Peeka and HarperCollins Children’s Books Team Up on a Virtual Reality Licensing Deal – GlobeNewswire

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SEATTLE, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peeka, the world's first platform for virtual reality (VR) children's books and content, has teamed up with HarperCollins Children's Books to bring beloved storybooks to life in virtual reality.

What's in store?

Peeka's fully immersive experiences use mobile phones and are accessible to families of all backgrounds. With a simple cardboard or plastic VR headset, families can jump into the pages of storybooks and let the stories happen to them.

Peeka's studio in Seattle, WA, has already begun production on HarperCollins Children's Books I Want to Be a Doctor by Laura Driscoll, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri, and will soon start preproduction on Zuri Ray Tries Ballet by Tami Charles, illustrated by Sharon Sordo, and the Christmas classic Peppermint Post by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis. These experiences are slated to hit the Peeka app later this year.

Why is this important?

In a recent Project Tomorrow research survey, 75 percent of parents and 71 percent of teachers expressed that effective use of technology is very important for the future success of students in a post-pandemic world.

In a screen-dominated world, Peeka helps bring kids back to books and reading using devices they love, with content that's comfortable and delightful for every family to dive into together.

Further, Peeka opens the doors to new mediums that publishers and authors can explore with their IP. For VR, this licensing deal fosters an understanding of how the VR ecosystem can contribute to building a love of book content.

Michael Wong, Peeka CEO, said: "I'm excited and honored to team up with HarperCollins in the wonderful world of immersive kids' entertainment. This is a milestone for Peeka, and for the VR industry."

Rachel Horowitz, Senior Director, Subsidiary Rights, HarperCollins Children's Books, said: "We are delighted that Peeka will be bringing three of HarperCollins Children's Books titles to life in a new and innovative way, and we are excited to be in this space with them."

ABOUT PEEKA

Peeka, a VR startup based in Seattle, WA, is the first and largest kid's VR company, primarily focusing on picture book-related and other educational, kid-friendly content to help motivate children to find a passion for learning and reading. A majority of Peeka's immersive content deals with important topics such as diversity, empathy, race, mindfulness, gender, and more. Find out more at peekavr.com.

ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

HarperCollins Children's Books is one of the leading publishers of children's and teen books. Respected worldwide for its tradition of publishing quality, award-winning books for young readers, HarperCollins Children's Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers, which is the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world, has operations in 17 countries, and is a subsidiary of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV). You can visit HarperCollins Children's Books at http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com and http://www.epicreads.com and HarperCollins Publishers at corporate.HarperCollins.com.

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Image 1: Peeka in the Library

Two students in Seattle enjoying immersive storybooks.

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Peeka and HarperCollins Children's Books Team Up on a Virtual Reality Licensing Deal - GlobeNewswire

Using Virtual Reality To Bridge Gaps In Nursing – Texas A&M University Today

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VR simulations provide immersive experiences for students to hone their skills before working with patients.

Keith Mitchell Photography

Before nursing students at Texas A&M University ever enter a clinic or engage in face-to-face clinical scenarios, they already have hours of experience interacting with patients. Theyre accomplishing this through new, innovative virtual reality (VR) simulations developed by their professors.

Since early 2020 (pre-pandemic), a team at the Texas A&M College of Nursinghas been working on integrating VR simulations into their curriculum to help bridge the gap between classroom and clinic. They have launched two simulations so far that provide immersive experiences for students to hone their skills before working with real patients.

VR simulation is in that area that we call a safe container, said Elizabeth Wells-Beede, clinical assistant professor at the College of Nursing. Were all human and mistakes are going to be made. This is a place that we hope to create that psychologically safe environment for mistakes to be made, where we as the experts can help walk the students through the processes, and then they take that experience into practice and not make the mistake with a real-life patient.

Clinical simulation is not new. It has been used in nursing education for many years and allows students to apply the theory theyve learned from books and skills theyve learned in labs (such as checking vital signs, inserting IVs and conducting evaluations) to patient scenarios that they could encounter in a clinical setting. In a traditional simulation, a student is presented with a standardized patient (or trained actor), a mannequin or a computer-based program, to name a few. The student must work through the case presented to them by reading the patients chart, interviewing the patient and conducting an examination to decide what action to take.

Virtual reality is a new, emerging form of clinical simulation that provides more accessible and immersive experiences that dont require learners to travel to clinical settings, helping with the increasing burden on clinical practice partners to place learners.

The technology used at Texas A&M is being developed in close collaboration with Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo, associate professor and director of the Institute for Applied Creativity at the Texas A&M College of Architecture. Nursing faculty write the clinical scenarios and then work with Seo and her students to turn those scenarios into immersive, virtual reality experiences.

To access the simulated world, nursing students put on VR headsets that transport them into a virtual setting that can be a clinic, home or school. There, they meet with a virtual patient and work through their case to make a decision while their instructor observes and provides feedback.

I am convinced VR is the future of simulation, said Cindy Weston, associate dean for clinical and outreach affairs at the College of Nursing. This is an immersive platform thats deeper than what weve been able to do in the past with simulation in the other variety of forms it takes. Student learners feel like theyre in the environment, and its a safe space for them to hone and develop skills with faculty guidance and feedback.

Currently, the College of Nursing has applied VR simulation in two areas: Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), and forensic nursing. SBIRT is an approach that health care providers use to quickly recognize when a patient uses drugs and/or alcohol in risky ways so that they can provide brief intervention and refer them to specialty care if more extensive treatment is needed. Forensic nurses are professionally trained to treat victims of violence through patient-centered, trauma-informed care. Both SBIRT andforensic nursinginvolve patients in vulnerable situations that require highly competent, compassionate and experienced care providers.

We know that when confidence is high, nurses performance, retention, and their ability to perform the skill is high, Weston said. VR simulation builds their confidence and then were able to assess their competence before they head into the clinical setting.

The SBIRT VR simulation has been in use for about a year. It is currently instructor-guided, meaning that when students are interacting with the patient inside the virtual world, an instructor monitoring the simulation from the outside answers on behalf of the patient. The team is working on taking this to the next level and is currently developing an artificial intelligence capability for the platform.

The first forensic nursing VR simulation, which launched last month, is self-contained. In it, nurses complete a number of tasks to learn how to conduct a sexual assault examination. The goal is to help them become comfortable performing the exam before working with a live standardized patient.

We have had an overwhelming excitement with all of it, said Stacey Mitchell, DNP, MBA, MEd, RN, SANE- FAAN, clinical professor and director of theTexas A&M Health Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing. Most of the students, every time they put on the VR headset, they say, Oh my gosh, this is so amazing! They are thrilled and excited that were bringing this to them.

The VR simulations are not only designed to bridge gaps inside nursing school. As part of three Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grants, they are helping to bridge gaps in rural and medically underserved areas as well. Specific areas of focus include mental health, chronic disease management, medication management, postpartum care, and forensic nursing.

Were trying to meet the need for those areas, and thats really not where the big VR companies are. Theyre looking at the acute care setting, not the ambulatory care setting where we are, Wells-Beede said. Although this whole VR world is building up around us, we are doing something in between thats going to meet the need for rurally underserved areas. This is where I feel our niche is; we are a land-grant institution and were giving back to our community by doing these simulations that can actually be brought into the community setting.

The VR simulation team at the College of Nursing has been selected to receive a team Innovation Award from Texas A&M Technology Commercialization. This award recognizes individuals whose research exemplifies the spirit of innovation within The Texas A&M University System. Wells-Beede, Weston and Mitchell, along with Angela Mulcahy, PhD, RN, CMSRN, CHSE, will be presented with the award at the Patent and Innovation 2022 Awards luncheon on April 22.

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Using Virtual Reality To Bridge Gaps In Nursing - Texas A&M University Today

Chinese start-up Nreal is launching its augmented reality glasses in the UK this spring – CNBC

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Attendees look at NReal's augmented reality glasses, on the last day of CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images

Nreal, a Chinese augmented reality start-up, is planning to bring its smart glasses to the U.K.

The Beijing-based company said Tuesday it will launch its Nreal Air AR glasses in Britain later this spring through an exclusive deal with local carrier EE, which is owned by telecoms group BT.

Nreal's glasses allow users to watch movies or play games on large virtual displays. Users can do so by connecting the glasses to their smartphone through a cable. They're designed to look like sunglasses, similar to Snap's Spectacles line of smart glasses.

The Nreal Air has two main modes: "Air Casting" and "MR Space." Air Casting lets users view their phone screen on a 130-inch virtual display when standing four meters away, while MR Space combines digital objects with a user's surrounding space.

Nreal did not give an exact release date or price for the device. A spokesperson said more details will be revealed "at a later date."

Nreal is one of countless companies hoping to bring augmented reality which blends three-dimensional digital objects with the real world to a more mainstream audience. The tech has been around for years but, like virtual reality, it has struggled to find commercial success.

Now, with the tech world abuzz with talk about the so-called "metaverse," it's given technologies like AR and VR a new lease on life. Companies like Microsoft and Facebook, or Meta as it's now known, want to build vast digital worlds in which millions of users can interact and transact with one another.

Peng Jin, co-founder of Nreal, said he believes AR "will start a revolutionary transformation just as the internet once did."

"AR will transcend the current mobile experience, especially when it comes to watching videos, exercising, and playing PC and cloud video games," he added.

Founded in 2017, the company has created two AR headsets to date: the Nreal Light and Nreal Air, the latter of which it debuted last year. The company has raised over $230 million to date from investors including Alibaba, Nio and Sequoia Capital China. It was most recently valued at $700 million.

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Chinese start-up Nreal is launching its augmented reality glasses in the UK this spring - CNBC

$5M gift to revolutionize retail, establish virtual reality learning lab at UArizona – University of Arizona News

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By Rosemary Brandt, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Today

Supply chain woes, environmental sustainability, automation, information security, workforce retention and talent recruitment these are just a handful of the issues facing the retail sector today. To address these and future retail challenges, a $5 million gift from Terry and Tina Lundgren will fuel innovative research and student opportunities in business, retail and consumer sciences at the University of Arizona.

"People often dismiss the importance of retailing, until retail is disrupted," said Laura Scaramella, head of the UArizona John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. "Think about what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic; what other industry turned so quickly, on a dime, to meet the needs of consumers?"

The gift announcement coincides with the 26th annual UArizona Global Retailing Ideas Summit, which began Wednesday at the university's Student Union Memorial Center. Among conference presenters are senior executives from retailing, consumer brand and technology companies such as Macy's, Best Buy, Nike, PetSmart, and Levi Strauss and Company.

The gift will establish an endowed faculty chair in both the Eller College of Management and the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences to help meet the industry's demand for graduates who embrace change and spark innovation in retailing companies of all sizes. It also will provide enhanced scholarship opportunities for community college transfer students.

"I had to work full time and go to school full time. I was the only one out of six kids who went to college. I was desperate to figure out how to graduate because I wanted a better life. I wanted more opportunities," Lundgren said. "There are young people in community college in the same exact situation. If we just give them the opportunity, they will exceed everyone's expectations."

Lundgren, who retired as executive chairman of Macy's, Inc., in 2018, served as the retail company's CEO for 14 years. Recognized as a global leader both in stores and online, Lundgren also twice served as chairman of the National Retail Federation, the industry's leading voice. He is a longtime supporter of the university's retailing program and helped establish the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.

"Terry's success and ongoing support have put the University of Arizona on the map as a destination for students who hope to work in retailing, and as a talent pipeline for the top brands who join us every year for the Global Retailing Ideas Summit," said UArizona PresidentRobert C. Robbins. "This new gift from Terry and Tina is pivotal to the future of a changing industry, and I am so grateful for their longstanding partnership."

The gift comes at a good time for the retailing program, said Lance Erickson, a consumer psychologist and associate professor of practice in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.

"In the last couple years, we've really refreshed the curriculum, rethinking where retailing is and where it's moving to in the future," Erickson said. "The pandemic revealed so many changes, in terms of how retailers incorporate new technologies and pivot to deliver necessary services. This gift allows us to be at the forefront of cutting-edge technology."

"Terry has always been at the forefront of retailing," said John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the University of Arizona Foundation. "As an alumnus, he has been incredibly generous with his time and philanthropy, funding advances in research and practice that have helped build an incredible pipeline of Wildcat talent. This new gift will create campus partnerships and power innovation."

Part of the Lundgrens' contribution will be used to create a retail learning laboratory, equipped with the latest in virtual reality technology, eye-tracking and heat-sensing software, cameras, and display hardware to allow students to get hands-on practice in a variety of retailing scenarios.

"Biology students have labs where they can practice their craft and perform experiments to learn about biological processes. Retailing students need to be able to do the exact same thing," Scaramella said. "If students are working on product display, they can actually set up a shop, create virtual product, use different display strategies and then use eye-tracking software to track where people are visually attending."

The retailing laboratory will also allow retail and marketing researchers to study consumer behaviors, perceptions and technological adoption. An urgent demand in the retail sector is contactless point of sale, where a store is equipped with optical scanners, and products carry enhanced barcodes to track the items a consumer walks out with and automatically bill their preferred method of payment or credit card on file, Erickson explained.

"To me, the question is: Are consumers going to adopt something like this? How do we educate consumers about how contactless point of sale works and help consumers overcome their hesitancy to walk out of a store without having physically paid for something or checked out?" Erickson said. "This will genuinely be a lab space where we can do research with real consumers."

In addition, the Lundgrens' contribution will fund collaborative research to identify and address other emerging and future retail challenges. As part of the summit announcement, the newly established Lundgren Retail Collaborative issued an open call for proposals from researchers across scientific disciplines to answer the question: What are the big hurdles retailers and companies should be addressing now to better prepare for the future?

"The goal of the Lundgren Retail Collaborative is to build a world-class hub, right here on the University of Arizona campus, that drives retail education, research and practice," said Yong Liu, marketing department head and Robert A. Eckert Endowed Chair in the Eller College of Management.

Business and consumer science students will play a role in the collaborative's research efforts as well. Each year, students will be encouraged to apply for fellowship opportunities and form teams encompassing any variety of fields of study such as fashion, fine art, engineering, psychology or information technology to address the issues facing the retail sector.

Selected student teams will be provided with mentorships, professional development training, and the opportunity to present their solutions to top-level industry professionals as part of the annual Global Retailing Ideas Summits.

"If we're teaching students to really lead innovative change, they need to be able to come up with fresh ideas and learn to work outside of their own discipline," Scaramella said. "Giving students an opportunity to work in interdisciplinary teams now is only going to help them in the future."

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What Is the Metaverse? – Government Technology

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The 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash introduced the word metaverse a term now bandied about in technology circles and laden with high hopes of redefining the Internet.

This space is still forming, and gaps remain between the visions being woven about what a metaverse-infused future could look like and what exists today.

While definitions vary over what, exactly, constitutes a metaverse, they are commonly described as immersive, persistent, interactive digital environments, and often one that mimics the real world to some extent.

People today commonly access the Internet as text and visuals on a flat screen, but metaverses aim to more heavily use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create a 3D experience. And just like activities on social media platforms or in massive multiplayer online (MMO) games continue regardless of whether a particular user is logged in, metaverses, too would be continuous and always-on.

Metaverses are also expected to use blockchain technologies like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to support digital transactions.

Ensuring the various metaverses are interoperable will also be key to achieving the full vision, he said.

Tech Companies

Firms trying to create metaverses present their visions of the work.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a 2021 public letter that the metaverse is the next chapter for the Internet, characterized by its immersive nature. His firms gaming and per the company social VR experience Horizon Worlds is seen as a metaverse project.

The metaverse will be an embodied Internet where youre in the experience, not just looking at it. The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence like you are right there with another person or in another place, Zuckerberg wrote. He said this hypothetical new kind of Internet experience would enable activities like virtual gatherings, playing, e-commerce, design, work and more.

The e-commerce element will rely on technologies like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, while tools like AR, VR, phones and computers would enable different levels of digital immersion and functionalities, he said.

In its blog, computing platform company NVIDIA defines the metaverse as a shared virtual 3D world, or worlds, that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative. Another feature is that digital goods and avatars should persist and be transportable among different virtual platforms and thanks to AR between platforms and the physical world. The company offers an omniverse 3D simulation and design platform intended to be used by metaverse developers.

Public Sector

Some state and local governments have been watching the space as well and offer their own views.

Utah Chief Technology Officer Dave Fletcher told GovTech that the metaverse is basically a virtual three-dimensional environment where people can socialize and interact and perform transactions that replicates a real or unreal universe.

The National League of Cities (NCL) said in a recent report that, while it doesnt have an agreed upon definition generally speaking, the metaverse is the next evolution of the Internet that will further integrate physical and digital experiences. For some, its an online space that digitally recreates the real world. For others, it is a shift in how people interact with their world, using technologies like 3D computing, augmented reality, virtual reality and blockchain to form new immersive virtual world experiences where digital information can be overlaid on our physical world.

The Verge reports that computing power will need to advance, for one. As of December 2021, Horizon Worlds could support 20 simultaneous users in a virtual space, and other persistent, virtual, interactive platforms that avoid VR and thus avoid those greater computing requirements still faced strict limits. The games Fortnite and Battlefield 2042, for example, reportedly could support only 100-128 simultaneous players.

Interoperability remains to be achieved as well, and plenty of questions remain over how or whether policymakers will try to regulate aspects of the space, such as commerce and taxation, privacy, hate speech and disinformation.

Find out what metaverses mean for the public sector in part 2 of this series.

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What Is the Metaverse? - Government Technology

With virtual reality, my grandmother tells her story of surviving the Holocaust – Chicago Sun-Times

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My grandmother, Fritzie Fritzshall, survived Auschwitz.

Czechoslovakian-born, my grandmother was just 13 years old when she was pushed out of a boxcar and into hell.She was torn from her mother and her two brothers, all of whom were murdered. She survived because of the selfless acts of others.

The man who pulled her from the train, a Jewish prisoner, whispered in her ear: Youre 15. Remember, youre 15. When the guards asked her age, she told them she was 15. They sorted her into the line of people who would live another day. The other line led straight to the gas chambers.

Toward the end of the war, my grandmother was transferred to a sub-camp of Auschwitz where she was one of 600 women working as a slave in a factory. Their sole meal for the day was a small chunk of bread. Every night, each of the other 599 women would give her, the youngest, a crumb of their bread in the hope she would survive. Together, the crumbs were the size of a large marble. She promised that if she made it out, she would tell the world what happened.

My grandmother spent the rest of her life fulfilling that promise.

She was dedicated to educating future generations about the Holocaust and helped found the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in response to a planned neo-Nazi march in Skokie in the late 1970s.

As a Holocaust survivor, she wanted people to hear her story, and even to be able to picture it and understand it as though she were taking them on a personal tour of the notorious concentration camp. She worried that Auschwitz might be left to decay or redeveloped, and that the stories of so many who didnt survive would be lost forever.

Thus, she became a driving force behind The Journey Back, a virtual reality experience with Holocaust survivors that just opened to the public at Illinois Holocaust Museum.

This project was her final contribution to the world, though sadly she didnt live to see her vision come to fruition. She died just months before the opening.

Shortly after her funeral, where I said goodbye to a woman who deeply impacted who I am today, I put on a VR headset. My grandmothers voice immediately echoed in my ears. I walked with her outside her childhood home. I joined her as she was forced into a claustrophobic cattle car. I stood by her as she recalled how as a teenager, she saw the concentration camp and all its horror before her.

Fritzie Fritzshall, one of the founders of the Illinois Holocaust Museum.

I had heard my grandmothers story many times. This was the first time that I was immersed in it. Now, for years to come, people from all over the world will be able to put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and find themselves in present-day Auschwitz.

These stories, and the visceral way in which they are told, will have a major impact on the way Holocaust education is taught. While Holocaust education is required in multiple states nationwide, more needs to be done.

Stories like my grandmothers are essential in humanizing the Holocaust. The Journey Back allows everyone, especially students, to understand the dark realities of history and understand hatred and violence are never the answer.

Without learning and contextualizing history, the past can indeed be repeated. It was my grandmothers hope this new application of technology will inspire the next generation not just to remember, but to develop empathy and speak out against injustice and hate.

My grandmother endured some of the most horrific conditions in history and never lost hope. We must decide not to let hate conquer. We must hear stories like hers and remember we can make a difference, even with small actions. Each one of us has agency and can use it to make a difference in the world. My grandmother has fulfilled her promise. She has told her story, and through it, the stories of many others who couldnt tell theirs. Now its up to us to listen.

Scott Fritzshall is a Los Angeles-based tech entrepreneur and the grandson of the late Holocaust Survivor Fritzie Fritzshall, one of the founders of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and a driving force behind the museums new virtual reality experience.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com

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With virtual reality, my grandmother tells her story of surviving the Holocaust - Chicago Sun-Times

Virtual Reality Therapy Promising for Agoraphobia – Medscape

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A novel virtual reality (VR) intervention significantly reduces agoraphobia in patients with psychosis, new research suggests.

The cognitive-behavioral therapybased treatment was particularly effective for patients with the highest level of avoidance of everyday situations.

"Virtual reality is an inherently therapeutic medium which could be extremely useful in mental health services," study investigator Daniel Freeman, PhD, DClinPsy, professor of clinical psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News. "This intervention is coming; the question really is when."

The study was published online April 5 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Immersive VR involves interactive three-dimensional computer-generated environments that produce the sensation of being in the real world.

For patients with psychosis, dealing with the real world can be an anxious experience, particularly if they experience verbal or auditory hallucinations.

Some may develop agoraphobia and start to avoid places or situations. A virtual environment allows patients to practice dealing with situations that make them anxious or uncomfortable and to learn to reengage in everyday situations.

The study included 346 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or a related disorder. The mean age of the patients was 37.2 years (67% men, 85% White). Most were single and unemployed. All were receiving treatment for psychosis and had difficulty going out because of anxiety.

The researchers randomly assigned 174 participants to an automated VR cognitive therapy intervention (gameChange) plus usual care and 172 to usual care alone.Trial assessors were blinded to group allocation.

The gameChange intervention was delivered in six sessions that were conducted over a 6-week period. Each session involved 30 minutes of VR.

A session begins when participants enter the virtual therapist's office. They are met by a coach who guides them through the therapy. They can choose from among six VR social situations. These include a cafe, a general practice waiting room, a pub, a bus, opening the front door of their home onto the street, or entering a small local shop.

Each scenario has five levels of difficulty that are based on the number and proximity of people in the social situation and the degree of social interaction. Users can work their way through these various levels.

The virtual sessions took place in patients' homes in about 50% of cases; the remainder were conducted in the clinic. A mental health worker was in the room during the therapy.

Between virtual sessions, participants were encouraged to apply what they learned in the real world, for example, by spending time in a pub.

Usual care typically included regular visits from a community mental health worker and occasional outpatient appointments with a psychiatrist.

The primary outcome was the eight-item Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale (O-AS) questionnaire. This scale assesses distress and avoidance related to performing increasingly difficult everyday tasks.

The researchers assessed patients at baseline, at the conclusion of the 6-week treatment, and at 26 weeks.

Compared with the group that received usual care alone, the VR therapy group demonstrated a significant reduction in both agoraphobic avoidance (O-AS adjusted mean difference, -0.47; 95% CI, -0.88 to -0.06; Cohen's d, -0.18; P = .026) and distress (-4.33; 95% CI, -7.78 to -0.87; Cohen's d, -0.26; P = .014) at 6 weeks.

This translates to being able to do about 1.5 more activities on the O-AS, such as going to a shopping center alone, said Freeman.

Further analyses showed that VR therapy was especially effective for patients with severe agoraphobia. On average, these patients could complete two more O-AS activities at 26 weeks, said Freeman.

The authors believe the intervention worked by reducing defence behaviors, such as avoiding eye contact and fearful thoughts.

There was no significant difference in occurrence of adverse events between the study groups. These events, which were mild, transient, and did not affect the outcome, includedside effects such as claustrophobia when using headsets.

The intervention would likely work for patients with agoraphobia who do not have psychosis, said Freeman. "Agoraphobia is often the final common pathway in lots of mental health conditions."

Automated VR not only addresses the problem of patients being too afraid to leave home for in-person treatment but may also help address the shortage of trained mental health care providers.

The intervention is currently available at pilot implementation sites in the UK and a few sites in the US, he said.

Commenting on the research for Medscape Medical News, Arash Javanbakht, MD, associate professor (clinical scholar), Wayne State University, Detroit, described the study as "cool and interesting."

However, he said, the findings were not surprising, because exposure therapy has been proven effective in treating phobias. Because of the significant lack of access to exposure therapy providers, "the more mechanized, the more automated therapies that can be easily used, the better," he said.

He noted the VR therapy did not require a high level of training; the study just used peer support staff who sat next to those using the technology.

He also liked the fact that the intervention "focused on things that in reality impair a person's life," for example, not being able to go to the grocery store.

However, he wondered why the investigators studied VR for patients with psychosis and agoraphobia and not for those with just agoraphobia.

In addition, he noted that in part, the treatment's efficacy was partly due to having someone next to the participants offering support, which the control group didn't have.

Javanbakht has researched augmented therapy (AR) for delivering exposure therapy. This technology, which mixes virtually created objects with reality and allows users to move around their real environment, is newer and more advanced than VR but is more complicated, he said.

He explained that AR is more appropriate for delivering exposure therapy in certain situations.

"The basis of exposure therapy is 'extinction learning' exposing a person to a fear cue over and over again until the fear response is extinguished," and extinction learning is "context-dependent," said Javanbakht.

"VR is good when you need to create the whole context and environment, and AR is good when you need to focus on specific objects or cues in the environment," for example, spiders or snakes, he said.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Health Research. Freeman is a founder and a non-executive director of Oxford VR, which will commercialize the therapy. He holds equity in and receives personal payments from Oxford VR; holds a contract for his university team to advise Oxford VR on treatment development; and reports grants from the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council, and the International Foundation. Javanbakht has patent for an AR exposure therapy.

Lancet Psychiatry. Published online April 5, 2022. Full text

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Global Learning Management System Market Forecast Report 2022-2028: Opportunities in the Adoption of Immersive Learning with Virtual Reality,…

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Learning Management System Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Deployment Mode, Delivery Mode, and End-User" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global learning management system market is expected to grow from US$ 14,895.17 million in 2021 to US$ 50,995.16 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.2% during 2021-2028.

The current learning analytics landscape has dramatically expanded, especially for higher education. When students engage in gamified events, they can learn and practice better. Gaming features help create a fun and productive learning experience for learners. The implementation of gamification is most widespread in e-learning platforms meant for K-12 level students.

According to an article published by EducationWorld in December 2019, STEPapp launched India's first-of-its-kind Gamified Learning EdTech app, intending to revolutionize K-12 education in the country.

Further, since the introduction of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into education, the class learning experience has undergone a tremendous transformation. While VR provides a built reality, AR provides a real image with an improved view.

Thus, a surge in the integration of virtual reality, augmented reality, and gamification technologies across educational institutions offers better academic results, creating the demand for LMS platforms to support their implementation, generating opportunities for the future growth of the learning management system market.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Learning Management System Market

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken several industries. The tremendous growth in the virus spread has urged governments worldwide to impose strict restrictions on vehicles and human road movement.

Due to travel restrictions, mass lockdowns, and business shutdowns, the pandemic has affected economies and countless industries, such as manufacturing & construction, retail, transportation & logistics, and automotive.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the learning management system (LMS) market due to an increase in e-learning across several countries. For instance, according to the World Economic Forum report of April 2020, more than 1.2 billion students in 186 countries were affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In Denmark, students up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on March 12, 2020.

However, in South Korea, students respond to roll calls from their teachers through online platforms. Thus, schools and universities have increasingly adopted the e-learning system since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, the overall impact of the pandemic on the learning management system (LMS) market in 2020 was positive.

Similarly, from 2021 to 2022, the demand for the LMS platforms increased due to the rising trend of bring your own device (BYOD) among enterprises. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a massive demand for BYOD trend as workers suddenly migrated to remote locations, resulting in new hybrid work environments. Therefore, the growth of the global learning management system (LMS) market in 2021 and 2022 is expected to be positive.

The key companies operating in the learning management system market include Blackboard Inc., Cornerstone, D2L Corporation, Docebo, International Business Machines Corporation, its learning AS, LTGplc, Hurix, SAP SE, and Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.

Scope Highlights

Key Market Dynamics

Market Drivers

Market Restraints

Market Opportunities

Future Trends

Company Profiles

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vr8do6

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Global Learning Management System Market Forecast Report 2022-2028: Opportunities in the Adoption of Immersive Learning with Virtual Reality,...

Virtual Reality’s Impact on Flight Training Continues to Grow – FLYING

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VR is here to stay.

In December, I offered a window into how virtual reality was being implemented in flight training and suggested it could be an essential tool in lowering training costs for the next generation of pilots. I couldnt anticipate the overwhelming interest that Id receive from readers eager to learn more. It has only expanded my perspective on how critical this technology will be in training moving forward.Since then, two things have caught my attention that merit an update. In February, Chris Koomen, a virtual reality engineer and specialist at Air FranceKLM Airlines Group, posted this viral walkaround video that his department produced. A pilot in training would be able to use the Oculus Quest 2 for business headset goggles and module for initial training on the 787.

I reached out to Chris to understand how VR is being used at an airline level to train pilots. Koomen says he began working with virtual reality many years ago, and his effort caught the attention of his company, who asked him to help implement it for their training departments once they saw the potential. Presently, he creates 360-degree videos and photos, like the one he posts, and manages all the devices there.

In the video, he said he was actually in an office wearing the VR headset with the pre-defined proprietary content built-in for the pilots to use. Pilots can take the headset home to practice on their own, or to complete flight-deck familiarization or walkaroundsa much more efficient process.

How much more efficient?

For the Embraer flight deck trainingnormally they did a startup procedure in the cockpit for the first time within one hour or so, Koomen said. Now, they do it in 15 minutes because they already know the distances, how to start it up, and all those procedures are practiced in the headset.

He said the airline has built a variety of scenarios and environments that the pilots can also access via the internet, such as 360-degree videos of a crew completing a landing, which allows the viewer to be fully immersed.

We also sell it to schools. When the school is training, they train a cabin fire, for example, with multiple pools, fire safety tagging, and a jet bridge training to connect the bridge to the aircraft, Koomen said. We have a pushback simulator where you can simulate a pushback on a simple airport and smaller things like evacuations and door training. It seems the possibilities are endless. Eventually, Koomen mentions, there could be a more significant use case for aviation mechanics.

Some of the trainingespecially for pilots in recurrent trainingis supplemented with modules on iPads, which also allow them to complete walkarounds or emergencies. Koomen suggests this could be more convenient for pilots who wont need to travel anymore or go to the aircraft, which offers measurable steps towards sustainability.

For the most part, aviation is a crewed profession, so I wondered how this would translate if pilots trained independently? He said the airline had already built some multiplayer scenarios that allow two pilots and an instructor to work togethersuch as a cabin fire.

Youve got two headsets, two trainees, and one instructor. The instructor starts the fire wherever and whenever he wants, and the trainees need to act on it. But does the crew work well together? Koomen said while some are getting used to the new environment, trainees have adjusted.

The moment you set things on fire, they see smoke filling the aircraft, the passengers coughing, and they hear the instructortheir adrenaline starts to climb. Youll see them take action to activate their skills, talking with each other and working with each other to extinguish the fire before its too late.

So, this begs the questionhow is this regulated? Koomen explained that the Dutch government allows the tool for in-house training. When the program was announced, the company said the VR courses complement KLMs existing training program and that it was trying to obtain EASA certification for the course, which would eventually replace some of the standard training components, such as classroom instruction, the cockpit poster, and textbooks.

So, aside from being a familiarization tool, it is a part of training, though pilots who arent comfortable with the setup yet can opt out.

Trainees can use it, but they dont have to because there are also people who get lost using it.

Still, nausea seems to be one of the easier challenges to manage. Managing the devices dataset and security presents a more pertinent problem because many commercial headsets are industry-agnostic and are built for the broadest use cases. This creates other unwanted scenarios around data management and headset security that these new departments will have to anticipate.

On the other hand, as this new field develops, these challenges are also opportunities for people who want to get involved in the training industry, but not like before. Koomen said one of the biggest challenges to the technology maturing would be graphic design, or better, gaming development. Training the next generation on these technologies will then be necessary. He said that this is why there are now a handful of public schools in Holland that introduce students to the airline environment.

The other thing that caught my attention is the progress on this side of the pond. Around the same time, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University provided an update on its PILOT program. PILOT stands for Pre-flight Immersion Laboratory for Operations Training. The university created it to increase the student training capacity of the Daytona Beach Flight Training Department by increasing the efficiency of private pilot training.

The goals are to increase student throughput, improve student aircraft preparation, decrease overall training time, and decrease private pilot training costs. A semester after implementing VR technology, the university said a group of 58 flight students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University reduced the time it took them to complete a first solo flight by more than 30 percent.

Another program feature is a virtual air traffic control lab with multiple elements that expose students to aviation English at a more manageable pace with a guiding virtual instructor and allows them to practice on their own later.

In the final stage of radio training, students enter a VR flight to test their skills in Simulated Environment for Realistic ATC (SERA) training technology developed by a company called Advanced Simulation Technology inc. (ASTi). As they speak with ATC, the SERA system uses artificial intelligence software to react to what the student pilot is saying as their flight progresses, correcting them when they make mistakes, the university said.

At the time, Ken Byrnes, chair of the Flight Department at Embry-Riddles Daytona Beach, Florida, campus, shared that students who go through our new training program are better prepared when they step into an airplane. They also have lower anxiety and greater confidence due to their experience and understanding of what to expect in the aircraft.

When Byrnes presented an update at the Air Charter Safety Symposium in April, he shared in a presentation for the university that early completions have averaged 18 percent below the 2020-21 median cost to complete the private pilot course. Moreover, students seemed better prepared, less anxious, and demonstrated a higher mastery of the radio.

As the industry grapples with an actual pilot shortage, here is one tool thateven though it will require some adjustments to the way we do thingscould materially make flying more accessible for would-be pilots. At the professional level, this could reduce the strain on training departments already at capacity and lower training costs.

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Virtual Reality's Impact on Flight Training Continues to Grow - FLYING

Smithsonian and Meta will let you experience the moon in virtual reality – BollyInside

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The Smithsonian Institutions visitors will soon be one step closer to virtually walking on the moon.

A new collaboration between Meta and the Smithsonians Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall will allow visitors to put on a Meta Quest 2 VR headset and experience the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, which sent Neil Armstrong and others to the moon. Participants will be placed in the Eagle spacecraft before being able to walk on the moons surface.

You can literally walk around and look and see the lunar buggy next to you and look down and see the rocks and look at the horizon, says Rachel Goslins, director of the Arts and Industries Building. It has literally never been possible, unless you were an astronaut, to experience the moon this way.

The Moonwalk exhibit, which opens May 4, comes as museums around the world are exploring ways to use virtual reality technology to tell stories and engage with visitors, and as the Smithsonian promotes the recently revamped Arts and Industries Building with a renewed focus on exploring the future. While VR technology may be new, Goslins emphasizes the building and the Smithsonian have long played a role in introducing people to science and technology of both Earth and space. The museum is like the original immersive experience, she says.

Theres just a very large collection of scanned objects that are able to be accessed through our technology, says Monica Ars, head of Meta Immersive Learning, a company initiative providing $150 million in funding for metaverse and immersive experience projects.

The exhibit is part of an ongoing series exploring potential artifacts of the future. It relies on more than 7,000 photos taken by NASA astronauts on missions to the moon, stitched together and converted to 3D imagery by humans and AI software through a process called photogrammetry.

Visitors will also be able to hear conversations between astronauts and Mission Control staff as they explore the digital exhibition. They banter with each other; it just makes it so human, Goslins says.

This wont be the first time the Arts and Industries Building, first opened as the National Museum in 1881, lets visitors learn about the lunar expeditions of the 1960s and 70s. Just a few weeks after the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, Goslins says, visitors were able to see a rock retrieved from the lunar surface.

It was this mind-blowing experience for people, she says. A little bit later we actually had the Apollo command module and lunar lander in the building. As museumgoers wait to enter Moonwalk, theyll also be able to use augmented reality technology to explore the historic lunar command module as it sat in the building on display in the 1970s, and can take a virtual selfie in a digitized astronaut helmet.

The Smithsonian and Meta previously worked together on a virtual tour of Venice available online, though Moonwalk marks their first in-museum collaborative exhibition. Ars emphasizes the ability of VR to let people experience immersion in a particular place and time. It allows you to walk in other peoples shoes, she says, just like being able to walk with the astronauts who were able to go up to the moon.

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Smithsonian and Meta will let you experience the moon in virtual reality - BollyInside

The freedom to divide: zoning and segregation in Connecticut – The Connecticut Mirror

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Yes, segregation exists in our state. Yes, there are things we can do about it. But the important question is: are we?

The failure to pass H.B. 5429 reminds us yet again of the answer: not enough.

The raised bill was an act concerning transit-oriented development, which essentially means building with access to public transportation in mind. The bill proposed to allow municipalities to build, as of right, an average of at least 15 homes near at least one train or CTFastrak station and set aside at least 10% for affordable housing. As of right means without public hearings or special permits, which can significantly slow development, and municipalities would still have the power to decide how they would meet the average units per acre.

While the bill was not the panacea for exclusionary zoning practices, it did address a critical component of public health that current zoning laws severely impact: access to public transportation. Public transportation connects people to jobs, education, nutritious food, and health care. Women, people ages 25-29, Black workers, and low-income workers are also more likely than other commuters to rely on public transportation, and restricting access to public transit also disproportionately impacts older individuals and people with disabilities.

As echoed by rising gas prices, owning and maintaining a vehicle is expensive. For people in lower-income households, cars can be out of reach, and since people of color are overrepresented in lower income households, barriers to owning a vehicle disproportionately impact Black and brown communities. In Connecticut, although Black and Latinx residents made up 10.5 % and 16.5% of the population for whom poverty status was determined, 17.5% of Black and 20.1% of Latinx residents reported living below the poverty level.

The state has 40 towns with at least one train or CTFastrak station but over half make it difficult or impossible to build as of right, multifamily housing near them. The municipalities that make it easier to build around transit stations are larger, more diverse cities like Hartford and Bridgeport. The towns with the most restrictions are the wealthiest and Whitest of the group, including Greenwich and Fairfield.

Denying people the choice of where to live denies their livelihood. Research has illustrated the powerful connection between health and housing people who live in urban areas face poorer housing conditions, less access to health care and nutritious foods, and environmental hazards like pollution. Covid-19 has also exacerbated existing racial health disparities, and densely populated areas make social distancing difficult.

Connecticuts zoning laws maintain the status quo economic and racial segregation. The word segregation might conjure images of separate lines and Whites only signs. Some might even think, That doesnt happen anymore. But the harsh and horrifying reality is that it absolutely does. Segregation today looks like restricting peoples choice of where to live. Municipalities use zoning codes to prevent certain people from living in their neighborhood while welcoming others. Although the signs arent posted, the message remains: Whites only.

Testimonies In support of H.B. 5429 included Conencticuts Commission on Human Rights, the Partnership for Strong Communities, and AARP and amplified the bills advancement of equity, the economy, and the environment. Building more affordable housing near public transit would help boost local economies with more residents frequenting local businesses and utilizing services. Expanding ridership would also lead to a better return on the states 3.5 billion dollar investment in public transportation. In addition to economic advantages, less reliance on personal vehicles would also reduce Connecticuts carbon footprint to help address climate change and pollution.

Some of the opposing testimonies included first selectpersons from the richest and whitest towns that have at least one transit station like Fairfield, Greenwich, Westport, Wilton, and Darien. They contended that H.B. 5429 was yet another attempt by the state, or Hartford, to control local governments, even though Connecticuts current zoning regulations allow every municipality to make their own rules about zoning.

Testimonies against the proposed bill talked of freedom. But the question in response to these folks, and the many who say share that same value, is a necessary one:When you aim to restrict the freedom of others, can you truly value it?

Morgan Finn is a Graduate MSW Student at the University of Connecticut, School of Social Work.

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The freedom to divide: zoning and segregation in Connecticut - The Connecticut Mirror

Watch George Michael Freedom Uncut Trailer, Where the Late Singer Talks About the Pressures of Fame – Variety

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George Michael Freedom Uncut has received a moving new trailer ahead of the films global release on June 22.

Narrated and co-directed by Michael, the documentary provides a behind-the-scenes look at the singer. In the trailer, Michael can be heard talking about his feelings on early fame, I cant really explain how overwhelming that kind of hysteria can be. I remember thinking I really dont know if Ill ever do this again. Watch the trailer below.

The doc provides a look at his private and public persona as cameras followed him around during the turbulent period after Faith leading up to, during and after the making of his Listen Without Prejudice: Vol 1 album in 1990. The legendary singer who died on Dec. 25, 2016 at the age of just 53 can also be heard talking about his legacy. He says, I want to leave songs, I believe I can leave songs that will mean something to other generations.

Weaving the story together are archival footage and interviews with many of his collaborators. Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Ricky Gervais, Nile Rogers, Mark Ronson, Tracey Emin, Liam Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Jean-Paul Gaultier, James Corden, Tony Bennett, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Tatjana Patitz all appear.

George Michael was an inspiring artist whose story deserves to be shared on the big screen globally. Tom Mackay, President, Premium Content, Sony Music Entertainment said in a statement. In honor of Georges birthday this June, we are thrilled to be working with David Austin and our partners at Trafalgar Releasing to bring fans unprecedented access to his extraordinary life both on and off stage.

Michaels last single, This Is How (We Want You To Get High), a previously unreleased song by George Michael, was released in 2019 to tie in with the film, Last Christmas, a movie inspired by the work of the late singer-songwriter.

Georges third studio album Older will be re-released on vinyl later this year on July 8 as part of a box set.

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Watch George Michael Freedom Uncut Trailer, Where the Late Singer Talks About the Pressures of Fame - Variety

In Our View: Religious freedom at core of Constitution – The Columbian

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Imagine, for a moment, if a public school teacher said a Muslim prayer in front of their classroom. Or if a coach hailed Satan following a game and some students joined in. Or if a drama teacher expressed their atheist views prior to the spring musical.

Those are not the scenarios facing the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that originated out of Bremerton. But they demonstrate the complexity of religious freedom cases and the tenuous balance between freedom of religion and freedom from religion.

On Monday, justices heard arguments in a case involving Joseph Kennedy, a Christian and a former football coach at Bremerton High School. As the Associated Press explains:

For years, the coach would kneel at the center of the field following games and lead students in prayer. The school district eventually learned what he was doing and asked him to stop. . . . It told him then that he needed to stop praying with students or engaging in overtly religious activity while still on duty as a coach. After Kennedy continued to pray on the field, he was placed on paid leave. His contract expired and he didnt reapply to coach the following year, the school says.

Judgment about the constitutionality of Kennedys actions will be up to the court; we would not be so presumptuous as to know all the details of the case. If Kennedy delivered a fire-and-brimstone monologue praising Jesus and suggesting that nonbelievers are going to Hell, that is far different from giving thanks for the safety of players.

Nor would we suggest that kneeling at midfield following a game is unusual; it happens after every National Football League contest, with players from both teams joining hands.

But questions about religious freedom can be touchy, and they speak to the very meaning of the U.S. Constitution. That Constitution, in the first words of the First Amendment, says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

A post-game prayer at midfield is not the same as Congress establishing a state religion. But Thomas Jefferson wrote that the Establishment Clause amounted to a wall of separation between the church and state, and courts have upheld that interpretation.

As an essay from The First Amendment Encyclopedia states: Jefferson had earlier witnessed the turmoil of the American colonists as they struggled to combine governance with religious expression. Some colonies experimented with religious freedom while others strongly supported an established church.

Contrary to popular belief, the United States was not founded as a Christian nation. The 1796 Treaty of Tripoli, signed by President John Adams, explicitly says, As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion . . . The U.S. Senate unanimously ratified the treaty the following year.

All of that is a long way from a 21st century football field in Bremerton. But it reflects debates that have existed since the founding of this nation.

Whether or not a coach is attempting to establish a state religion is not really the question. The questions are whether that coach, as a public employee, is an agent of that state; and whether a coach who has power over an athletes playing time and their practice schedules can unduly influence a student.

The issues are complex. A ruling is expected before the courts summer recess; it is unlikely to end debates about religious freedom.

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In Our View: Religious freedom at core of Constitution - The Columbian

Black Girl Freedom Fund Invests Over $4 Million In 68 Organizations, Part Of #1Billion4BlackGirls Campaign – Forbes

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SAVE GIRLS ON FYER INC (SGOF), one of Black Girl Freedom Funds grantees, focuses on the liberation ... [+] of Black and Brown girls ages 11-17 in Waterbury, CT.

Although more conscientious efforts towards funding for women continue to increase, the statistics are still staggering, especially for Black women. Moreover, looking at the micro-level of financing for women, young Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth receive even a smaller amount of monetary support. In 2020, Ms. Foundation for Women released a landmark report sharing the statistics on philanthropic giving for women and girls of color. Black women and girls receive only 0.5% of $66.9 billion from foundations, totaling just $5.48 per woman and girl of color in the United States. As more donors and organizations become aware of the lack of resources available to underserved recipients, more programs, initiatives and grants are created to combat the dire misappropriated funds.

Dr. Monique Morris, president and CEO of Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) and cofounder of the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign, and her team have built out the Black Girl Freedom Fund (BGFF), an initiative of G4GC that invests in Black girls. The Fund just announced its second round of grants totaling over $4 million to 68 organizations throughout the U.S. whose work promotes and expands the leadership and organizing power of Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth. They were chosen by six Black girls and gender-expansive youth from BGFFs Grantmaking Council, ages 14 to 22-years-old. Some of the organizations areas of expertise include STEAM education, career opportunities, sports and financial and economic literacy.

The Fund is part of the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign, which aims to invest $1 billion in Black girls by 2030. It uplifts these underrepresented communities by mobilizing investments in their innovation, health, safety, education, artistic visions, research and joy.

One billion [dollars] was inspired by the data that came out of the Ms. Foundation report, Morris explains. We started to think about what girls of color in general, and Black girls specifically, give to conversations about equity and justice to this country; that was not just a woeful underinvestment, it was an insulting disregard. So we wanted to challenge ourselves to do better. We wanted to challenge philanthropy to do better. We wanted to make a statement that we know it is possible to generate a billion dollars that is specifically focused on the well-being of Black girls and femmes over ten years. ... to think about how we cultivate the ways in which Black girls and femmes are already showing up in their communities ... because they are worthy of investment in and of themselves.

Dr. Monique Morris, president and CEO of Grantmakers for Girls of Color and cofounder of the ... [+] #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign.

From the time Morris was in high school, she was involved in educational justice and advocacy programs. She then focused her efforts on the research side of social justice campaigns and practices. Interested in the intersection of race, gender and justice, she noticed gaps in the research, which prompted her to ask more questions. Her curiosity led her to research the juvenile justice systems, which brought her into contact with many young people across the gender spectrum who were detained and incarcerated for their response to the conditions in their lives. Morris was interested in identifying the goal of seeking a remedy to these conditions.

Through her experience, Morris authored five books and co-wrote and produced a documentary, PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, based on two of her books. Additionally, she founded the National Black Womens Justice Institute, a nonprofit that engages in research, training and technical assistance to address the criminalization of Black women and girls across the country.

During this time, the NoVo Foundation launched G4GC and successfully convened 100 funders from the U.S. Immersed in the philanthropic community, the Foundation invited Morris to address the first convening of G4GC as an organizing body. In 2020, Morris became its first executive director. A year later, her title changed to president and CEO. Two years ago, G4GC became its own institution separating from NoVo Foundation.

Its important to center the voices of those impacted by the inquiry, Morris states. We started to build out our funds. As I started to move into philanthropy, I had a deep question about how philanthropy was moving resources. How resources were being defined and how we could be more expansive in our definitions to ensure that we are reaching those who have been historically marginalized by conversations about investment and equity.

Over $500 thousand was released to six organizations during the Funds first round of disbursement. Additionally, over $20 million was raised in investments in the campaigns first year. The campaign is a mobilization effort within philanthropy, not just through G4GC and BGFF, but in partnership with other organizations and foundations. As the Fund expands, it is also building an infrastructure to help Black girls have a better relationship with money and understand how to utilize it in a business allocation.

Urban Word, a Black Girl Freedom Fund grantee, uses the transformative power of the written and ... [+] spoken word to offer young people in NYC opportunities to cultivate their voices.

As Morris and her team continue to develop and expand the campaign and Fund, they focus on how investing in Black girls, femmes and gender-expansive youth will transform society:

Cidra M. Sebastien, manager of the BGFF, adds, Its not about what Black girls need to do. Its about what we need to do to show that we believe it. There needs to be funding behind it. There needs to be a policy behind it. There needs to be intentional action thats coming from a place of honoring Black girls and gender-expansive youth. ... When we invest in Black girls and gender-expansive youth, were actually making an investment in our collective futures.

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Black Girl Freedom Fund Invests Over $4 Million In 68 Organizations, Part Of #1Billion4BlackGirls Campaign - Forbes

Championing Consumer Freedom in Health Care | Opinion – Newsweek

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The Biden administration recently announced a rule change expanding Obamacare subsidies, moving over a million Americans from employer-provided coverage to exchanges. The mainstream media dutifully reported millions would pay lower premiums, without noting health care costs would often simply be transferred from employers to taxpayersshowing, in miniature, the effect of progressives' Medicare for All plan. Conservatives criticized these and other subsidy expansions in Biden's American Rescue Plan for increasing dependency on government assistance.

Liberals and conservatives frequently talk past each other when debating health care reform, since the former prioritize coverage while the latter prioritize freedom. Liberals blame Republicans for the failures of the current health care system, especially its rapidly escalating costs, mistaking the status quo for a true market-based system.

Conservatives must articulate what a consumer-centered health care system actually entails. Looking at health care options in terms of the freedom they give consumers can clarify the choices politicians have to make on the issue, and help inform incremental reforms that move the nation's dysfunctional health system towards that ideal.

The freest option along the current health care spectrum involves individual consumers purchasing health care services, backed by catastrophic insurance, high-deductible plans, high-risk pools or health savings accounts to help them afford expensive care. Consumers need price and quality transparency tools, and protection from surprise billing, to help them navigate a complicated marketplace. Donald Trump and Joe Biden both supported price transparency regulations, but providers have been slow to comply. Trump enacted the No Surprises Act, but Biden's regulations have been challenged in court.

Consumers would benefit from changes in the tax code and more flexible health savings accounts to help them pay for services, and increased access to direct primary care and other arrangements to contract with providers. Employers can follow the lead of California's state pension system and provide reimbursements tied to reference pricing, sharing savings with employees who choose lower-cost providers and services.

Empowering consumers results in more competition, lower prices and higher quality, but giving patients more choices and control is worthwhile regardless of the expected financial benefits. Conservatives want to remove government and insurance bureaucrats from the doctor-patient relationship. They want to return insurance to its intended purpose of pooling large risks over large populations and long timeframes, rather than serving as prepaid coverage with a short-term payout. That means disempowering middlemen who profit from an opaque and inflationary health care marketplace, and disrupting the oligopolistic market that favors a limited number of large payers and hospital systems in local markets.

The second freest option includes association health, Farm Bureau, limited-benefit and short-term limited duration plans. These are the few remaining elements of the individual and small group insurance market left untouched by Obamacare's sweeping regulations. Trump expanded access to these plans, and states have enacted legislation exempting them from Obamacare regulations, but Trump's rules are being challenged in court and could be removed by Biden. Conservatives want consumers to be able to choose for themselves what coverage levels they need, which often vary over a person's lifetime and circumstances, and to benefit from resulting lower premiums.

The third freest option involves traditional employer-provided coverage, where human resources departments limit the plan providers and benefit designs employees can select. Conservatives want employees to have more control over the tax-advantaged employer subsidy spent on their behalf, for example by expanding health reimbursement arrangements, while recognizing some employees prefer the simplicity of allowing employers to negotiate plan designs and provider networks.

The fourth freest option involves exchange, Medicaid managed care and Medicare Advantage plans; differentiation and competition between these plans are limited by government regulations. Obama falsely promised the Affordable Care Act would allow Americans to keep their health plans and doctors. The exchange plans allow limited private plan competition, but the government strictly controls and standardizes benefit design, cost sharing, premium inputs and profit margins. Under this model, health plans act like regulated utilities, with reduced incentives and opportunities to innovate and meet customer needs. "You can have any color you want, as long as it is black" may be funny when describing Model Ts, but leaves patients at the mercy of government bureaucrats.

Medicare plans have more flexibility than Medicaid plans, and both offer incentives for providers and patients to follow best practices, lower costs and improve outcomes. Private plans, such as those available through Medicare, have more freedom to adopt innovative disease management models; use efficiency savings to add new benefits; deploy new technology; reduce fraud, abuse and overutilization; and encourage patients to utilize higher quality providers. Yet even these plans are tightly controlled and standardized by government regulators when it comes to cost sharing, benefit design, provider networks, premiums, and profits.

The least free option is government-run Medicaid and Medicare plans, where government agencies set prices and make coverage decisions; this serves as the foundation for Medicare for All. Conservatives must address affordability concerns as they pursue freedom, lest frustrated voters be tempted by a single payer system's superficial savings. Providers counted 130,000 pages of rules and regulations in Medicare, and a Clinton health official noted the inherent complexity of setting 10,000 prices in 3,000 counties. Setting prices too high or too low distorts the market and interferes with patient access to high-quality care. Coverage decisions based on Quality Adjusted Life Year considerations or average utilization result in rationed care and overutilization. A top-down, one-size-fits-all administered pricing approach disempowers patients in favor of government bureaucrats and results in wasted resources and worse outcomes.

This health care freedom framework helps inform policy tradeoffsfor example, preferring Obama Democrats buttressing exchanges as a defense against a more radical Sanders government-run plan; designing employer coverage to include portability, reference pricing and more options; reforming Medicare and Medicaid to include private plans and ultimately premium support and premium assistance. Conservatives can win the health care debate, but they must first know where they are going.

Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) was the governor of Louisiana from 2008-2016 and a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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Championing Consumer Freedom in Health Care | Opinion - Newsweek

Ed Buck and False ‘Freedom’ – The American Conservative

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While the ultimate responsibility for the two men's deaths lies with Ed Buck, our culture of license bears some of the blame.

Ed Buck interrupts California Republican Party gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's campaign event on September 22, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

On April 14, Ed Buck was sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes that resulted in the overdose deaths of two black men in his West Hollywood apartment. The case has garnered national media attention for a host of interrelated reasons involving social class, race, politics, and sexual identity. Buck, an openly gay man and self-styled animal-rights and AIDS-awareness activist, had donated large sums of money to Los Angeles and national Democratic causes. The men who died in his apartment and many surviving victims were gay, often destitute, and almost exclusively ethnic minorities, paid to participate in party-and-play sessions. The slang term, well established in the gay community, is code for consuming drugs while engaging in sexual activity.

L.A. Times headlines surrounding the Buck trial have predictably sought to tie the deaths of the two men in Bucks apartment (Gemmel Moore in 2017 and Timothy Dean in 2019) to the Black Lives Matter movement. Ed Bucks Black Victims Fought to be believed reads one headline;It took two years to arrest Democratic donor Ed Buck despite shocking allegations, red flags. Why? read another. Despite the fact that the district attorney who declined to prosecute Buck at the time of the first death was a black female Democrat endorsed by a host of LGBT organizations, the L.A. Times and other outlets suggested that the victims and perpetrators race played a role in the initial failure to file charges.

There undoubtedly is some truth to these claims. But, to borrow the parlance of Los Angeles nonprofit groups about whom I have written in these pages, media claims regarding race, class, and the shortcomings of the criminal-justice system overlook some of the structural or root causes of Bucks predations on black men. What are they? The truth is that Los Angeles itself, along with progressive cultural norms, were Bucks silent accomplice.

While the ultimate responsibility for these mens deaths lies squarely in Bucks hands, Los Angeles politics and public policy bear some of the blame. As Soledad Ursua has documented meticulously for City Journal, Los Angeles is a sanctuary by design both for homelessness and drug use. Both have been decriminalized in the city with disastrous consequences, luring tens of thousands from out of state, including some of Bucks victims, to the City of Angels. In 2016, Proposition 47 turned virtually all categories of drug possession for personal use into a misdemeanor offense; that same year, Proposition HHH prioritized the so-called housing first strategy, treating homelessness not as a law-and-order issue but rather a housing- and rent- affordability crisis. These perverse incentives have made Los Angeles a hub of domestic migration for the homeless and addicted.

In addition to the (semi)transient status of many of Bucks victims, the gay subculture of party and play, through which Buck enticed or cajoled his victims to participate, has become such a fixture of West Hollywoods cultural life that the city has even dedicated town-hall meetings to the subject of chemsex. While the deaths of Bucks victims were and are singular tragedies attributable to Bucks particular acts, the circumstances in which the men died have become, sadly, a near-quotidian occurrence in West Hollywoods gay social scene.

The liberal establishments moral confusion and outright incoherence surrounding the party and play culture to which Moore and Dean fell victim is nowhere better exemplified than in an L.A. Times article on the subject. A self-identified drag queen and chemsex addict in recovery describes his rehabilitation in the following terms: When I got sober, I had to learn how to have sex again because I was used to this seedy, dangerous, risky sex. You can go to the orgies, honey. You can go to the bathhouse. You can do this stuff sober. In other words: Group sex is okay as long as you are not abusing drugs in the process.

Homosexuality, extramarital sex, promiscuity, orgies, and the like are nothing new in human history. What is newthe advent of the last half-century or sois the loosening of societal norms around sex and sexuality, and the inexorable shift from tolerance to celebration of practices that would have been considered abhorrent not long ago. As the Times piece makes clear, Los Angeless and Americas liberal establishment has gone from condoning gay relationships to condoning orgies, at least as long as they are conducted safely by consenting adults.

Another part of the Ed Buck tragedy that will go largely unnoticed and unexamined is the false premise of freedom upon which our contemporary culture is based, namely, the notion that sexual liberation is a good in its own right and an end in itself. The #MeToo movement showed us, in a way not entirely dissimilar to the Ed Buck trial, that the line between coercion and consent in the post-sexual-revolution society is often murky at best, at all times muddled by the age-old forces of status, power, and wealth. Yet we insist, particularly in major cities on the culturally liberal coasts, that any taboos surrounding sex are unwarranted prejudices. Something here doesnt add up.

As Rusty Reno demonstrates in his 2016 book Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society, the cult of personal liberation (that is, individual freedom untethered from any moral-ethical framework) is in reality a war on the weak. Reno writes: Educated, well-to-do Baby Boomers are disciplined in their hedonism, careful that their pecadillos dont impede their scramble for success. For the most part, the rich have developed a relatively safe and moderate approach to drugs, and for the few who havent, well, theres professional help.

Reno goes on, with my emphasis, to elucidate the nature of our regnant cultural chaos:

No social crisis of our time is more profound than this disregardto the point of disdainfor the moral needs of the vulnerable. Official ideologies of diversity, inclusion, and nonjudgementalism are not oriented towards the marginal. They serve the high achievers, the meritocrats, the comfortable people who have the social and financial capital to navigate this moral deregulation and protect themselves from its dangerous consequences.

I cannot think of a better way to describe Ed Bucks predatory overtures to gay men, many of whom were struggling with addiction, extreme poverty, or both, than a war on the weak, a part of a larger war waged by our ruling elite under the false flag of freedom. The upper class sees post-1960s cultural deregulation both as its birthright and the carrot it gives the underclass instead of the stick; in exchange for their submission to a meritocracy that is at once libertarian and socio-economically Darwinian, the working classes are allowed the modern-day version of bread and circuses: unrestrained sex and drugs.

The question now becomes whether our nations shrinking population of Christians can fully assume their role as a creative minority in an increasingly post-Christian West. Our only hope is that this minority, like a suddenly heeded prophet, can alert us to the specious form of freedom that sunders our countrys social fabric.

Kurt Hoferis a native Californian with a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature. He teaches high school history in a Los Angeles-area independent school.His writing may also be found at theEuropean Conservative, where he is a contributing editor.

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Ed Buck and False 'Freedom' - The American Conservative

Thursday at 10: Preserving the past of the ‘Freedom Mine’ – WKOW

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NORTH FREEDOM (WKOW) On a remote plot of land just southwest of Baraboo, archaeologists, divers and researchers are slowly uncovering a piece of history that, until recently, was lost in time. The "Freedom Mine," an iron mine abandoned in 1911 after flooding, was recently rediscovered on land belonging to a couple who had been using the plot as a private campsite.

Now, researchers are diving deep into the flooded mineshaft that for more than 100 years, was almost perfectly preserved.

In the process, they're putting together the pieces of the mine's story, trying to find out why it was abandoned in the first place. The images produced in the process are stunning and also shed light on the Baraboo Range's iron mining history.

Researchers from across the country have come to explore the mine, including famous underwater photographer Evan Kovacs, who's worked on famous shipwrecks like the Titanic.

"This site is absolutely beautiful, pristine, and I've never had a chance to dive anything quite like it," Kovacs said.

Thursday on 27 News at 10, how Kovacs and other researchers are using cutting edge technology to embark on a dangerous mission that will ultimately help preserve the past.

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Thursday at 10: Preserving the past of the 'Freedom Mine' - WKOW

Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation accepting nominations for "Faces of Freedom" Military Program – MLB.com

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Arlington, Texas The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation and American Airlines are now accepting nominations for the Faces of Freedom military campaign. Throughout the season the Texas Rangers will honor active or retired military members during Rangers home games.

Nominated honorees will receive game tickets, exclusive Globe Life Field experiences, a trip to Washington D.C. courtesy of the Rangers Foundation and American Airlines, and more.

American Airlines is tremendously proud to partner with the Texas Rangers and provide air travel for this great program. We consider it a privilege to utilize our resources as the worlds largest airline to honor those who have served our nation in military uniform, said Randy Stillinger, Manager of Military and Veterans Initiatives for American Airlines. Stillinger, who still serves part-time in the U.S. Army Reserve, said that American has a long history of supporting veterans, those who currently serve in the military, and their families, and were excited to support the home team through Faces of Freedom.

Each recognized military hero will receive:

To nominate a hero for the Faces of Freedom program, visit texasrangers.com/facesoffreedom and share why they deserve to be recognized.

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Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation accepting nominations for "Faces of Freedom" Military Program - MLB.com

Freedom of Expression – Caltech

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Caltech's fundamental mission is to create knowledge for the ages, through research and by passing along insights from generation to generation. We create knowledge by bringing together people of diverse perspectives, of different backgrounds, of distinct sensibilities, and let them hone their conceptions of the world by expressing their views freely and, in colloquy, shaping each other's ideas.

We come to Caltech to learn and to grow. This process requires us to be open to changing our minds through the exchange of ideas and the questioning of our assumptions. There are times when this can be difficult, even uncomfortable, but we recognize that the answer to a poor or objectionable argument is to confront it with a better argument rather than to silence the speaker. We strive to fashion a robust, civic space, welcoming to individuals from all backgrounds, committed to rigorous inquiry, devoted to understanding the natural world and improving the human world. It is what universities at their best have represented for a thousand years. It is how the Institute can flourish and inspire.

Freedom of individual expression bears as well on the issue of formal institutional pronouncements. Caltech aims to create an environment where all members of our community are empowered to speak out about issues that matter to them, and we support their freedom and ability to do so. We want all members of our community to feel free to take stances that may be unpopular, but reflect who they are and what they believe, without an official Institute opinion quenching that ability. Hence, we confine official Caltech statements to issues that bear directly on our core missions of research and education. At the same time, we respond as an Institute to worldly challenges through tangible intercessions that advance our values and support at-risk members of our community.

Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Caltech President

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Freedom of Expression - Caltech

10-rule manifesto by ai weiwei for empowerment and freedom of mind – Designboom

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ai weiweis 10 key rules

Manifesto is a campaign on WePresent which invites activists and creatives to spread their message through 10 rules to live by. As a result, a series of life advice, framed as a poster, is presented to the readers. Accompanied with colors, patterns, or signs; sometimes with a humoristic or simple cynic touch; hand-drawn or entirely digitally made, each artwork is unveiled in its very own style.

For the latest series, the digital arts platform of WeTransfer has called Chinese Contemporary Artist Ai Weiwei, to share his key rules of life. Alternating with turquoise and red color, the resulting sheet is an assemblage of geometrical frames that provide special reminders. Find out what I means and find your own identity. Who I am, should be consistent with what I do. How I behave, and how I act. Persist, no matter what other people say.all images by WePresent

Ai Weiwei (see more here) is not only known as an architect of Chinese modernism but also for his political activism around human rights, censorship, and corruption. His mindset made him a target of the Chinese authorities and in 2011 he was arrested and imprisoned for 81 days without charge.

Ten years later, one of the nations most vocal political critics shares ten essential messages for freedom and peace of mind. Harmonize your external appearance with your innermost thoughts. What we present to the outside world should be congruent with the quality of our inner world. We see a lot of discordance between what a person appears to be and what a person really is nowadays. But the harmony between the two is actually how an individual becomes an individual.

Since A manifesto by series has launched, musician Willie Nelson, Patrisse Cullors (co-founder of Black Lives Matter), and Nadya Tolokonnikova (founder of Pussy Riot) among others, have contributed with their simple, sarcastic, and cynical messages, encouraging people all over the world.

project info:

name:A manifesto by

artist:Ai Weiwei

christina petridou I designboom

apr 27, 2022

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10-rule manifesto by ai weiwei for empowerment and freedom of mind - Designboom