors here is the strong dividend yield. (See LADR stock analysis on TipRanks) Cherry Hill Mortgage (CHMI) The second stock were looking at, Cherry Hill, is another REIT, this one with a focus on the residential markets. Cherry Hills portfolio includes mortgage servicing rights, mortgage backed securities, and other mortgage assets in the residential market. After a steep earnings drop in the first quarter last year, to a loss of $2.80 per share, Cherry Hill has seen sequential growth in the past three quarters. The fourth quarter of 2020 saw EPS return to positive values, with a print of 37 cents per share. Like most REITs, Cherry Hill pays out a reliable dividend. The company has been maintaining the payments since the fourth quarter of 2014, adjusting it when needed to keep it in line with income. For the most recent quarter, the dividend was declared at 27 cents per common share, or $1.08 annually. At this rate, the dividend yields an impressive 11.5%. CHMI's strong defensive characteristics and attractive dividend yield drew it to the attention of B. Rileys Howlett. [We] believe the portfolio is better insulated against basis risk and would perform better in a rising rate environment We believe that CHMI's strong liquidity profile puts it in strong position to deploy capital accretively during 1H21," Howlett opined. The analyst continued, "We expect: 1) slower prepayment speeds and 2) declining servicing costs in 2H21 to be key drivers of higher core ROEs going forward. Our 12.5% ROE forecast for 2022 should allow the company to increase its quarterly dividend to $0.30 based on our model. In line with his upbeat outlook, Howlett rates Cherry Hill a Buy. His $11.50 price target implies that the stock has room to gain 21% in the next 12 months. CHMI has slipped under most analysts radar; the stocks Moderate Buy consensus is based on just two recent ratings; Buy and Hold. With shares trading at $9.43, the $10.75 average price target suggests room for a 14% upside. (See CHMI stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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Pat Mazza on How Virtual Reality is Changing the Way People Buy Property - Yahoo Finance

Innovative VR Commercial Driving Simulator to Help Reduce Costs and Greenhouse Gases

EDMONTON, AB, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Edmonton-based Serious Labs today announced that it is developing a virtual reality (VR) commercial truck driving simulator with support from the Government of Alberta, Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), and the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA). Alberta will contribute $1 million to development costs of the simulator, while ERA will contribute an additional $2 million. AMTA is providing data and expert guidance to ensure that the simulator meets transportation industry needs.

Serious Labs VR Simulator concept with Oculus headset (CNW Group/Serious Labs Inc)

Serious Labs, the leader in VR simulation solutions for training and operation of heavy equipment, will design, manufacture, and pilot the simulator in Alberta. Commercial deployment is estimated to begin in 2024, with the simulator to be made available across Canada and the United States.

"Our new VR driving simulator will not only help to create an expedited route to proficiency and safety for drivers, but a better, cleaner environment overall by lowering greenhouse gas emissions from both training and day-to-day operation," said Jim Colvin, CEO of Serious Labs. "This is a meaningful and important project for us, and we are excited by the journey ahead. Following our launch in Alberta, we look forward to making our simulators available across Canada, the United States, and beyond so that everyone can access these benefits."

Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT), the new training standard deployed throughout Canada for Class 1 and Class 2 commercial drivers, will become mandatory for all provinces by 2024. MELT is designed to increase the skill level and safety of commercial drivers by providing more training and practice. It requires that each new driver obtain over 100 hours of training time, including 76 and a half hours of in-cab driving time, before being issued a license.

Canada's transportation industry is facing a labour shortage of over 20,000 commercial drivers which is projected to worsen in the coming years. "While the new MELT requirements are excellent news for increasing safety standards, it means more time as well as greater costs for training centers, more emissions, and makes entering the industry more difficult for new drivers," said Wade Carson, Senior Product Director at Serious Labs. "Our goal is to help alleviate those difficulties and instill best practices for drivers by enabling them to complete part of their in-cab training in VR instead."

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The increased hours required for MELT training will also increase emissions. It is estimated that between 2023-2030, the Canadian trucking industry will contribute more than 5,650,000 tons of greenhouse gases while commercial drivers are being trained.

The new commercial truck simulator is projected to significantly reduce this number. For each driver trained using a blend of VR and in-vehicle training, Serious Labs estimates a reduction of 80% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the traditional approach. As the simulator launches and becomes more widespread, Serious Labs projects it will displace 40% of emissionsmore than 2,260,000 tonnesproduced in training between 2023-2030. By 2030, the simulator will be reducing 55% of MELT-driven emissions on an annual basis. By ingraining best practices, the simulator will also enable drivers to reduce emissions from day-to-day operations by 2.8%.

"By replacing in-vehicle training time with VR simulators, Serious Labs has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Alberta's and Canada's transportation sectors," said Steve MacDonald, CEO of ERA. "This technology solution also supports the growth of Alberta's digital industry, a sector with enormous potential to diversify our economy and help accelerate action on climate change."

ERA was created in 2009 to help deliver on the province's environmental and economic goals. ERA takes action on climate change and supports economic growth by investing in the piloting, demonstration, and deployment of clean technology solutions that reduce greenhouse gases, lower costs, attract investment, and create jobs in Alberta.

In addition to the environmental benefits, the simulator will also provide significant advantages for the transportation industry, said AMTA President Chris Nash. AMTA and its members have advanced the commercial transportation industry through safety programs, progressive policy, and partnerships since 1938.

"This VR simulator will change the face of driver training as we know it, and AMTA is behind the innovative technologies that will make our roads safer and our economies stronger," said Nash. "The rapid application of new technology and disruption in industry is advancing quickly and we are proud to work alongside Serious Labs, ERA, and the Government of Alberta. The need for all industries to keep pace with new technology advancements will require collaborative use of data and digitization to develop integrated solutions for a safer tomorrow."

Serious Labs brings a strong track record to the project, having delivered its award-winning VR training solutions for multiple industry leaders around the globe, including United Rentals, Bechtel, DOW, Syncrude, the U.S. Department of Energy, Singapore International Airlines, British Airways, Rapid Access, Loxam, Riwal, and Nationwide Platforms.

About Serious Labs

Serious Labs (www.seriouslabs.com) designs and manufactures virtual reality simulators for heavy equipment including aerial lifts, cranes, forklifts, and commercial trucks. These simulators enable operators to learn and practice their skills in a risk-free virtual environment so they can work more safely and efficiently. With the power of virtual reality, Serious Labs helps increase productivity, reduce carbon emissions, and ensures that operators get home safely each day.

About Emissions Reduction Alberta:

For more than 10 years, ERA has been investing the revenues from the carbon price paid by large final emitters to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative clean technology solutions. Since ERA was established in 2009, they have committed $646 million toward 204 projects worth $4.5 billion that are helping to reduce GHGs, create competitive industries and are leading to new business opportunities in Alberta. These projects are estimated to deliver cumulative reductions of 37.7 million tonnes of COe by 2030.

About the Alberta Motor Transport Association

The Alberta Motor Transport Association was formed in 1938 and is the voice, the standard and the resource for commercial transportation in Alberta. AMTA represents 400 Carrier Members, 250 Associate Suppliers and 14,500 Associate Carriers through the Workers' Compensation Board industry codes for General Trucking (50714), Specialized Trucking (50701), and Garbage Collection and Disposal (57901).

SOURCE Serious Labs Inc

Cision

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Serious Labs Announces Development of Virtual Reality Driving Simulator with Support from Government Partners - Yahoo Canada Finance

Virtual reality accessibility has gone from strength to strength in recent years, with Oculus VR leading the pack thanks to its all-in-one, relatively-affordable Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2 headsets. But one barrier remains for some would-be virtual reality gamers motion sickness.

Because whats happening in a gamers field of view in virtual reality doesnt always match up with the way their body moves, queasy feelings can interrupt and spoil the enjoyment of virtual reality apps and experiences.

But Oculus may have a solution to fix the problem once and for all. In a Twitter Spaces conversation with Vice President of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth (and transcribed by Upload VR), John Carmack, Consulting Oculus Chief Technology Officer, might have cracked it.

Carmack first discussed some existing solutions they encourage developers to employ at Oculus:

Some of the mitigations that we tell people about about, well, like a cockpit around the edges can help because thats the furthest out to your periphery that largest motion if you cover that up, people do the shrinking vignettes when youre moving.

But Carmack thinks that, if certain calculations can be made for in-game objects, a system-wide implementation could be introduced that could defend against motion sickness effects.

If we do a little bit of changes to the engines and pass some more depth information, which we want to do for positional time warp things, anyways, its possible for us to do a systems-level approach thats actually aware of the depth next to it.

So in a game like POPULATION: ONE, they offer multiple comfort levels that determine how much you pull in at the sides and its helpful for people. But its wasteful in some sense, because if youre outside, youve got the sky at effectively infinity and that causes no impact to your comfort at all when its moving there. But the vignette winds up covering it anyways. What we need to do is look at the depth of things relative to your view, how much its moving incorrectly relative to the inertial stuff and only fade out things proportional to that relationship.

So I think that if youre ducking for cover right behind a wall, thats the stuff that can really make you sick if you translate next to it, the sky doesnt have any impact on it whatsoever. So I think that we could do something system-level that could then be uniform across games, which would be great because right now each game has its own mitigation method and it would be good for users if they just realize that, okay, this is the way VR worlds behave when youre close to something and you slide with the controller, you can expect that to kind of vignette out on the side.

Its an exciting idea for anyone thats been forced to take a break from a full-motion VR experience, and based on the sort of reasoning that seems so obvious when presented to you that its hard to believe its not been figured out already. Whats best is that Carmacks solution would work to minimise the intrusion of vignette effects on the full image only being introduced when and where theyre necessary. And, with a system-level implementation, it would take the headache away from developers having to figure out how best to mitigate sickness in their games, while also giving a consistent motion language for gamers to get used to across all games.

However, this wont be something well be seeing anytime soon, it seems

Thats the type of thing that heck itll probably take us two years to sort of work something out and push it through developers and get buy in and get people to agree to it, said Carmack.

But I think thats a long-term direction thats got some real potential.

Something to think about for the Oculus Quest Pro, or Oculus Quest 3 then, perhaps?

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Oculus might have a fix to end VR motion sickness for good - TechRadar

Verizon Wireless is currently offering Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset starting at $269.99 shipped for the 64GB model when codeEARTHDAYhas been applied at checkout.Normally fetching $299, todays offer amounts to one of the very first discounts of any kind, is a better value than our previous bundle offer, and a rare chance to bring home the popular headset. You can also score the 256GB model for $359.99, down from $399. Oculus Quest 2 delivers an untethered virtual reality experience that doesnt need an external PC or sensors to experience all of the immersion that VR has to offer. Youre also getting a pair of controllers that take the interactivity to a new level for diving into games like Beat Saber and more. Get a closer look in our hands-on review where we noted it was a huge leap in the right direction for VR. Then head below for more.

This promotion at Verizon today is also discounting some additional accessories for the Oculus Quest 2, including the official carrying case. Using the code noted above, youll be able to drop the price down to $45 from its usual $49 going rate. This is one of the very first offers on the accessory and will help keep everything protected and together in-between journeys into the virtual world.

But if a more traditional gaming setup is still more your speed, head on over to our PC gaming guide. Yesterday saw a series of notable discounts go live for upgrading your battlestation, including these Samsungs 980 PRO NVMe Gen4 SSDs which pack 7,000MB/s speeds from $80, as well as Acers 27-inch 4K 144Hz Gaming Monitor at $200 off.

Oculus Quest 2 is our most advanced all-in-one VR system yet. Every detail has been engineered to make virtual worlds adapt to your movements, letting you explore awe-inspiring games and experiences with unparalleled freedom. No PC or console required. Get the most out of each moment with blazing-fast performance and next-generation graphics. Stay focused with a stunning display that features 50% more pixels than the original Quest. Or take a break from the action and grab front-row seats to live concerts, exclusive events and more

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Oculus Quest 2 delivers untethered virtual reality experiences, now on sale from $270 - 9to5Toys

Virtual reality usage has been on the rise throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It has provided countless hours of entertainment to those sheltering at home. Now, it is also aiding healthcare workers on the frontlines.

BehaVR is a VR company specializing in digital therapeutics for behavioral health. It worked alongside John Hopkins HealthCare Solutions to create and deliver a VR-based mindfulness and stress management program called CenteredVR.

Its been over a year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. To this day, countries all over the world are struggling to keep the virus at bay. While most of us have been forced to stay home during this crisis, healthcare workers are still serving on the frontlines.

Just last year, some researchers polled 1,132 healthcare workers from 25 medical centers in the US to gauge the early impacts of the pandemic. Their findings showed that nearly a quarter of the respondents showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. About 42.6% of the respondents showed potential alcohol use disorder. As the pandemic continues, our frontliners face an increased risk of adverse mental health issues.

See Also: VR Mindfulness: Is Immersive Technology The Next 'Big Thing' in Workplace Well-Being?

BehaVR developed CenteredVR with Johns Hopkins HealthCare Solutions to help employers empower their workforce throughout these trying times. For instance, it has played an important role in Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterians efforts to boost support for its COVID units nursing staff. It alleviates the stress brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing chronic problems like hypertension from occurring. By integrating mindfulness practices into a personalized virtual space, it enables healthcare workers to develop stress resilience and coping skills.

In a CenteredVR kit, you get VR mindfulness-based experience. You have a control panel, noise-canceling headphones. You also get a Pico G2 VR headset and controller.

CenteredVR offers a personalized and dynamic virtual reality experience. Through the program, users can learn six progressive mindfulness practices. This includes a guided mindfulness-stress reduction meditation, led by Neda Gould, Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University. It has exercises to strengthen emotional fitness, as well as exercises for exposure therapy.

All of these lessons are set in immersive environments that are carefully designed to make the user feel calm and relaxed.

The six mindfulness practices can help the user lower stress levels and build resiliency. As the lessons progress, the user learns how to manage the stressors that might come their way. They figure out how to respond to these stressors and prevent the most damaging effects of stress.

Moreover, users are able to track their progress after every session. The VR mindfulness and stress management program has a built-in Perceived Stress Scale, which shows the users stress levels from the first lesson to the sixth.

See Also: NurtureVR: The VR Program That Promises to Transform Prenatal and Postnatal Care

Some healthcare settings now use CenteredVR, along with other support services to help healthcare workers. However, employers from other industries can also use the VR mindfulness program to help their workforce cope during this pandemic. With a virtual reality headset, anyone can access CenteredVR.

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Virtual Reality Is Helping Healthcare Workers Cope With Stress | ARPost - ARPost

COVID-19 disruption and falloutfrom distanced, isolated staff and no-touch business development to lost revenue and lingering market uncertaintyhave many in the construction sector longing for their pre-pandemic existence.

Precautions and vaccines are accelerating the return to some degree for firms, owners and other AEC participants, but theres a growing sense that workplace adaptations forced by the coronavirus are innovations long needed and here to stay. A lot of it was there but not adopted, says Danielle Dy Buncio, CEO of virtual design consultant VIATechnik told attendees of ENR's Top Young Professionals conference in February.

COVID was the light switch, and overnight, the game has changed and we need new ways to play it. Theres no going back to the pre-COVID workplace, she said.

Recent business surveys show the emerging transformation but also uncertainty and debate over changes ahead. In a March Prudential survey of 2,000 self-identified workers in all business sectors, only 13% said would opt for full-time on-site work, and one-third would not work for an employer requiring that presence. The respondents said 34% of job seekers want to work remotely and 42% graded their employers culture focus a C or lower. But two-thirds of respondents also see in-person interactions as key to career advancement.

In an April survey by tax consultant Marcum of 251 middle market CEOs, including those in construction, 82% expect to allow a partially remote workforce post pandemic. But in a CEO survey last month, management firm KPMG said just 17% of 500 responding chiefs in large corporations in 11 business sectors will downsize physical footprints and only 30% will commit to a majority of employees working remotely between two and three days per week.

Gregg Schoppman, principal at industry management consultant FMI Corp., says the pandemic forced AEC companies to rethink policies, practices and procedures that have been the norm for years, and many benefited from that reflective exercise. While profits rose last year for many firms as costs dropped, people had to really think about how to make money and how to be very deliberate about the execution, he says. They had to come up with a very thought-provoking plan.

Design and construction firms, owners and others now are weighing options in accommodating staff and business needs.

We will not have a firm-wide mandatory return to the office, says Mark Edwards, CEO of Texas designer Halff Associates. The percentage who return will vary depending on job description, individual independence and office and team requirements. But the firm wont cut its office space. We are maintaining or increasing it so every employee has their own space to preserve our culture. This will be a competitive advantage in the future. Whats good for our people is good for business, thats the bottom line.

Offices are where collaboration happens and are vital to our culture, says architect Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen, who notes internal research showing a 37% drop in collaboration when were not together. Greg Kelly, CEO of designer STV, echoes that, stressing that we are always best when we can be together. He says the firm anticipates returning to its offices after Labor Day. We are still working on a plan as to how best to make this happen, Kelly says.

All staff learns from the shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders and colleagues and immersion into the processes, policies, culture and collaborative work environment, says Gerald Salontai, CEO of engineer Hull & Associates. The quicker this happens, the more they can be effective and bring value. About 25% of Hull staff prefers to work remotely, with office trips for occasional team, project, client or company meetings. This will cause changes in our real estate portfolios, office space and workspace layout, he says. Quality control is at higher risk from a remote workforce, he contends. Not having teams in close proximity can lead to things falling through the cracks on a given project, Salontai says.

Danielle Dy Buncio, CEO, Virtual Design Consultant, Viatechnik

Laura Ramey, chief people officer at TRC Cos., says the firm was an early adopter of the [work-from-home] model and had a digital foundation in place before the pandemic, allowing TRC to quickly transition office-based staff without large lapses in productivity or employee access.

Employee polls indicate most want to continue with a hybrid work from home and office setup post-pandemic, and these numbers have remained consistent over the past 12 months, she says.

Priya Kapila, FMI compensation practice leader, said in a recent article, Its no surprise that many engineering and construction executives are asking, How do we continue to monitor productivity, measure performance and reward employees who used to be in the office but arent anymore? Long-term solutions are largely unknown, particularly given the uncertainty as to whether wide-ranging remote work will continue, she says. One concern Kapila notes is that, in some cases, employees are missing important team engagement and communication developments, so remote work is actually playing to their weakness. FMI has more research underway among contractor CEOs, she says.

"There are challenges in development of staff now, especially those in their 30s who seek career advancement and ... underlie a lot of capability and billability are not feeling 'invested in' ... nearly as fully, if at all, as when in the office," says Ted Lower, CEO of industry management firm LVNV and an HR practice consultant to AEC advisory company EFCG.

According to Lower, firms intend to have "essentially all offices open for partial/rotating occupancy by 50% of employees by summer, with most having 25% to 35% occupancy by June." Many firms with offices in smaller, non urban locations "are well past that already," he says.

With a fourth-quarter COVID wave looming dependent on vaccine strength and variants, "having the hybrid environment carried 2Q, 3Q and into the 4Q is viewed as the best course of action, as it is possible that year-end could involve significant office closure mandates," Lower contends.

Hybrid work arrangements are seen for up to 40% of design firm Stantec staff, so the firm turned to virtual reality cameras and the internet to do field reviews remotely. Its not foolproof, with the company relying on the contractor to not intentionally skip over items, says Steve Fleck, chief project officer. From rebar to earthwork inspections, there is nothing you cant do that way, he says. You get to see every nook and cranny.

Fleck acknowledges that getting people to remobilize in the office is actually a much more difficult exercise.

Some research sees pay cuts as a looming option for remote employees, with historical evidence suggesting a negative connotation attached to telecommuting and a belief that remote employees do not work as hard, says Kapila. She says the pandemics work from home boom has helped dissuade this mind-set.

Harvard Business Review researchers, in a March article, cite one survey that about 44% of employees would be willing to cut pay by 10% to work remotely forever. But they urge employers to adopt a leader-supported declaration of organizational expectations related to remote work.

Michael McKelvy, President and CEO of Gilbane Building Co., says the company has learned this last year to revise past notions that work from home employees are probably not doing a really good job. He says the firm still would like people to be in the office, but our understanding of that difference is much greater now than before.

Even so, there is growing statistical and anecdotal evidence that remote work poses risks for womens careers. Management consultant McKinsey last summer found in all sectors that women represented 39% of global employment but 54% of job losses. The consultant said its studies dating to 2015 had never recorded more women opting out of the workforce than men, until last year.

The U.K.s latest annual mandated salary gap survey for all employers of 250 or more, released in April, revealed pandemic effects for women at some construction sector firms. COVID furloughs and added child care duties may set some careers back by years, according to industry experts. Andra Kidd, named Hull chief operating officer last year, notes efforts by the firm, not unlike others, to boost time flexibility and mental health support to create work-life balance that, where possible, will continue beyond the pandemic.

Face-to-face collaboration remains critical, but virtual options wont disappear, says Scott Sass, national leader of DPRs special services group, noting an uptick in workforce engagement. Employees now feel really connected to the pulse of the company and to our strategies, he says.

That link extends to college campuses, where distance learning has generally been the norm this past year, and Zoom the connector. Students are much more willing to meet in Zoom than in person, says David Gunderson, associate CM professor at Washington State University. Im not sure if its a convenience factor or if there is some intimidation removed. He says hes basically given up on official hours. Well meet whenever were both available now. Use of virtual platforms to host industry experts has also boosted learning options at the school, hampered in the past by its five-hour drive from Seattle.

Zoom will remain a go-to platform, but a recent American Council of Engineering Cos. (ACEC) member survey said nearly 63% of respondents have found or seek alternatives for remote interaction. Architects and designers are visual thinkers, and working entirely in the digital space has expanded our arsenal of, and fluency with, digital collaboration tools, says Gensler co-CEO Diane Hoskins.

From the pandemics early days, DPR Construction leaned on its technology and innovation team for ways to keep jobs moving ahead successfully, specifically focusing on safety, productivity and collaboration. We came up with more than 200 solutionsthe most weve ever done in our history, says Kaushal Diwan, DPRs national leader of corporate innovation. While many were quick fixes to virus-related issues, he expects to see some continue. The company piloted the use of augmented reality headsets, connecting inspectors with project teams in the field when lockdowns restricted travel.

I think that youre going to see us continue to use wearable technology to help people be cognizant of where they are in relation to each other, says Gilbanes McKelvy. The Nevada Dept. of Transportation ramped up technology in its public-facing events. With open meetings barred, NDOT used web-based streaming services for virtual meetings, creating a higher standard for gathering public input and generating community support, says spokesman Tony Illia. The pandemic has forced us to evaluate and reconsider best practices. The agency also has developed a long-term telecommute policy for most of its administrative and management staff.

AEC sector participants and observers also see key COVID-19 changes in business development. An ACEC survey in March said nine out of 10 respondents would allow travel for client meetings in the next six months, but only 50% will OK it for events, which must not exceed 20 attendees. Jennifer Newman, principal of Elevate Marketing Advisors, an industry consultant, notes two client design firms that had to do a major pivot in 2020, implementing a digital strategy and new websites and brands to fit the new virtual environment.

While cuts in travel and other business development and staff support pumped up some company profits, at the same time, firms have scrambledand often spent unbudgeted fundsto ensure their workforce is equipped to work remotely, says Elevate founder and principal Doug Parker, who also is current president of the Society for Marketing Professional Services. He says accessibility to decision makers has been better than I can remember in my career and that AEC firms used any available time over the last year to reexamine business development strategies.

Halffs Edwards cites the firms use of creative ways to stay in front of clients, such as providing virtual learning opportunities on topics that will allow them to become more efficient. To compensate in a firm built on a foundation of face-to-face, Stantec effectively drew on banked goodwill, says Fleck. But the firm also understands it will need to start making live deposits to maintain those relationships, he says.

Alexander LHeureux, CEO of design giant WSP Global, terms the pandemic a global tragedy, but also an opportunity to change and improve. Its no longer an agile workplace we need to design but an agile working environment, which is very different. We need to decide why we want workers to come back and what we want them to do, says the executive.

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AEC Sector Envisions, and Debates, How Virtual Becomes the New Reality - Engineering News-Record