Wood chips appear to be falling from the plank, dropping toward the active street far below. Disembodied voices from nearby people, who could be heard but not seen, encouraged a step off the plank. For anyone with a fear of heights, just edging out to the plank was a heart-racing victory in itself. The idea of jumping, even stepping off impossible. What would happen without stepping off? The voice said, I dont know, no ones stood there this long before.

Toes inched forward carefully. Eyes peered at the activity many stories below. But taking that final step was a mental hurdle. Even with ones feet planted firmly on the carpeted floor of a new business in Baxter, the virtual reality headset provided all the visual and auditory stimulation of being suspended in mid air in a large city. And that is what VR Odyssey offers its customers, that and much more as an escape from reality, a place to play games, a place to create art, and a chance to explore be it the vastness of space or the depths of the ocean.

For Nick Steiger, the potential of virtual reality came after he tried it while living in the state of Washington last year. It was an eye-opening experience to see where technology was now capable of to make the experience possible. A little VR arcade opened in the city where he lived. A friend also offered him a spare virtual reality headset, which he began using daily for workouts. When he talked about the experience with his mom, Patty Steiger, she said maybe the arcade was something they should do here in the lakes area. When Nick Steiger came home for a visit over the long cold winter of 2018, they kept talking about it and invested in a commercial unit in Baxter.

His parents, Tom and Patty Steiger, both said people didnt really understand the virtual reality until they experienced it, but when they tried it, they loved it.

People thought Oh, its a video game, Nick Steiger said. Its not so much that they are in a game, they are in a place. Its more like teleportation than a video game experience like the holodeck on Star Trek or something.

Nick Steiger sees possibilities for games, art, exploration and creation in the virtual reality business he opened with his family this year in Baxter. Renee Richardson / Brainerd Dispatch

The experience includes putting on a tethered headset or goggles and grasping a hand-held controller in both hands. From there the programs and options are varied from multiplayer games, to flying over a city and landing on skyscraper rooftops (the experience is so real players bend their knees as they reach for the ground expecting a sense of a touchdown even though their feet never leave the floor.)

Other options include teleporting through the planets in the solar system, designing a dress, painting or sculpting, or going underwater to stand on the deck of a sunken ship and coming nearly eye-to-eye with a whale.

When Karli Skog, 19, stopped in to use the VR with her cousins, Landon Glazier, 13, and Brekkin Glazier, 9, they played games, flew over a virtual city and stepped on that plank.

Its awesome, Skog said. It seems like so real.

While the games are fun and unlike what people have done, Nick Steiger also sees opportunities for people with disabilities, new ways to create art, options to explore and safely jump tall buildings.

This is like day one of a new technological era, he said, expecting a day in the future where virtual reality will be in every home, if not every pocket at some point. And well look back at these as primitive.

Nick Steiger said an expert compared these units to those brick cellphones people had in the early days of mobile phones. He said its almost like introducing personal computers in the 1980s. They can play games in virtual reality, but they can also do so much more, which can come in handy during long winter months, he said. Perhaps its a zombie shooter game to help make it through until the lakes again boast open water, or an escape room puzzle, or a hands-on science simulation. And for those looking to give a different gift this season, it can mean giving the gift a virtual reality experience.

Its going to take off, thats an inevitable fact, he said of virtual reality, noting their flagship business is providing a way to get acquainted with the technology and experiment with it. He also sees an opportunity for people who want to create games.

These computers are powerful computers with powerful graphics cards, they can do a lot of things, they can do video and video editing and graphic design creation, Nick Steiger said. While other locations have gone with the game arcade, he sees the Baxter store creating something beyond that like a painters studio. Nick Steiger wants to create a virtual reality studio where people create a family link perhaps its recording a message from grandma in front of the green screen and creating a hologram of her.

Why not here? he said.

For Nick Steiger, the underlying theme is to provide this type of technology and make it affordable. Its a different technological frontier, he said, noting the possibilities. Why not have central Minnesota start to embrace this digital frontier. Why not create a workshop where people are learning VR and how to test things.

Brekkin Glazier, 9, and Landon Glazier, 13, and their cousin Karli Skog, 19, interact and explore virtual reality at VR Odessey in Baxter.

How the business came together for equipment and a location was a mixture of timing and unexpected connections.

So they decided to venture into the idea of an arcade business in Brainerd, initially looking at locating in the downtown area with three commercial virtual reality units. They worked with the Small Business Development Center, SCORE and Brainerd Lakes Area Economic Development Corp. When Nick Steiger looked to see if there were other VR businesses in the region, he found an arcade in Bemidji. The owner was getting married, moving to Duluth and noted he had a buyer for the business.

Its one of those moments that its just on a whim that changes everything, Nick Steiger said of emailing the owner and asking if he could pick his brain on the business sometime over lunch in Duluth. The owner later emailed back saying his earlier buyer fell through. It meant eight commercial stations and computers were available at an attractive price.

With an unexpected windfall of equipment in hand, the next thing to nail down was a location. As they looked for space, they needed something that would allow the VR stations to be in a parallel line next to each to avoid confusing the sensors. It turned out the perfect space wasnt something they even knew existed.

After the video store in the strip mall by Cub Foods in Baxter closed and Boomer Pizza moved in, a wall was installed dividing the space. The Steigers looked at a different store front options in the strip mall without realizing the partitioned space that fit their needs to a T was just feet away. By chance, Nick Steiger stopped to see Chris Moran, an old school friend who owns and operates Boomer Pizza, to say theyd be neighbors. Moran thought they meant the unused space next door, vacant since the video stores life ended, and offered to move chairs stored there. The unexpected location of the remnant of the video store matched just what they wanted.

Another whim, because this is perfect, Nick Steiger said of the location. In terms of being able to get all these sensors lined up, its pretty much ideal.

It took a couple of months of renovation and by the spring of 2019 they were working with customers on location. While others in the new industry were creating arcades, Nick Steiger said they are calling their option a parlor.

Because were not looking at this just to be a place for games, primarily games, but also like people who want to come in and paint, people who want to come in and sculpt. You can even create these sculptures and export it to a 3-D printer. So you can like make a mask, or a model or some sort of figurine.

Adding some of those sculptures to the displays in the parlor is also envisioned along with having an art night. The art created in virtual reality can be saved.

Were kind of looking at how can we tap into that creativity, how can we make this also a workshop, Nick Steiger said.

They also have a green screen so people can be filmed with a scene of the game behind them. Battling orcs with a sword? There can be a photo of that. Nick Steiger said for those making YouTube videos the green screen could also be something they may use.

We hope to partner with area resorts for something for the guests to do on a rainy day, Patty Steiger said. Tom Steiger said its been challenging but interesting to get involved with this.

Other options include partnerships with schools, even virtual dissections of frogs with a virtual instructor in a lab coat.

All the possibilities available with this technology shouldnt be limited to a metro experience or a specific region, as Nick Steiger noted one of the most popular laser games in action in VR was developed by two guys in the Czech Republic.

Why cant we do that here, he said. Why not here? Why not now?

Nick Steiger said he tells people they need to start looking at the lakes area as the heart of the continent and bring a new branding. Whats the sales pitch? Its the future.

Go here to read the rest:

Virtual reality parlor finds a home in Baxter - Brainerd Dispatch

News

Researchers at MossRehab are studying whether the technology can help rewire patients brains to alleviate unexplained limb pain in amputees.

Joyce Johnson is one of 14 patients who participated in MossRehabs pilot study that investigates the efficacy of a virtual reality treatment for phantom limb pain. / Courtesy

Joyce Johnson was 44 years old when she learned shed have to undergo a below-knee amputation on her right leg due to a severe blood clot. For a time, she thought losing a limb and adjusting to using a prosthetic leg would be the most difficult part of her health journey. But its what came after the surgery that, in some ways, has given Johnson the most grief. About six months after the amputation, Johnson began feeling a sharp pain in the part of her leg that was no longer there.

It was weird, Johnson recalled. Sometimes I would feel an itch or a shooting pain, and I would feel it with and without my prosthetic. Sometimes it would feel like my foot was itching, but I didnt have a foot there. I didnt know what to do to ease it. I would try to squeeze and press the bottom of the stump to see if it would stop but nothing really helped.

What Johnson was experiencing is called phantom limb pain (PLP), a debilitating condition that causes painful sensations in the area of an amputated limb. Approximately 90 percent of patients with limb amputations experience the persistent sensation of the missing extremity, according to Dr. Laurel Buxbaum, the associate director of Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and director of the Cognition and Action Lab at MossRehab who has been studying cognitive processes related to the PLP phenomenon for roughly three decades.

Now, Buxbaum and a team of researchers from the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania are conducting new studies to determine whether a virtual reality treatment could help rewire patients brains to alleviate phantom limb pain. Its one of only three clinical trials in the state that are currently exploring treatments for PLP and one of less than five studies in the country that are investigating virtual reality as a potential cure for the condition.

PLP is the result of changes in the peripheral and central nervous system after amputation that cause mismatched signals between the brain and the missing limb. It affects the quality of life for patients like Johnson who have few options beyond taking strong pharmaceutical drugs to temporarily relieve pain.

Its a very frustrating and difficult thing to have to live with, Buxbaum said. For some patients who have severe or constant pain, their quality of life is really influenced. Some patients are afraid to venture out into the world because they fear to have an attack of pain while theyre out and about.

Several clinical trials have been conducted, usually in small cohorts, to explore potential treatments for PLP but the efficacy of existing treatments and the underlying causes of the condition itself are still poorly understood.

So far, one of the most effective treatments for PLP has been mirror therapy. The treatment requires patients to practice movements using a mirror to create a reflective illusion of an affected limb. The action tricks the brain into thinking movement has occurred without pain. While effective, Buxbaum says patients tend to grow bored with repeating the same actions in the mirror repeatedly.

In the Moss study, individuals with lower-limb amputations wear a head-mounted display that provides a three-dimensional view of a virtual environment. Patients engage in several game-like tasks that require movement of both legs, such as scooting around a maze on a virtual chair or rappelling up a cliff by holding a virtual rope and pushing off with the legs. Custom software and a motion tracking system generate an image of a moving figure with two complete legs. The visualization, Buxbaum says, is more engaging and, according to early results, may eliminate pain for longer periods of time than other therapies.

We were really looking for something that was fun, engaging, cost-effective, and something that people would actually do, Buxbaum said.

Joyce Johnson undergoing virtual reality treatment at MossRehab. / Courtesy

Johnson was one of 14 patients who participated in the first round of the Moss study. Within a month of receiving her first VR treatment, Johnson says her pain was gone. Within three months, shed stopped taking her prescribed pain medications and remained pain-free.

It was fun, going to the sessions, Johnson said. After a while, I didnt feel any pain.

Now, six months since her last treatment as part of the study, Johnson said shes just beginning to feel some slight pain again.

Buxbaum said her team is in the process of securing funding to launch a second phase of the study that will test the method in a larger group of amputees for a longer period to hopefully determine the long-term effects of the treatment. The team also plans to explore whether the VR treatment will work for above-the-knee amputees and if it can be administered in peoples homes instead of having patients come to treatment centers.

One of the interesting questions we want to explore, that we dont know now, is whether after youve had a course of six or seven weeks of treatment, and youre starting to experience a little bit of pain again, whether you could come back in and just have a booster session to address the pain, she said.

Eventually, we hope well be able to have the treatment delivered in peoples homes so they can have a better quality of life.

See more here:

This Virtual Reality Treatment Could Be the Cure to Phantom Limb Pain - Philadelphia magazine

If youve been following Don Diablo for a while, you know how hes a big fan of futuristic technology. His style, the Future Album, Hexagon world, love for Star Wars, and his music are all part of the DJs identity and passion. Today hes taking another step in this direction by playing live in virtual reality.

After Marshmellos Fortnite Live, now its the Hexagon boss whos taking his shows to the virtual world. This will happen during Dons -real-life- DJ set at Bootshaus Club in Cologne, Germany. The show will be broadcasted live through an out-of-this-world virtual version of the venue. Furthermore, the VR broadcast will be accessible to anyone worldwide.

You still need minimum-performing hardware though, the system requirements and more information about the technology used here. However, dont go buy that VR because youre a big Hexagon fan just yet. It will still be possible to watch the show with a normal screen if you dont have the gear.

The DJ set will be taking place this Thursday starting at 10:30 pm CET and lasting two hours. Tickets start at $4.99 and are available here.

Continued here:

Don Diablo Will Play Live in Virtual Reality - EDMTunes

Fresh from their performance at the 2019 Game Awards in which it was revealed in the run-up that theyd also be making a video-game related announcement, Green Day have now unveiled a special music pack for the virtual reality game BeatSaber.

The band have released a music pack containing the songs American Idiot, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Father Of All, Fire, Ready, Aim, Holiday and Minority for $8.99, with the unveiling of this pack also coinciding with players getting access to Beat Sabers 360-degreegameplay.

Read this next: 12 signs that rock will dominate music in2020

VR is rocknroll its fearless, its challenging the way things are done, its never taking no for an answer, says frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Its also the most engaging and unique way for fans around the world to experience our music. Strapin!

Check out footage from the game with added Green Day below:

Watch the band performing Father Of All at last nights 2019 GameAwards:

Green Days new album of the same name is due for release in February nextyear.

Catch the trio with Fall Out Boy, Weezer and The Interrupters (U.S. only) on the Hella Mega Tour next summer. Tickets are on sale now.

June2020

13 Paris, France, La Defense Arena, 14 Groningen, Netherlands, Stadspark17 Antwerp, Belgium, Sportspaleis21 Vienna, Austria, Ernst Happel Stadium24 Glasgow, UK, Bellahouston Park26 London, UK, London Stadium27 Huddersfield, UK, The John Smiths Stadium29 Dublin, Ireland, RDSArena

July2020

17 Seattle, WA, T-Mobile Park21 San Francisco, CA, Oracle Park24 San Diego, CA, Petco Park25 Los Angeles, CA, Dodger Stadium28 Commerce City, CO, DICKs Sporting Goods Park31 Arlington, TX, Globe LifeField

August2020

1 Houston, TX Minute Maid Park 5 Miami, FL Hard Rock Stadium 6 Jacksonville, FL TIAA Bank Field8 Atlanta, GA SunTrust Park11 Minneapolis, MN Target Field13 Chicago, IL Wrigley Field15 Pittsburgh, PA PNC Park 16 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium19 Detroit, MI Comerica Park21 Washington, DC Nationals Park22 New York, NY Citi Field24 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre27 Boston, MA Fenway Park29 Philadelphia, PA Citizens BankPark

Read this next: Green Day The inside story of Insomniac

Read the original post:

Green Day Have Added Their Own Music Pack To Virtual Reality Game Beat Saber - Kerrang!

We walked into Richard Bermans physics class at Sheridan Tech High School in Fort Lauderdale and found him with some kind of sci-fi-looking goggles on his head and a controller in his hand.

Youre going to click on this and its gonna open up this world, Berman is telling his students.

A world of possibilities called mixed reality, a combination of virtual surroundings with the physical world through the Magic Leap goggles.

A computer monitor shows the kids what their teacher is seeing.

Then the students get their first crack at trying the system.

Its like youre actually experiencing it, one student says.

I see bricks on the floor and Im trying to make it stack up, says her classmate.

The students are on the cutting edge of technology, using the headsets made in Broward County by Magic Leap.

Its like what you see in the movies, were slowly getting to what we see like Tony Stark with his high advanced technology, I feel thats where were going with this, said student Demond Thomas.

I asked him if he thinks hes Iron Man when he wears the headset.

Pretty much, yeah, Demond said with a chuckle.

So far, eight high schools in the Broward County Public School district have the Magic Leap system. The Florida Panthers hockey team donated 25 of the headsets to the school district. The goal, no pun intended, is to eventually have the system in every high school.

You know that when you drop something gravitys gonna take over, it actually behaves based on the laws of physics, Berman says, as he demonstrates the system.

As a physics teacher, he should know. Berman says the mixed reality technology will be a powerful teaching tool because concepts and data can be turned into a visual, immersive experience.

My mind is just racing, Berman said. But I really see that for some people that might have a hard time with certain concepts this could really be a game changer, especially for some of the more high-tech or advanced concepts in physics or in science of any stripe.

Learning about things that are not easily tangible, added Dr. Lisa Milenkovic, the districts STEM supervisor. Like climate change, change the year to 2030, what temperature is it gonna be, and hows the sea level gonna change because of that.

The options in a system like this are limited only by the students or the teachers creativity, so its definitely not just for science geeks.

Its a way to engage students that wouldnt normally think of themselves as scientists or computer scientists, right now they say oh, this is cool, let me make something, an artist, a musician, theres apps for that, too, Milenkovic explained.

The next step is coding. Students will be developing their own apps for the Magic Leap system, working with engineers from the company.

Go here to see the original:

Education on 6: Virtual Reality at Sheridan Tech High School - NBC 6 South Florida

Training and preparation are keys the keys for firefighters keeping themselves and others safe when responding to dangerous emergencies. Fire departments continually try out new tools and techniques in controlled environments, so they're better able to know what to expect and how to react when they encounter those situations for real.

That's why a California department has started incorporating virtual reality technology into the training its cadets receive.

Decked out in full turnout gear, Cosumnes firefighter cadets now are provided with another piece of equipment: VR goggles, KCRA-TV reports.

I only know of three departments in the world using this technology synchronized into their training, Kirk McKinzie, the department's tech specialist, told the TV station, adding that the Houston Fire Department was the only other U.S. department he knew of that was using VR googles.

With the goggles, cadets can be introduced to a variety of fire situations, including potentially deadly flashovers, without introducing them to the risks until they're ready. And cadets are able to get a 360-degree view of that environment, too.

"Fire hasnt changed,"Battalion Chief Rick Clarke told KCRA."Fire is an element. What has changed is the materials burning."

Another advantage of virtual reality training comes with what departments can learn about cadets. Trainers can guide firefighters through a blaze to see how their bodies respond and then apply that data to actual situations.

"Where we're in the technology world is: How do we track our people? How do we protect them? How do we make sure that when they're at their fatigue levels that we can pull them out of the building, so we don't have people lost or people go down in the middle of smoke-related events?" Clarke told KCRA.

Although virtual reality is a new tool, the department should see dividends soon. The first class of cadets to train using VR goggles and live fire simulations will graduate in February, according to KCRA.

See the article here:

Virtual Reality Preps CA Firefighters for the Real Thing - Firehouse.com

Do you know the value of these virtual learning tools? Source: Billetto editorial/ Unsplash

By Study International Staff | December 18, 2019

From revolutionising STEM subjectsto embedding transformative digital tools in lecture theatres and seminars, virtual learning experiences are adding an extra edge to education.

And as the do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to learning amplifies, many self-teaching students are searching for new virtual learning tools that will take their home-based studies further.

So, if youre already a virtual learner and you want to tighten up your knowledge of virtual reality tools, or youre not familiar with virtual learning, but you want to learn a few new concepts, why not try your luck at this quiz below?

What is an immersive 360 experience?

Video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras.

A video recording that shoots 360 different frames, collectively providing one experience.

Where a learner has to use 3D glasses to step into a 360 virtual experience.

Continue >>

What does HMD stand for in the virtual learning world?

Heavy Motion Device

Head Mounted Displays

Head Motion Device

Continue >>

It's the delay between your action and reaction. Having low latency is crucial when using a HMD.

It's a term to describe a learner's enjoyment of their virtual reality experience.

A term that refers to the amount of points you score on a virtual learning game.

Continue >>

A graphical representation of data relating to the learners gaze during a virtual reality (VR) experience.

A map that tracks your heat levels during a virtual reality experience.

A map that tracks a learner's concentration levels during their virtual reality venture.

Continue >>

A lightweight and flexible glove that can effectively mimic the sensations of manipulating digital objects.

A yellow love that you wear once you're immersed within the virtual reality environment.

A term relating to the comfort levels of a virtual reality environment.

Continue >>

What does 1 to 1 Movement refer to while you're in a virtual learning world?

When you're face to face with your virtual learning assistant.

When your virtual avatar mimics the exact actions you take in real life.

When you're having a close conversation with your virtual learning advisor.

Continue >>

You're a virtual pro!

You seem to already know all the virtual learning terms and the true value of virtual learning tech! Congratulations on scoring most of the answers correct on this quiz.

Share your Results :

Better luck next time, just take this quiz again!

Better luck next time on the virtual learning quiz! You can take this quiz again to improve your score.

Share your Results :

PLAY AGAIN !

Quiz: How well do you know your student loan facts?

Quiz: Graphic design students- how well do you know these terms?

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Take this quiz to test your virtual learning knowledge - Study International News

Virtual reality seemed like a wild taste of the future in 2016when a wave of headsets began to appear. Today, it's more like a work in progress. Virtual reality is still evolving, into possibilities that could eventually stun us even more. Here are four of CNET's favorite VR headsets from the current crop.

The following CNET staff contributed to this story: editor at large Jeff Bakalar and senior editors Joshua Goldman, Scott Stein and Laura K. Cucullu. For more reviews of personal technology products, visit cnet.com.

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Oculus Quest

CNET rating (out of 5)

4 stars out of 5 (excellent)

THE GOOD It magically creates immersive VR on a standalone headset with fantastic controls and full positional tracking. It requires no phone, PC or game console and is reasonably priced. Pass-through cameras allow easy setup of the play area.

THE BAD Its closed-off design will only run apps and games for the Quest, and your favorite Oculus Rift and Go titles may or may not make the leap.

THE COST $399

BOTTOM LINE There's no better mobile VR experience than the Oculus Quest.

HTC Vive

CNET rating (out of 5)

4 stars out of 5 (excellent)

THE GOOD It offers a flat-out amazing virtual reality experience with sharp visuals, great motion controls and full-room sensing to walk around in virtual space. Vive hardware can help indicate where your walls are.

THE BAD It requires a high-end PC to run. Long wires and lots of equipment take time and space to set up.

THE COST $627.99 to $679.93

BOTTOM LINE It's the closest thing to having a holodeck in your home.

Oculus Go

CNET rating (out of 5)

4 stars out of 5 (excellent)

THE GOOD This is a completely self-contained, stand-alone, no-phone-or-PC-necessary VR system. It has a comfortable design and feel, sharp-looking display and effective built-in speakers with spatial audio. There are hundreds of apps to choose from. Oculus setup app works with iOS and Android phones.

THE BAD Battery life is only two hours, it's a sit-down experience (no room tracking) and there are no kid-safe settings.

THE COST $199.99

BOTTOM LINE Oculus Go is VR for the masses.

Sony PlayStation VR

CNET rating (out of 5)

3.5 stars out of 5 (very good)

THE GOOD This is the most accessible, affordable and user-friendly full VR option on the market. Sony has promised support from a long list of developers but the immediate launch games are pretty solid as well.

THE BAD Its single-camera tracking system occasionally feels lacking and you may have trouble when you turn.

THE COST $233.95 to $245.65

BOTTOM LINE Sony's PlayStation VR otherwise crams a solid and satisfying virtual reality experience into an existing PS4 game console.

Read the original post:

They really are the best virtual reality headsets - Newsday

BERLIN A packed bus approaches Checkpoint Charlie, the Cold Wars most famous border crossing, as grim-faced East German guards whisper among themselves about whether to hold you for questioning.

After a few heart-stopping minutes, you and your fellow passengers are free to pass into the smog, soot and shadowy intrigue of 1980s East Berlin.

Even 30 years after the fall of the wall, time travel is not yet possible. But a German startup using virtual reality technology is offering history buffs what it calls the next best thing.

Our idea was that if we cant take you back in time yet, lets try to create the perfect illusion of it, said TimeRide founder Jonas Rothe, 33.

This isnt a museum and we dont want to be. We want to let you lose yourself in the feeling of being a participant in history.

TimeRide Berlin opened in late August ahead of celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the triumphant fall of the wall on Nov. 9, 1989, in a peaceful peoples revolution.

It taps into a growing desire for authentic, interactive and immersive historical tourism, Rothe said, especially in a cityscape that has undergone a dramatic transformation in those three decades.

Many tourists are disappointed to find few traces left of the loathed barrier that divided Berlin for nearly 28 years, which was rapidly torn down in the rush toward reunification in 1990 and its aftermath.

Rothe, who was born in the eastern city of Dresden but just a toddler when the wall came crashing down, said he wanted to give his customers a vivid sense of a lost world.

TimeRide guests get a quick introduction into how vanquished Germany was divided into sectors after World War II, and how the communist authorities in 1961 sealed the border overnight to stop a mass exodus to the west.

In the next room, three protagonists a rebellious tile layer, a disillusioned true believer, and a West Berlin punk who spent a lot of time in the easts underground scene introduce themselves via a video screen.

Visitors choose one of the trio to lead them on the tour, then board a mockup bus and slip on a pair of VR goggles.

The ride takes in the tense border crossing, the elegant Gendarmenmarkt square with its two cathedrals still bearing heavy damage from World War II, and new prefab high-rises on Leipziger Strasse that were then the height of residential luxury.

Stasi agents keep not-so-subtle tabs on citizens from unmarked cars, while consumers queue up for scarce fresh produce and communist propaganda spouts from megaphones.

Rothe said he aimed to create a fully immersive experience.

Of course smell has the strongest connection to memory but its not easy to recreate without giving people a headache, he quipped, thinking in particular of the unmistakable stench of exhaust from East German Trabant cars.

The bus ride reaches its finale at the Palace of the Republic, a pleasure palace as well as home of the rubber-stamp parliament that was demolished in 2008, and features actual footage of the joyous fall of the Berlin Wall.

Those images never fail to move people it was a decisive turning point in the history of Germany, Europe and the whole world.

Business has been brisk in the weeks ahead of the anniversary.

Colin MacLean, 47, a Scottish IT professional, said he had come to learn more about East Germany because his wife grew up under communism and hes a fan of Cold War thrillers.

I like that kind of melancholic feeling that you get from old spy movies and stuff big squares with just two people walking over them, that kind of thing, he said.

Robert Meyer, a 55-year-old west German, often used to visit family living on the other side of the wall.

The way they showed the border crossing was so real, said Meyer, who works in aviation safety.

Youd have these guards and you were powerless before them they could just treat you like they wanted.

His wife Iris Rodriguez, 47, a restaurant owner originally from the Dominican Republic, said the happy ending had touched her.

It was like everyone was in prison and in the end they came free, she said. Thank God all thats over.

For all the frisson of border crossings and Stasi surveillance when seen with historical distance, the real-life suffering of dissidents under communist rule should not be taken lightly, Rothe said.

What we dont show are the escapes, and in particular the deaths at the wall.

An estimated 327 people perished trying to cross the border between East and West Germany to freedom, according to a government-commissioned study whose findings, however, remain disputed.

Rothe said that given the massive potential interest he could imagine offering a Nazi-era tour, but that the historical taboos would make it riskier.

Youd have to really be careful about what youd show and how respectfully youd do it, he said.

Youd have to shine a light on all sides so that there would be no issue of glorifying anything, or showing anything that was unbearable.

Anna Kaminsky, head of the publicly funded Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany, said that although young Germans were not always very well-informed about the Cold War, they tell pollsters they are very interested.

Its essential to use new technology to teach the next generation about that period, and to give them a sense of what it felt like to live behind the wall, she said.

Original post:

Three decades on, Berlin Wall comes back to life in virtual reality tour - The Japan Times

A husband and wife team from West Bloomfield are opening up a new virtual reality arcade in Pontiac.

The V.R Life Arcade, located at 320 Telegraph Road, will be the countys second dedicated virtual reality entertainment space along with theEscape Virtual Reality Arcade in Oxford. Featuring both room-scale and omnidirectional treadmill gaming hardware, the new arcade will launch with over 50 games during its grand opening event on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Inside a room-scale virtual reality station at the new V.R Life Arcade.

Sheray and Jack Laury, also co-owners of Southfield-based The Party Source, said they were inspired to start the business by their kids. With a 17-year-old and two young children, the couple said they found that virtual reality gaming was a good way to spend time together as a family.

Were hoping to provide a place where the whole family can come together. Our kids are all over the place in age, but they all love it here, Sheray Laury said. In our research, we found that like myself, a lot of moms use this game setting to interact with their kids. Were used to moms saying to get off the couch, get off the games But in this setting, youre moving, laughing, playing all in one place, together.

Sheray and Jack Laury, husband and wife, co-owners of V.R Life Arcade in Pontiac.

The arcade features seven room-scale stations with headsets, hand-held controllers and monitors above each station. Stations can be rented individually with up to 10-guests on each. In the center of the arcade stands four omnidirectional virtual reality treadmills, which allow players to have full 360-degree movement using slip on shoes with sensors.

Omnidirectional virtual reality treadmills at the new V.R Life Arcade opening in Pontiac on Saturday, Oct. 26.

We have a wide variety of games from sports to nature, music games and horror, Sheray Laury said. For Halloween, well be pushing our selection of horror and escape room games. We plan to always be rotating our games. Our management system lets us know whats popular and what people arent playing at all. We also want to take our costumers input on what theyd like to play.

Traditional arcade and racing games, as well as a dedicated kids corner for younger children, are also available.

V.R Life Arcade in Pontiac.

Renovations and build-out of the space, which was previously a furniture store, cost about $175,000 according to the owners. The arcade received a $50,000 Flagstar Big Idea Grant this week to assist with the launch. In 2016, the bank announced it would make a five-year, $10 million investment into the city of Pontiac. About $2.5 million was set aside for economic development and business attraction, including the grant program.

The couple also received a $50,000 small business loan from CEED Lending.

Inside a room-scale virtual reality station at the new V.R Life Arcade.

Were still not done yet, Jack Laury said. Weve got a few more things we want to add. We want to get into tournaments, so were planning on getting a hold of some consoles for that and setting up a place where gamers can bring in their own stuff to play on.

V.R Life Arcade will hold its grand opening event from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. Attendees will receive five-minutes of free gameplay on a virtual reality game of their choice, as well as the chance to enter raffles and giveaways including a free birthday party package and gaming packages. The Pontiac All Star Marching Band will also be in attendance to perform prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony. Trunk or Treating will take place in the parking lot from 3 to 5 p.m., or while candy supplies last.

Inside a room-scale virtual reality station at the new V.R Life Arcade.

Prices and booking information can be found at vrlifearcade.com.

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Virtual reality arcade opening in Pontiac this weekend - The Oakland Press

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The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is hosting a free interactive webinar on Integrating Virtual Reality into Psychotherapy for Anxious Youth on Tuesday, November 12, 2019, from 2pm to 3pm ET. Michelle Pelcovitz, Ph.D.,Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry, NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center and 2017 BBRF Young Investigator Grant recipient, will be the presenter.

The most common age of onset for anxiety disorders is in adolescence and young adulthood and can put youth at risk for failure to meet academic, social, and occupational milestones, or for developing depression and substance use if not properly treated. Cognitive behavioral therapy with exposure therapy has been identified as the frontline treatment, however a substantial number of patients do not get better or experience relapse. Dr. Pelcovitz will discuss her current research, focusing on enhancing existing therapies by integrating cutting edge technology. Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., President and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and host of the public television show Healthy Minds, will be the moderator. Join by phone or on the web at bbrf.org/novemberwebinar.

This webinar is part of a series of free monthly Meet the Scientist webinars on the latest developments in psychiatry offered by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

BBRF awards research grants to develop improved treatments, cures, and methods of prevention for mental illness. These illnesses include addiction, ADHD, anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, OCD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, as well as research on suicide prevention. Since 1987, the Foundation has awarded more than $408 million to fund more than 4,800 leading scientists around the world, which has led to over $4 billion in additional funding. 100% of every dollar donated for research is invested in research grants. BBRF operating expenses are covered by separate foundation grants. BBRF is the producer of the Emmy nominated public television series Healthy Minds with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, which aims to remove the stigma of mental illness and demonstrate that with help, there is hope. https://www.pbs.org/show/healthy-minds-with-dr-jeffrey-borenstein/

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Integrating Virtual Reality into Psychotherapy for Anxious Youth - A Free Webinar from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation - Newswise

Hong Kong-based virtual reality startup Sandbox VR has closed an $11 million funding round, bringing the company's reported total to $83 million in 2019 following a Series A round earlier this year.

Led by Craft Ventures' David Sacks and Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund, the funding round includesKaty Perry, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith and Orlando Bloom among a celebrity-packed groupof new investors.

Also on the list are Hollywood super-agent and CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz; Japanese soccer star Honda Keisuke; Kevin Durant and his manager, Rich Kleiman; and The Dreamers Fund, which was launched by Keisuke and Smith.

"We're incredibly honored to be able to work with some of the most talented and influential artists, athletes, and actors in the world," said Sandbox CEO and founder Steve Zhao. "Their support is a vote of confidence that our platform will one day become the new medium for the future of sports, music, and storytelling."

Sandbox, which uses motion capture technology tocreateimmersive virtual reality experiences,raised $68 million in a Series A round earlier this year from investors includingAndreesen Horowitz, Floodgate Ventures, Stanford University, Triplepoint Capital, CRCM and Alibaba.

As the new funds roll in, the company is expanding across the U.S., with a new location in Los Angeles and offices coming soon to New York, Austin, San Diego and Chicago for a total of 16 locations planned by the end of 2020.

"We believe that VR is finally ready to take off as a mass-market phenomenon in malls, where it can be optimized for a social experience," Sacks added. "We chose the Sandbox team because of their background in game design; their VR experiences have a level of interactivity -- with both the VR world and other players -- that we couldn't find elsewhere. We believe that Sandbox VR is poised to become the first VR experience for millions of consumers around the world."

Sandbox doesn't currently offer any music-focused experiences, but the virtual reality concert industry is growing. Billie Eilish and Post Malone have streamedshows with VRconcert series Oculus Venues,London-based startupMelodyVR held its first live broadcast with Liam Payne late last year,and Live Nationhas teamed with NextVR to broadcast dozens of concerts in virtual reality.

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Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake & More Invest Millions in Virtual Reality Startup Sandbox VR - Billboard

Sometimes visitors to the Louvre can have a hard time glimpsing the Mona Lisa. Its just 30 inches tall, tucked behind a layer of bulletproof glass and, more often than not, a throng of tourists jostling to capture selfies. While the museum has recently introduced a single-file line system to try and get around the over-crowding, around 80 percent of the museums 10 million yearly visitors still wend their way to the Salle des tats to catch a glimpse of the work.

The problem is so great that the painting could not be included in the museums blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci retrospective, which opens on October 24, for fear that it would make the exhibition practically unvisitable, according to its curators.

But the museum has found a creative solution for the landmark exhibition. Working with the VR headset producer HTCs Vive Arts program, the Louvre has launched its first-ever virtual reality initiative, offering visitors a seven-minute experience of a work titled Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass.

Still from Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass.Courtesy of Emissive and HTC Vive Arts.

Visitors can strap themselves into the state-of-the-art headsets and learn snippets of information about Leonardos famous sitter, Lisa del Giocondo, as well as his artistic method and the history of the painting. It will immerse them in what could be the surroundings beyond the frame of what is depicted in Leonardos masterpiece, and, at the end, invite them to climb aboard an imagined version of Leonardos visionary flying machinea sketch of which is also included in the exhibitionand soar across the landscape surrounding Mona Lisas luxuriant loggia.

The VR endeavor may sound like its all just a bit of fun, but it is actually part of a serious effort on the part of the Louvre to find new ways to reach a broader public. HTCs Vive Arts was also responsible for bringing Modiglianis final studio to life for Tate Moderns blockbuster show on the artist in 2017.

Victoria Chang, director of HTC VIVE Arts. 2019 HTC VIVE Arts.

We think we can be useful to our museum partners because museums do have their existing audiences, but they are always in search of new ways to expand this audience, or to connect with this audience in different ways, Victoria Chang, the director of VIVE Arts, tells artnet News.

For many museums, digital experiences are introduced in an effort to grow visitor numbers, but as the most-visited museum in the world, the Louvre hardly needs to court new attendees. The museum still wants to amplify whatever it does beyond those who can actually set foot in the museum, Chang explains. In this case we helped them by making this digital content, and making it available online across all virtual reality platforms.

We are not about figures, Dominique de Font-Raulx, the director of the Louvres interpretation and cultural programming department,says. Figures are good, but what sense would it make to have 15 million people without accommodating them well? Its nonsense.

De Font-Raulx says that the time was right for the Louvre to make its first foray into VR both because of the significance of the exhibitionmarking the 500th anniversary of Leonardos death, it is one of the most high-profile museum events anywhere in the worldand because the exhibitions curators were both open to the idea.

Still from Mona Lisa Beyond the Glass.Courtesy of Emissive and HTC Vive Arts.

The initial plan was to create an experience around Leonardos The Last Supper, because it would be impossible to bring the mural, which was painted onto the wall of Milans Santa Maria delle Grazie convent, to the exhibition. But the museum ended up going with the Mona Lisa because it was too difficult to get the volume of information about the work necessary to create a valuable VR experience from something that wasnt in the Louvres collection. In the end, The Last Supper is present in the exhibition through an interesting copy by Leonardo disciple Marco DOggiono.

We have many different publics and we have to accommodate all of them and the different types of questions they have, so offering different types of education is a crucial thing for us, de Font-Raulx says. The virtual reality was a new way to expand the museums existing devices, from the traditional wall labels to more recent audio and video guides.

The initiative is part of a broader plan to make culture accessible to a wider public. Efforts have been underway in France to redistribute some of its cultural resources around the country. The French culture minister Franck Riester plans to introduce a number of small-scale digital museums around France that will showcase high-resolution digital copies of works from the countrys 12 national public collections, including the Louvre, with people in remote regions. With more than $3 million invested in the plan, the small digital museumsdubbed micro-foliesare expected to number 1,000 within three years.

We have been working very closely with our friends on the micro-folies, and we are also in discussions to possibly do something with the Mona Lisa VR but it is in early stages, de Font-Raulx says. We are supporting it and doing different types of experiences for example, our education gallery, la Petite Galerie, is very often presented outside of the Louvre, both in museums but also in factories, in supermarkets, and different types of places. So its something that we are very passionate about.

Leonardo da Vinci runs October 24, 2019, through January 24, 2020, at the Louvre in Paris.

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The Mona Lisa Experience: How the Louvres First-Ever VR Project, a 7-Minute Immersive da Vinci Odyssey, Works - artnet News

Imagine grabbing a block from a stack on a table, throwing a ball toward a caricature in your backyard in a game of Pokemon GO or lighting up a dim room only to realize that the cubes, the ball, the Pokemon pal and the illuminating lantern do not actually exist.

A new technology called Portal-ble now brings to life these theorized possibilities. The software constructs these things in an alternate reality depicted through the screen of a smartphone, and with it, ones hand can traverse the boundary into this virtual landscape, blurring the lines between the real world and augmented reality.

Developed by Assistant Professor of Computer Science Jeff Huang in collaboration with students in his lab and other University faculty members, the software incorporates virtual objects into a persons surroundings. The technology also requires an additional attached infrared sensor to recreate a users hand and show its interaction with nonexistent objects in this virtual world. The sensor is connected to a mini-computer in the form of a compute stick that processes the input information and sends a wireless signal to the phone to simulate the image, Huang said.

The researchers have made the software available to the public for download so that anyone could build upon it to develop their own applications. Solely relying on the camera of a phone to run the technology is sufficient, Huang said, but for an optimal user experience, an infrared sensor is needed to provide depth-perception and expand the field of view.

The idea for the concept was born about three years ago, a time when virtual reality and augmented reality devices were popular but in need of improvement. VR systems had at the time existed primarily as wearable headsets, and the researchers hoped to change that by using a portable, everyday item that many people owned a smartphone to allow users to partake in these alternate realities while still interacting with their real environments. Smartphones are capable of rapidly processing images, and their use eliminates the need to wear cumbersome devices. Huang also hoped they could improve upon the unsatisfying experience in some augmented reality environments, like the act of swiping a screen to capture Pokemon in Pokemon GO.

In scenarios like Pokemon GO, all your interactions are happening on a screen where the (actions) are supposed to be interpreted as part of the 3D environment, so theres a disjunction here, Jing Qian GS, one of Portal-bles developers, said.

The researchers tried to maximize the way people interacted with the augmented environment, keeping the screen as a mere window to the world as opposed to the means of interaction with it.

Thats exactly the most interesting part of it how do we sort of trick ourselves into making these virtual objects as close to reality as possible? Huang said.

The technology will correct for natural errors in the way people interact with the objects, like grasping an object too strongly or too lightly in the way they move their hand, Huang said. Users also learn and adapt as they continue to use the product because the app can train people by vibrating, for instance, when a persons hand gets close to the virtual object they plan to touch.

One of the challenges of using a phone to simulate three-dimensional objects is the loss of depth perception that occurs when someone moves from watching the world with two eyes to viewing everything through a single camera. But the infrared sensor attachment in Portal-ble solves this problem, Huang said.

Assistant Professor of the Practice of Engineering and Computer Science Ian Gonsher, who was not involved in the creation of Portal-ble, wrote in an email to The Herald that the product does increase accessibility to augmented reality. But as this kind of augmentation becomes increasingly overlaid onto our experiences, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine what is real and what is not, Gonsher cautioned.

In one application, Portal-ble was used by RISD students to map a 3D garden. Another program allows a user to carry a virtual lantern while the software recreates the shadows and light contrast that someone would see if they were actually lighting up the room, Huang said.

The technology allows for the creation of many other programs for a variety of applications in the future. Portal-ble could theoretically be used in a medical setting to view and virtually touch the internal components of a human body. In another example, Huang described how a user could throw a dart and hit a target without the perfect physical coordination necessary in the real world.

Holding up a smartphone and the attached sensor may be heavy for a length of time, but Qian, who presented on Portal-ble at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology this week, expects smartphones to become more lightweight in years to come.

Apart from directly controlling (augmented or virtual reality environments) with your mind which is not possible yet the most practical option is to use bare hands. To get there, Portal-ble provides the much needed systematic analysis of the usability issues that may arise, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Software Research at Carnegie Mellon Mayank Goel, who also attended the USIT 2019 conference, wrote in an email to The Herald.

I know my students and I are going to use it as soon as we get a chance! Goel wrote to The Herald.

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'Portal-ble' reimagines reality by opening window into world of AR - The Brown Daily Herald

A neon-lit restaurant orbiting in space is one of the alternative worlds created in FACT's latest exhibition.

The Wood Street arts centre is using virtual reality to create a mystical space free from division and bias.

Entitled "you feel me_", it will transform the arts centre's galleries into alternative worlds with interactive artworks suspended in air, floating in a hazy mist and exploding on to walls.

Opening on November 1, the exhibition seeks to challenge the systems we live with, the show asks how we can work together to repair, rebuild and restore justice to groups affected by bias.

Nicola Triscott, FACT 's director/CEO said: "Curator Helen Starr has brought together an extraordinary group of artists to explore how prejudice is perpetuated in the systems that underpin society.

"The exhibition features an array of dazzling artworks, which suggest connections between societally engrained systems of power and the built-in biases of video games, artificial life and VR, and consider how we might move towards a place of healing.

Exhibiting artists are Rebecca Allen, Megan Broadmeadow, Anna Bunting-Branch, Phoebe Collings-James, Brandon Covington Sam-Sumana, Aliyah Hussain and Salma Noor.

you feel me_ has been developed by Helen Starr, Curator-in-Residence at FACT - an opportunity made possible with support from Art Fund.

Helen said: It has been a privilege to be a resident here, in multicultural Liverpool - I am much changed from the experience.

"The team at FACT has taken a group of interwoven ideas and developed them into a beautifully ordered exhibition. The exhibition is dedicated to my Mother; a Carib woman, for teaching me to trust my feelings, tropical rainforests and turquoise seas.

Throughout the exhibitions run, visitors are invited to dive deeper into the alternative worlds of you feel me_ in FACTs series of exhibition related events. Highlights include a cult film season featuring classics Barbarella and Belladonna of Sadness, an artist-led tour with ROOT-ed Zine and a series of video game-based adventures through our galleries with performer and gamer Conway McDermott.

you feel me_ opens at FACT on November 1.

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Visitors invited to explore virtual reality worlds in FACT's latest exhibition - Liverpool Echo

Imagine you are sitting in a chair. All of a sudden a giant tarantula slowly begins to crawl toward you. You reach forward, trying to swipe it away, but nothing happens. It turns out the spider is just an illusion created by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. No, this isnt torture. This is virtual reality exposure therapy.

In the past, therapy involved using real, living spiders. However, live exposure as a treatment option is difficult to deliver to people who fear things that cannot be easily brought indoors like blood (hemophobia), airplanes (aerophobia) and large animals (zoophobia).

Now, UT researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Mental Health Research say VR is simpler and maybe just as effective. They used the 3D stereoscopic features of the Oculus Rift to simulate the depth and motion of a spider being held by a model and then slowly crawling toward you. Seventy-seven UT undergraduates in an introductory psychology course who have a fear of these creepy crawlies participated in the study.

After several VR sessions, participants were tested with a live tarantula and were found to have clinically significant improvement, as published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders. The researchers also compared VR therapy results with another live exposure alternative - CGI therapy and found VR had greater improvement possibly due to its ability to stimulate 3D first-person fears, whereas computer-generated imagery is 2D and lacks photorealistic depth. Today, they are continuing to solidify their claims with more experiments and are investigating other applications of virtual reality.

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Bone-Chilling UT News Round-Up Not For the Faint-Hearted - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

People suffering from chronic pain and stress now have a new treatment option on the North Island.

Comox-based brain health expert and registered clinical counsellor, Dr. Tom Diamond, has expanded his brain-changing practice to include virtual reality (VR) for pain, stress and anxiety management, and meditation training.

Were thrilled to be able to offer this effective and drug-free alternative for people looking for relief from chronic conditions, said Diamond, owner of Brainigo Brain Fitness Center. Its a perfect complement to the existing pain- and drug-free treatment options available here at our clinic.

ALSO: Free mental health services for Comox Valley First Nations residents

Virtual reality is a technology that transports users to whole new worlds with three dimensional visual and auditory sensory stimulation. In this situation, users employ it as an easy meditation method during which your eyes stay open.

When you turn on the VR headset, you instantly escape into beautiful natural environments. With amazing colors, calming visuals and nature sounds, you quickly drop into a wonderfully relaxing trance state, said Diamond. Hyper-realistic scenes flood your senses with engaging sights and sounds, which distract people from chronic pain, stress and anxiety, and racing thoughts its really fun, like going to the movies for meditation.

The technology uses an immersive headset and hand-controller that syncs the virtual world with real-world movements. VR has many applications, including medical and military training, film and television, education, along with mental health and wellness.

The addition of VR opens exciting new treatment experiences for our clients. While beautiful scenes and meditations are enjoyable, its more sophisticated than simple relaxation: special visual and auditory cues train you to slow your breathing and quiet your thoughts, said Diamond. You can also add neurofeedback, where your brain activity is projected inside the VR world, while a narrators voice guides you to consciously control your brain using practical meditation skills.

Diamond notes that this and other treatments offered at Brainigo empower people to improve their health by strengthening their parasympathetic nervous system the inner healer that controls pain, sleep and healing neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. In addition to VR, other treatments that take place during the session include rejuvenating red-light therapy, relaxing sound massage and infrared heat, guided meditation, and real-time neuro/biofeedback from live brain waves, heart rate and breathing pace.

This is a wonderful tool for people who want to deepen their relaxation states, and those who want to gain greater control over chronic pain, said Diamond. With practice, VR can help you diffuse and distract neural pain signals, produce pain-reducing neurotransmitters and free your mind and body for greater peace and well-being.

VR is an excellent new drug-free alternative for your wellness toolkit.

Experience VR for yourself at the Brainigo booth during the Chamber of Commerces Market Place event being held Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Comox Community Centre.

To learn more about virtual reality at Brainigo and other treatment options, or to book an appointment, visit the website at http://www.brainigo.com or call 250-941-5596. To find out if you qualify for funding, check the Rates and Billing page on the website.

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New virtual reality treatment option in Comox offers relief from pain and anxiety - Comox Valley Record

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The Vegas Golden Knights will offer players of all skill levels an innovative way to improve their game: virtual reality. VGK VR is set to launch inside City National Arena on Thursday, Oct. 24.

International VR software company Sense Arena will power the experience, bringing a years worth of virtual reality technology expertise to the table.

Were excited for VGK VR to be the latest additional to City National Arena, said team President Kerry Bubolz in a press release. Sense Arenas cutting-edge technology will provide hockey players of all skill levels with an innovative way to develop their skills, while giving fans a perspective like never before.

Players who use the training tool will have the ability to improve their game awareness through passing, shooting and timing practice.

Bob Tetiva, founder and CEO of Sense Arena, revealed the Golden Knights are the first NHL team to receive the companys technology.

We are thrilled to cooperate with the Vegas Golden Knights to bring our state-of-the-art brain training platform to their practice facility, he said. Tetiva noted the team will be a great example of how VR can help players improve and enjoy the game.

VGK VR launch days and hours are as follows:

The experiences regular hours of operation will begin on Monday, Oct. 28, and will be as follows:

Hours are subject to change.

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Golden Knights announce launch of innovative way to improve play: virtual reality - KLAS - 8 News Now

Microsofts latest VR experiment is going to appeal to those who had to settle for living in a less than appealing neighborhood to take advantage of cheap rent. Called DreamWalker, its a virtual reality rig that lets the user experience a completely different VR while theyre walking through the real one.

With smartphone-based VR on the way out, big companies like Microsoft, whove poured millions of dollars into researching and developing the technology, are still trying to find the killer app for VR; the one application that will make every consumer want to run out and buy the hardware. DreamWalker isnt exactly that, but its an interesting use case that takes advantage of what VR does best: taking people somewhere else.

Before heading out for a stroll, the user provides a path planning software the route theyll be taking, or their ultimate destination. The software then analyzes an existing virtual world for a route thats as similar as possible, to ensure minimal modifications have to be made to virtual streets, virtual buildings, or other rendered objects that exist in the virtual world of the users choosingit doesnt necessarily have to be another city.

Once thats set, the user straps on a virtual reality rig thats, admittedly, quite cumbersome given its still in the prototype stages, and because it includes a portable computer, virtual reality goggles, a pair of RGB depth cameras, GPS, and a smartphone providing a mobile data connection. As they walk in the real world, the wearers motions and movements are mirrored in the virtual world theyre experiencing.

The most obvious question that comes to mind is, in a big city setting, or really anywhere, how is the person wearing the VR rig going to avoid the random and ever-changing obstacles that exist in the real world that they cant see? Thats where the rigs sensors and depth-sensing cameras come into play. In the example that plays out in this video demo of a virtual city, computer-generated pedestrians can be generated on the fly to represent people walking by in real life so they can be avoided in both the real and virtual worlds. And other real-life obstacles or safety hazards could be represented by various virtual objects that act as a safety barrier. For example, a dangerously deep pothole in the real world could be covered up with a computer-generated car in the virtual world that a user knows not to try to walk through. Or freshly poured cement could be protected by a pack of yapping virtual dogs the user doesnt want to get close to.

Different techniques could be used in the virtual world to protect users from hazards in the real world, without taking them out of the blissful virtual experience theyve chosen. Although theres one harsh dose of reality this VR system cant hide using virtual reality tricks: the batteries dying on that giant rig.

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Microsoft's Over-the-Top VR Rig Lets You Explore a Virtual World While Walking IRL - Gizmodo

AppliedVR awarded more than $2.9M in NIDA grants to support clinical trials to study virtual reality platforms as an opioid-sparing tool for acute and chronic pain.

The grants will enable the company to advance two clinical trial programs respectively with Geisinger and Cleveland Clinic.

AppliedVR, a Los Angeles, CA-based next generation of digital medicine announced that it has been awarded two multi-year grants totaling more than $2.9 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study virtual reality as an opioid-sparing tool for acute and chronic pain. The grants will enable the company to advance two clinical trial programs respectively with GeisingerandCleveland Clinic, studying two of its virtual reality therapeutic platforms, RelieVRx and EaseVRx. The NIDA funded trials will help inform the Companys regulatory pathway with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

AppliedVR is the first company to make VR therapeutics widely available in clinical care, having immersed more than 30,000 patients in over 200 hospitals. The grants are a result of AppliedVRs following applications, both of which were respectively awarded in September 2019.

Virtual Reality as an Opioid Sparing Intervention for Acute Postoperative Pain Management, award number R44DA049640

Virtual Reality as an Opioid Sparing Treatment for Chronic Pain, award number R44DA050231

Impact of Grants for Advancing Therapeutic Virtual Reality

We are honored to receive these awards from NIDA/NIH, which we believe will not only help forge clinical and regulatory pathways to approval, but more importantly, offer new tools that address the major opioid epidemic. Beyond advancing this novel intervention, this represents an important milestone in advancing therapeutic virtual reality as a new standard of care.

Tagged With: AppliedVR, Cleveland Clinic, Clinical Trial, Clinical Trials, Digital medicine, FDA, NIH, Opioid Epidemic, Pain Management, Therapeutic Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality

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AppliedVR Awarded $2.9M Grants to Study Virtual Reality As An Opioid-Sparing Treatment - - HIT Consultant