Binance CEO: Putin Is the Most Influential Person in Blockchain – Cointelegraph

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Update: Changpeng Zhaos comment was translated incorrectly in the article. It was since updated to reiterate the platforms stance that individuals engaged in crime should not sign up with Binance.

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, named Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most influential person in the blockchain industry.

On Oct. 22, in an article on RBC News, Zhao, also known as CZ within the crypto community, pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most influential person in the blockchain space. Zhao further said that he believes the bill on regulating digital money may be adopted in the Russian Federation in the foreseeable future.

Zhao also reportedly revealed that Binance may in some cases provide user information to Russian financial regulators and warned people involved in crime to stay away from the trading platform, noting:

As a rule, we do not provide information to any regulator en masse. But in individual cases - yes [...] therefore, if you are engaged in crime, you don't sign up with Binance.

Zhao concluded his statements by telling the story of how he sold his house in 2014 to buy Bitcoin (BTC) before a drop from $600 to $200, despite which he hodled to the present day, with BTC standing at $8,100 at press time. The story was a way of explaining his belief that the worlds most popular cryptocurrency will see impressive growth by the end of this year.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Binance will soon add support for the Russian ruble. By adding Russias national currency to its platform, Binance will allow users from Russia to buy cryptocurrencies directly using rubles, CZ explained at the Open Innovations Forum in Moscow, a Russian government-led event. While Binance did confirm the addition of a ruble-crypto pair to Cointelegraph, it did not provide any additional details or an explanation for why the ruble was chosen for the first fiat-crypto trading pair.

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Binance CEO: Putin Is the Most Influential Person in Blockchain - Cointelegraph

Smart contracts and blockchain will provide needed trust, says Princeton professor – TechRepublic

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Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten says blockchain will enable smart contracts that provide trust to company systems in the future, but there are some myths and misconceptions.

TechRepublic's Karen Roby talks with Princeton computer science professor and Offchain Labs chief scientist Ed Felten about blockchain and the future of smart contracts. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Ed Felten: A lot of people think about blockchain as a way of holding money or sending money from one person to another, but the other really exciting thing that blockchain systems can do are these smart contracts. A smart contract is basically a computer program or an application that rather than running on some company's computer where you don't know what it might be doing or what code is in it, it runs on the blockchain itself, and that is the advantage that people can see what the software is and they know that it will execute the way it's supposed to. It's a way for us as end users to get more trust in the services that we're using by moving them onto a blockchain instead of being on some company's machine.

SEE: Special report: How blockchain will disrupt business (free PDF) (TechRepublic download)

Karen Roby: So, where do you think we are with this? It's obviously very empowering to the end user, but understandably right now the technologies to support this program just aren't there yet.

Ed Felten: Right, well it is early days. We're sort of in the Commodore 64-, early-IBM-PC-phase of development here where the technology is far enough that people in the field can really see what it's capable of, but it's not really quite ready for prime time in terms of supporting the kinds of applications that people are used to doing on computers. But that will come. The smart contract technology is developing really fast, and there are a bunch of companies, including ours, that are really trying to push it forward and make this a platform where people can do the kinds of things that they're used to doing on their computers every day.

Karen Roby: What do you think in terms of blockchain, what are some of the bigger myths? I think there's a lot of confusion out there as to what it can and can't do, and what all of this will mean down the road. But what do you see are some of the bigger myths or misconceptions with blockchain?

Ed Felten: Well, I think right now blockchain technologies are kind of rough around the edges. The idea that this is ready to be a sort of routine part of people's lives, that this would be where you could keep most of your money or how you buy most of the things you buy, the technology is really not there yet. We're really in an experimental phase, and you see people who are hobbyists there, and it really is a situation where you can see what the future is going to be, and it's just a matter of the technology community building the same kinds of infrastructure in the same kinds of ways that they did with first with PCs and then later with the internet.

Karen Roby: And what is it, when you look at down the road when it comes to blockchain, what is it that excites you the most about what's to come?

Ed Felten: What really excites me is seeing that this is going to become a more consumer-friendly technology. It's a technology that can really empower end users. It can equalize the relationship that we tend to have with the big services that we use, if it develops in the right way. And it's a way of integrating our sort of online interactions and the computer programs that do a lot of the things on our behalf. It's a way of integrating those together and giving us more control over them. So you can see a world where computers are more friendly and more trustworthy because of this technology, and that's what I see long term. And that's really, I think, the promise of the technology.

Karen Roby: Do you feel like we have the talent that's coming up that will be able to move this down the field?

SEE: Blockchain: Why the revolution is still a decade away (ZDNet)

Ed Felten: Well, there's a tremendous amount of talent. The students that we get today in our computer science classes are smarter and better prepared than ever. And there's a lot more of them. People are figuring out, especially students, young people, that being a computer scientist, being a software engineer is a high-leverage way to have a big impact on the world. That it's not just about going into a cubicle and producing some lines of code, but you can build new kinds of structures and relationships that people really value.

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Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019: Blockchain strategy must evolve at the same pace as technology – TechRepublic

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The industry is leaving the "blockchain inspired" phase and moving into the "blockchain complete" phase.

To realize the true value of blockchain, CIOs have to strike a balance between ignoring the technology and rebuilding the business model around immature technology.

Blockchain is not one thing: It includes a range of technologies from smart contracts to tokens to consensus models. Because these products will continuously mature and become available, CIOs should plan for incremental evolution of their blockchain strategies.

Mature blockchain solutions include all five components. Many products on the market now lack the tokenization and decentralization components.

Image: Gartner

Gartner analysts David Furlonger and Christophe Uzureau explain how to develop a blockchain strategy in their new book, The Real Business of Blockchain: How Leaders Can Create Value in a New Digital Age. Furlonger said the key to success with blockchain is understanding the timing of investments.

"Fully mature blockchain complete solutions will allow organizations to re-engineer business relationships, monetize illiquid assets, and redistribute data and value flows to more successfully engage with the digital world. That is the real business of blockchain," said Furlonger, a distinguished research vice-president and Gartner Fellow, in a press release.

Gartner sees four phases in the evolution of blockchain technology:

The industry is currently moving out of the second phase--blockchain inspired" and into the third phase--"blockchain complete." Gartner predicts that the final phase will start by 2030.

SEE: Blockchain: An insider's guide (free PDF)

Real blockchain solutions have five components:

According to Gartner, most blockchain products currently on the market are incomplete because they lack tokenization and decentralization components.

Here is how Gartner describes the four phases of the blockchain spectrum.

Blockchain enabling technologiesThese technologies are the foundation for future blockchain solutions. Technologies in this group include cryptography, distributed computing, peer-to-peer networking, and messaging.

Blockchain inspiredThis phase started in 2012 and will last through the early 2020s. Blockchain-inspired solutions leverage the foundational technologies but use only three of the five elements of blockchain distribution, encryption, and immutability. While some of these solutions make use of tokenization, they are not sufficiently decentralized to create new value exchange systems. As a result, these solutions often aim to reengineer existing processes specific to an individual organization or industry while maintaining centralized controls.

Blockchain completeBlockchain-complete solutions deliver the full value proposition of blockchain using all five elements: Distribution, encryption, immutability, tokenization, and decentralization. Blockchain-complete solutions will feature tokenization enabled by smart contracts and decentralization, two components blockchain-inspired solutions lack. These solutions enable trade in new forms of value (such as new asset types) and unlock monopolies on existing forms of value ad processes such as digital commerce or digital advertising.

Enhanced blockchainAfter 2025, complementary technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and decentralized self-sovereign identity (SSI) solutions will converge and integrate fully with blockchain networks. These enhanced blockchain solutions will expand the types of customers and the value that can be tokenized and exchanged. This final phase will enable a large number of smaller transactions that would not be possible with traditional mechanisms.

Uzureau predicts that startups providing blockchain-native solutions will gain market momentum by the early 2020s and start to scale after 2025.

"Though not immediate, the proliferation of blockchain-complete solutions will push organizations to explore new ways of operating with greater degrees of decentralization than they have now," said Uzureau said in a press release.

Turn to these must-read primers to get the skinny on the hottest tech topics, strategies, and analyses. Delivered Fridays

Gartner predicts four phases of evolution for blockchain technology.

Image: Gartner

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Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019: Blockchain strategy must evolve at the same pace as technology - TechRepublic

Blockchain is not the only solution for better and faster payments – Euromoney magazine

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A beneficiary is usually oblivious to the intricate networks that data and money flow across before cash lands in their bank account. The sender, however, is struck with dozens of choices to make with a cross-border transfer that might leave them reeling.

At this stage, a network of networks along the lines of what Unbounded is doing where senders can differentiate between various platforms and their offering, will be invaluable.

But what will happen as more and more payment solutions come to fruition?

There will be consolidation in the payments industry. It is inevitable.

So, while polite transaction bankers continuously talk about collaboration in paymentsfor the benefit and the development of the industry in general, in reality only a handful of these networks will gain market share and succeed in the long run.

Transaction bankers are playing a tactical game. Some are joining forces with other institutions and consortia because there is strength in numbers while others wait patiently on the sidelines to jump on board once a payment platform becomes the market leader.

So many companies are experimenting with blockchain in cross-border payments right now it would be easy to think that a platform that uses this type of technology will reign victorious. Ripple is doing it, JPMorgan is doing it, IBM is doing it, Facebook wants to do it and Visa and MasterCard are looking into doing it.

But then there are companies such as Transferwise, which has been able to gain market share in payments because of its ability to keep costs down, and Swift, which hopes that its own global payment initiative (Swift gpi) and the prevalence of domestic instant payment solutions will spread cross-border without blockchain as a prerequisite. There are also MoneyGram, Western Union and WorldRemit as well as many others.

Do these platforms have a chance?

For the first time in a while, blockchain may not be central to deciding which payment platform will win in the long run. In fact, blockchain may not be as central to transaction banking as it has seemed to be for the last 10 years.

This was in evidence at this year's Sibos conference in London although no one I spoke to there would say iton the record.

"Nobody in transaction banking wants to be the blockchain cynic, so, for now, we will keep a lot of these feelings to ourselves," one European transaction banker at the conference said.

After years of bullish announcements about how blockchain will transform the payments landscape, Sibos had a different flavour to it this year: a focus on how technology will benefit customers and corporates, as opposed to developments in technology itself.

"What's the point in coming up with solutions that use blockchain if the people we are creating these solutions for in the first place dont see the benefits in this technology?" another transaction banker at the conference declared.

So what happens if we look at consolidation in payments under this new lens? Which platform will win through as consolidation takes hold?

Some will argue that Swift which as we have already pointed out doesn't use blockchain technology as yet is the natural choice. Swift has linked more than 11,000 financial institutions across more than 200 countries and is working with the banks to set industry standards.

Swift gpi was launched in 2017. By September 2019, 60% of all Swift transactions were sent via gpi and 3,500 financial institutions are signed up to the initiative.

But further momentum towards becoming gpi-compliant will wane becauseof that vast number of institutions connected via Swift to gain consensus it needs to work with over 11,000 institutions, many in developing markets where domestic instant payment solutions are not the priority.

Swift gpi may not be the answer to faster cross-border payments we all hope for.

On the other hand, JPMorgan's Interbank Information Network (IIN) is growing at lightning speed. After Deutsche Bank signed up to IIN on September 20, another 25 banks quickly followed suit, bringing the total number of banks signed up to the platform to 356 since its launch in 2017.

More top-tier banks will follow Deutsche, because joining JPM IIN makes sense: the bank is the largest dollar clearer in the world and its treasury services business processes around 26 million transactions a day worth more than $3 trillion in 108 currencies and 100 countries.

Yes, 356 banks isnt 11,000 but thats the point. It is a manageable number, and once IIN starts processing cross-border payments on its platform, more banks will come on board. Rather than JPM having to convince members to become part of IIN, as Swift will have to do with gpi, banks will join precisely because of what IIN has to offer.

What is important is an ability to remain nimble in this evolving landscape. Whether or not the platform uses blockchain technology is a moot point.

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Blockchain is not the only solution for better and faster payments - Euromoney magazine

Can blockchain restore trust to the fund management and audit industries? – Accountancy Age

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Blockchain could provide a solution to restore trust in the fund management and audit industries, according to Nish Kotecha, Chairman and Co-founder of Finboot, and Bryan Foss, Independent Director and Visiting Professor at Bristol Business School.

Kotecha and Foss cite fund manager Neil Woodfords Equity Income Fund as a perfect example of how blockchain could have prevented such a scandal.

Not too long ago, Neil Woodford was still regularly being heralded as a superstar manager and the Oracle of Oxford. How different the story is today, they said.

Ultimately, the Equity Income Fund did not do what it said it would, and Woodford ran it unchecked. If investors had been fully aware of the investments being made into unlisted and illiquid stocks, would they have kept their money in?

There can be no doubt that its in the best interest of investors that information is readily available to enable timely decisions to be taken. Dissemination of such information should not be left to the whim of the fund manager who relies on investor trust.

Ultimately, trust requires transparency to validate integrity. Adopting technologies such as blockchain into the reporting and audit framework of a public fund could provide a fresh approach so that investors can avoid being caught in a Woodford-like situation.

For instance, an investor-facing blockchain could be programmed to release updates on a funds portfolio at regular intervals without further approvals from the fund manager. The constant release of data in a predefined format would provide evidence of the funds status, forcing the fund manager to operate within the automated reporting schedules and ensure that the funds share price is a fair reflection of its valuation, they said.

Similarly, Kotecha and Foss argue that a blockchain solution could have prevented and detected fraud like in the Patisserie Valerie scandal earlier this year.

Had blockchain been used to underpin the accounting framework of the company, its likely the thousands of false entries that were discovered as fraudulent would never have been approved by the distributed ledger technology.

The time-stamped links of blocks could reveal alterations or tampering to the recorded transactions, as well as providing an immediate insight into the performance of the company at any given time, they added.

But how far away is a genuine blockchain solution from becoming a reality? On this Kotecha and Foss are more cautious.

While many may suggest that this type of solution is available, few are able to provide an enterprise grade solution that can provide ease of use, integration and scalability within a private blockchain environment. Finboots blockchain middleware and application suite can provide this today through proof of concept projects that can be operationalised rapidly as the basis for long term incremental developments.

Technology has often been mooted as a potential route out of the audit crisis in the UK, but Kotecha and Foss stopped short of saying it negated the need for reform altogether.

Audit reform is necessary to tackle the increasingly sophisticated financial environments in which we now find ourselves. However, technology can be part of the answer. The FRC Labs and accounting firms are evaluating ways in which technology can be used to reduce audit risks and improve transparency and verification capability. Blockchain, for example, can be used to improve trust in the process while also reducing time and money for a full audit procedure. Technology should be a partner to audit reform, they said.

Kotecha and Foss believed that perhaps most importantly, blockchain would provide a secure immutable and auditable solution to both sectors.

Once the data is uploaded onto a blockchain, it is immutable and auditable. Improving the quality of the source data is an important factor to ensure that accurate data is uploaded and this can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms, such as direct data feeds from the point of capture (e.g. from completed stock exchange trades, etc). Overlaying a programme of random periodic audits will then dramatically reduce the time and cost for a full audit procedure while improving confidence and trust in the process, hopefully making such events like Woodford an anomaly.

More validated, immutable information will generate trust in the fund management market and audit industry as a whole. The choice between investing in public market funds and private market funds should be left to the investor, and public fund managers should be prevented from changing their reporting framework because it suits them. Likewise, listed companies should adhere to a fully transparent corporate reporting process that is not susceptible to distortion. In both cases, there is a clear argument for an automated blockchain that can act as a single source of truth for the benefit of investors, on whose trust the share price of listed entities partially depends, they concluded.

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Can blockchain restore trust to the fund management and audit industries? - Accountancy Age

Blockchain voting is vulnerable to hackers, software glitches and bad ID photos among other problems – The Conversation US

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A developing technology called blockchain has gotten attention from election officials, startups and even Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang as a potential way to boost voter turnout and public trust in election results.

I study blockchain technology and its potential use in fighting fraud, strengthening cybersecurity and securing voting.

I see promising signs that blockchain-based voting could make it more convenient for people to vote, thereby boosting voter turnout. And blockchain systems can be effective at strengthening the security of devices, networks and critical systems like electricity grids, as well as protecting personal privacy.

The few small-scale tests run so far have identified problems and vulnerabilities in the digital systems and government administrative procedures that must be resolved before blockchain-based voting can be considered safe and trustworthy. Therefore I dont see clear evidence that it can prevent, or even detect, election fraud.

There are a few steps in a blockchain-based voting system, which uses technology to mirror the process of in-person voting.

First, the system needs to verify a voters identity often by having the user upload a photo of a government-issued ID and then a photo or video self-portrait. The system confirms the IDs validity, and facial recognition software makes sure the person in the self-portrait is the person on the ID. Then the user is authenticated as eligible to cast a vote.

Only at that point does blockchain technology actually enter the process. The system gives each authenticated voter a digital token that represents the persons vote and a list of the digital addresses to which he or she can send that token. Each address indicates a vote for a particular candidate or an answer to a ballot question.

The tokens dont indicate who cast them, so votes remain anonymous. When a voter sends a token, a record of that act is stored simultaneously on several different computers, making it much harder for hackers to alter the vote records. After casting the ballot by sending the token, the user receives a unique code that they can use to look at the anonymized online vote tally to confirm their vote was counted as they intended.

Early results show that blockchain systems may increase voter turnout, though its not yet clear why. Many of the tests have been for informal ballots, like student government groups and community projects.

However, several election officials in the U.S. have held small-scale trials of blockchain voting, allowing members of the military who are stationed overseas to vote electronically, rather than by mail.

In the November 2018 congressional elections, West Virginia allowed 144 voters living overseas to cast ballots from 31 different countries using an app developed by a private company called Voatz, which is involved in many of these trials.

Another 200 voters overseas expressed interest in using the system, but their home counties in West Virginia werent set up to do so. Based on the results, West Virginia says it plans to continue and expand the trial in the 2020 presidential election.

Denver, Colorado, had 119 voters who were overseas use a Voatz system to cast their ballots in municipal primary elections in May. In the citys June runoff election, 112 voters did so online through a blockchain system. In August, 24 voters cast their ballots from overseas using a Voatz app in a Utah County, Utah, election.

The most recent and largest use of a blockchain-based voting system was in the city council election in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 8. Because of concerns that the system was not set up securely, only three of the citys 20 electoral precincts allowed voters to use a blockchain-based mobile voting app to cast their ballot from anywhere with an internet connection.

Again, the evidence showed a boost in voter turnout: The citys overall turnout rate was around 17% of registered voters. That includes a 90% turnout among the voters who had registered to use the system.

However, technological complications barred some people from voting, which led at least one losing candidate to object that he would have won if everything had worked properly. Thats the sort of problem that is most worrying for people who hope using mathematical principles and computerized encryption will help the public have trust in election outcomes.

There are several obstacles in the way of blockchain ever becoming useful for large-scale, legally binding voting.

One is that most people have little understanding of how blockchain systems work. Another, equally vital, is that even experts dont have a way to identify every possible irregularity in online voting. Voting on paper, by contrast, is well studied and easily verified and audited.

One crucial aspect of a blockchain voting system is the method by which the computer system verifies voters identities. When a verified voter establishes an account on the system, that process creates a digital key that identifies them securely when casting a ballot. A more complex key is harder to hack, but also takes more computing resources to verify. It will be important to find a way to protect the integrity of the voting process, without exhausting government budgets buying advanced computing power. The computational power required may make blockchain systems inefficient for voting on a nationwide scale or even statewide, in populous states like California and Texas.

The Moscow election system, for instance, initially assigned keys that were too easily hacked. That opened the possibility of voter impersonation, which is bad enough. But that weakness also violated the principle of a secret ballot by letting outsiders know how each person voted.

Other problems with digital voting systems are separate from the underlying technologies. In some cases, government-issued IDs used to verify voters identities are many years old.

Even when dealing with current images, facial recognition systems, including the one used by Voatz, have high error rates, especially for non-white voters. In addition, hackers may try to trick the system.

The phone or computer a voter uses to cast a ballot may not be secure, either and its not safe to assume that the computer networks they communicate over, and the servers the data is stored on, are safe from manipulation or even random errors.

Proprietary voting apps like Voatz offer the public no way to know whether voters choices are accurately recorded, nor whether these apps truthfully deliver their ballots encrypted copy to be counted by election officials.

Voatz has claimed that its system has been audited by third parties, but has made few details of that process or its findings available to the public. West Virginia officials who hired Voatz have also refused to reveal information about how its security was evaluated.

The company has said it would not release that information because it had a nondisclosure agreement with the auditors, and for fear its proprietary system design might be discovered by competitors.

Its possible that blockchain-based voting could boost voter participation rates, but theres no evidence yet that it is better at preventing election fraud. With plenty of potential trouble spots outside the system itself, and little public transparency within it, I have to conclude that blockchain voting is not yet safe or ready for service.

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Blockchain voting is vulnerable to hackers, software glitches and bad ID photos among other problems - The Conversation US

Blockchain Technology is Disrupting the Startup Ecosystem – Times of India

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Since the introduction of the first practical implementation of blockchain over ten years ago, the technology has found a myriad of use-cases in a wide variety of industries, including fintech, healthcare, digital identity, Internet of Things (IoT), and logistics. Many of these industries have already been marching towards digitisation of their internal processes for the past few years, making blockchain integration only more advantageous due to its increased security and reliability benefits.

Even besides the fact that blockchains cannot be easily hacked or compromised, the technology offers a great deal of other benefits ranging from decentralisation to duplication. The latter is extremely important for companies that require stored data to be available at all times and for an indefinite period.

The Blockchain Age: Why it is important

Traditional data centres can be wiped out by bad weather conditions, intermittent connectivity issues, and even political turbulence in a given region. In stark contrast, blockchains have multiple computers - thousands or even millions - store a copy of the ledger at all times. Unlike traditional databases that can be modified or written to by a lone rogue or malicious individual, blockchain requires the consensus of a majority for any changes to be finalised. As a result, security breaches in a well-implemented blockchain network are practically unheard of.

In Deloittes Global Blockchain Survey, 53% of respondents said that blockchain technology has become a critical priority for their organisations in 2019. When it comes to blockchain adoption, many companies are now following in the footsteps of behemoths such as IBM and Microsoft that have invested large sums of money and resources into their respective blockchain endeavours. While IBM has partnered with shipping giant, Maersk, to build a blockchain-based supply chain platform, Microsoft is aiming to become a driving force in the enterprise sector by offering Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) solutions through its Azure cloud brand.

Blockchain Investment Is on the Rise

Given the sheer potential of blockchain, it is not surprising that a number of new startups are attempting to find unique use-cases for the technology outside of the traditional finance ecosystem. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that venture capital investment in blockchain startups increased by 280% in 2018, according to research group, Diar. While 2017 saw startups in the distributed ledger space raise around $1 billion, the total for 2018 ended up being closer to $4 billion.

The average size of VC deals is on the rise as well, with Diar estimating the median VC investment in a blockchain startup to be around $2.5 million as of 2018. While many cryptocurrency companies chose to raise funds via Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) or public token sales in 2017, startups focused on use-cases outside finance continue to favour the traditional venture capital fundraising route. Furthermore, the vast majority of tokens sold and distributed in 2017 lost a considerable amount of valuation over the past two years, leading to financial struggles at many ICO-funded startups.

Finally, blockchain companies are starting to favour VC investment once again because of the increased credibility that comes with a veteran firm or investor.

Insights on Blockchain Startups

As a result of the above factors, traditional investors and deal advisory teams at various companies are now actively scouting for potential unicorns in the blockchain industry. However, given that the technology and associated startups are rapidly evolving due to their relative immaturity, identifying key growth factors and obtaining actionable insights on blockchain companies can be an extremely challenging and time consuming task. To meet this growing demand for high quality data on the global blockchain ecosystem, Oddup offers a real-time startup tracking platform that allows investors, M&A teams, and others to obtain due diligence insights quickly and efficiently.

As consumer and enterprise interest in distributed ledger technology continues to grow, its likely only a matter of time before the number of blockchain startups matches that of other cutting edge technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT.

Disclaimer: Content Produced by Oddup

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Blockchain Technology is Disrupting the Startup Ecosystem - Times of India

Is blockchain the answer for sustainability in the cocoa sector? – ConfectioneryNews.com

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Companies regularly make sustainability claims about their supply chains, from ethical and organic to deforestation- and child labor-free. These claims were traditionally supported by audits and certifications, which only validate a sample of suppliers, but new legislation requires accountability for the full end-to-end supply chain. With companies sourcing from thousands of suppliers and new technology that enables end-to-end traceability, audits and certification are no longer best practice: its time for comprehensive supply chain due diligence. Thats where supply chain transparency comes in, writes Leonardo Bonanni, in a blog on his company website sourcemap.com.

Bonanni, Sourcemaps founder and CEO, expanded on the due diligence approach during a breakout session on blockchain technology at the WCF Partnership Meeting in Berlin, which looked at how traceability tools could help the cocoa sector in eradicating child labor, deforestation and poverty in its supply chain.

Arguably, deforestation is at the forefront of supply chain issues in the coca sector. He told the audience that only in the past two years has it been possible to trace every small transaction in the certified supply chain, and a lot of the credit should go to the Cocoa & Forests Initiative for its role in mapping farms.

He said that, although mobile technology is needed on the farms and $40 android phones will do the job, the process of digitizing is still a struggle in cocoa-growing communities because the data is either still on paper or it doesn't exist at all.

We're trying to get that data that doesn't exist into the cloud through whatever means necessary, he said.

We know that a lot of the data is actually still on ledgers and needs to just be put into spreadsheets and uploaded to the cloud.

As his work with Sourcemap continues, he said that when you start to crunch more data and cross-reference, you realize there's a lot of farms that are not performing (or producing) cocoa at all.

They must be doing something else for someone else - and then there are a whole bunch of farms that are over performing in a way that doesn't really make sense right now.

As a report this week in The Washington Post reveals, there remains glaring gaps in the audits covering hundreds of thousands of cocoa farms of which Utz is responsible for, casting doubt on the claims by major chocolate companies that the monitoring efforts are eliminating those abuses.

In five years time, digital blockchain technology could become standard for carrying out supply chain audits. Many consumers willingly pay more for chocolate made from certified cocoa, and most of the large companies have pledged to certify most or all of their supply, The Washington Post writes.

Bonanni said companies like Sourcemap are there to help nudge the cocoa sector in that direction, technology has made the price of traceability go significantly lower and is no longer an excuse.

For now, Bonanni concedes that there is a mishmash of data sources, which probably goes someway to explaining the problems at Utz, and the system still depends on field data collection for offline traceability to obtain an accurate picture of a farmers output.

Maintaining an ongoing supply chain discovery, benchmarking and verification process is the only way to manage the risk of deforestation, he said, for example.

Impending customs compliance issues in the US and EU around child labor have made it necessary for all players in the cocoa supply chain to adopt a due diligence approach if they wish to stay within in the law. Transparency is the crucible of blockchain technology, because dodgy data will be uncovered, where ever it is in the supply chain.

The session was moderated by Nadia Hewett from the World Economic Forum, which has published extensive white papers on blockchain, one of which comes with this introduction:

Since data can be made visible to all participants who have been authorized to view it and in general, cannot be altered by a single entity customers can have confidence that data has not been tampered with along the way. On top of this, time-stamping can provide a single source of truth on the products history, from the harvesting of the materials to the shelving in a store. Knowing the full journey of a product comes with several benefits, including improved product safety, a reduction in fraud, and an increased accuracy in forecasting and collaborative planning within the industry.

Paul Chang, global leader for Blockchain in the Distribution & Industrial Markets at IBM, said he has been working in supply chain transformation for 15 years with the company, mainly with retail giants such as Walmart and Carrefour. But he has also developed transparency solutions for the coffee sector, linking consumers with growers directly and allowing them to see via an app not only where their coffee comes from, but contribute directly through a digital wallet to the running of the farm.

He said that in the network era we now live in, technology is multi-directional, instantaneous and from one to many, rather than one-to-one. He also called on companies to work together, and cited Walmart sharing its own platform with major competitors for the good of the industry.

At the end of the day its all about trust, the audience was told, and the cocoa industry should work together, drop the competitiveness in adopting new forms of technology and initiatives - only then will it clean up its supply chain once and for all.

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Is blockchain the answer for sustainability in the cocoa sector? - ConfectioneryNews.com

Energy Blockchain Applications Expected to Experience a 67% CAGR – Transmission & Distribution World

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A recent report fromNavigant Researchoffers an overview of the developing market for energy blockchain applications, providing global forecasts for energy blockchain revenue through 2028.

According to the report, Energy Blockchain Applications Overview, energy blockchain applications are expected to generate US$19 billion in cumulative revenue over the next decade, reaching an annual market size of US$7.7 billion in 2028, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66.9%.

The report further explores the blockchain market by region and segment, with examples of key use cases in each market. It describes the components of blockchain architecture, and looks intothe competitive landscape and key challenges that must be addressed before blockchain can be widely adopted in the energy sector.

Early growth of energy blockchain applications is expected to be concentrated in regions with competitive market structures and low barriers to market entry in Europe, Asia Pacific, and parts of the United States. Europe and North America are projected to be the leading markets for most of the forecast, but a rapid growth rate of 83.3% in Asia Pacific propels the region to the front in 2027.

Energy and power sector stakeholders are experimenting with blockchain technology along the energy value chain. This extends from supply chain transparency to asset financing, proof of origin for power generation, electric vehicle (EV) charging and grid integration, and transactive energy. Although a few energy blockchain products have been commercialized, most remain in the early stages of testing and business model development.

As the grid system becomes increasingly digital, distributed, and decentralized, new information technologies are needed to support interactions and transactions between grid participants, said Johnathon de Villier, research analyst at Navigant Research. Blockchain is one of the several distributed ledger technologies that could serve as a framework for these emerging markets by providing a mathematical basis for information management and coordination across participants in a network and minimizing the role of intermediaries while reducing transaction costs and friction.

An executive summary of the report is available fordownload here.

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Energy Blockchain Applications Expected to Experience a 67% CAGR - Transmission & Distribution World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Impact of Grants for Advancing Therapeutic Virtual Reality

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

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

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

Global Location-Based Virtual Reality (VR) Market 2019-2023 | Evolving Opportunities with Exit Reality and HTC Corp. | Technavio – Business Wire

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LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the global location-based VR market since 2018 and the market is poised to grow by USD 1.48 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of nearly 36% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages

Read the 109-page report with TOC on Location-Based VR Market Analysis Report by Application (VR arcades, VR cinemas, and VR theme parks), Geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America), and the Segment Forecasts, 2019-2023.

The market is driven by the affordable pricing of VR devices. In addition, the growing popularity of 360-degree content is anticipated to boost the growth of the location-based VR market.

Location-based VR enables consumers to experience VR at affordable prices as they need not own the required hardware. Moreover, with increasing adoption of VR technology, the prices of VR hardware components such as VR headsets and joysticks are expected to reduce during the forecast period. Their growing demand coupled with the decreasing cost of displays is resulting in a decline in the average selling price (ASP) of VR headsets. These factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period.

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for FREE.

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Major Five Location-Based VR Companies:

Exit Reality

Exit Reality operates its business in the VR attractions segment. The company develops, deploys, and manages VR infrastructure and services for enterprise, location-based entertainment, and retail applications. Some of the products offered by the company include X Arc, X Hub, X Truck, and X Cube.

HTC Corp.

HTC Corp. operates its business in the smart mobile devices segment. In 2016, the company partnered with Syntrend to open the VIVELAND VR arcade in Taipei. The VR arcade provides various types of VR experiences such as multiplayer shooting, sports, Front Defense, car racing simulators, and 4D seated experiences.

IMAX Corp.

IMAX Corp. operates its business in various segments including network business, theater business, new business, and others. The company has five VR centers in various movie theaters around the globe, each of which hosts a wide selection of games, social experiences, and short narrative pieces.

The Void LLC

The Void LLC operates its business in the hyper-reality segment. The company specializes in creating location-based VR centers that layer VR over interactive real-world environments.

VR Studios Inc.

VR Studios Inc. operates the business in segments such as premium VR systems and attraction management platform and customer VR attractions. The company offers VRcade attractions that are built specifically for location-based entertainment.

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Location-Based VR Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2023)

Location-Based VR Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2019 - 2023)

Technavios sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

Related Reports on Information Technology Include:

Global Augmented and Virtual Reality Market in Healthcare Industry - Global augmented and virtual reality market in healthcare industry by offering (hardware and software) and geography (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).

Global Wearable Display Market Global wearable display market by product (OLED display, TFT LCD, and MicroLED display) and geography (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Global Location-Based Virtual Reality (VR) Market 2019-2023 | Evolving Opportunities with Exit Reality and HTC Corp. | Technavio - Business Wire

eSports What Is The Future Of Virtual Reality? – The Versed

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With new VR centres springing up faster than the rodents on whack-a-mole and with the next generation of consoles hinting that VR is the future there is no doubt that VR isWell its the future, isnt it? But with the technology having progressed rapidly over the last decade, what is the future of the future of gaming?Movement

If you have played VR on any games console or on Steam you will know that the headset offers unrivalled immersion. The system for movement? Not so much. If you have been fortunate to try the VR on Steam, using Valves patented controller that can recognise individual finger movement you will know how satisfying that is. And yes, the first thing we all do is flip the robots in the demo the bird! But when it comes to walking around it falls flat. Yes, it will recognise if you walk around a room, but rooms are small. The game indicates when you are getting close to a wall but that sort of kills the immersion and the sensors arent great. Many are the times I have bumped into a wall with my thousand-pound headset on. Of course, you can use the thumbsticks, but then you feel a bit like Professor X. Rooted to the spot using a twiddly stick for movement. So what is the future?

Well, it isnt a cheap solution, but some form of multi-directional treadmill that automatically reacts to changes in your speed. So you are effectively running on the spot, but with this nifty device, you can feel like you are running for miles. It has the added benefit of improving your fitness.

There are a ton of so-called 4-dimensional rides on this planet we call home. If you have never experienced one, they are well worth a go. VR could benefit from this. Perhaps you play in a sensory tube that you step into that can soak you when it is raining, or blow air over you when you are hanging off the edge of a plane wing. You get the picture. Of course,, you would need to get a headset that is waterproof.

The X-box lauded its Kinect as making you the controller of course this wasnt actually very good but with VR progressing this could be the case. The bodysuit is the natural evolution of that. After all, we have rumble pads in our controllers to improve immersion, this would take that idea to the next level. While wearing the suit if you get shot on the arm that patch would vibrate. Imagine knowing that a chest shot is potentially deadly and your heart racing as you feel your stomach vibrate knowing you were almost a goner! Now thats immersion!

Going one step further from the suit imagine a future where the game jacks into your brain. The futuristic device would be able to access your bodies pain receptors and trigger actual feelings in your limbs. Everything would be visceral and realism would be upped to near lucidity. Its at this point that the line between reality and the game would start to get pretty blurry.

If you have ever watched any of Star Trek The Next Generation you will be familiar with the holo-deck. This futuristic chamber places the user into a virtual world. In many ways, this is the ultimate game as the user is virtually living a different life. Of course, not everyone can afford to dedicate an entire room of their house to video games! Personally, I envision some kind of tube with a treadmill floor that you enter wearing a suit and a waterproof headsetBut perhaps we will just go back to 3d. who knows?

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eSports What Is The Future Of Virtual Reality? - The Versed

I went on a ‘mission’ to see if the Army’s virtual reality training is the real deal – Washington Examiner

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In order to scope out the Armys use of virtual reality training, my editor sent me on a mission to find out if the new tech is the real deal or just fun and games.

The area of operations was the Association of the U.S. Armys annual conference in Washington, D.C., a target-rich environment for a humble defense reporter like me to get my hands on the defense industrys latest and greatest technology.

My first taste of virtual soldier life wasnt terribly exciting. I was supposed to embark on a simulated combat assault with the Army Special Forces, but some unexpected tech issues meant I had to hurry up and wait for something else. Ive been told dozens of times by actual troops that flexibility is key, so my photographer, Graeme Jennings, and I mirrored Army values by adapting, improvising, and overcoming our situation.

With some assistance from the Army Special Forces, we reconnoitered a VR shoot-house, complete with a mock M4 rifle, developed by Booz Allen Hamiltons Digital Soldier program. I was excited to try it out, but was skeptical that one of the worlds largest consulting firms had developed a realistic shooting simulation.

Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Putting on the VR headset I immediately was transported to a shooting range with a dusty, desert motif. A program engineer handed me my rifle, which looks and feels like a real M4 with a rail system for accessories, a red dot sight, and a magazine. The rifle is a combination of form and function. An electro-magnetic system replaces the firing mechanism to give the M4 realistic recoil, while a selector switch gives the option between safe, semi-automatic, and automatic fire. The magazine is actually a battery pack that serves as the virtual ammo, which must be loaded and unloaded like a real rifle.

Having never served in the military nor used a VR headset, I came into the experience with low expectations. Shouldering the rifle, I started picking off the armed dummies one-by-one, albeit with mixed results. Everything was simulated to mirror the real thing; recoil, physics, and bullet ricochet were were spot on.

Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

The experience wasnt perfect. The red dot sight didnt operate like the real thing you had to line up the red dot with the front sight to shoot accurately. Also, I couldnt go full-auto with the rifle during the simulation itself kind of a bummer. Additionally, reloading the magazine was an awkward, clunky experience.

The simulator was fun. Lots of folks lined up at the booth to try it out. As a training exercise, though, its got its limitations. The mannequins dont shoot back, so shooting from cover like you would in a combat situation isnt required. Its also a solo experience with no chatter or background noise you might expect on an active firing range. Still, its definitely more interesting than watching one of the militarys notorious PowerPoint presentations.

Other virtual shoot houses at AUSA took virtual warfare to the next level. The Korean-based Optimus System placed would-be trainees in urban combat, where the enemy fired back. Hits were recorded via sensors on the trainees' helmets. Four-star Gen. Robert Abrams, who commands U.S. Forces Korea, donned the VR helmet, and shot well. So, too, did a pair of Columbian Army colonels, who afterwards mopped their brows and said, "It's very realistic."

Some users can be overwhelmed by the hyper-real experience, said an Israeli artist who is studying VR shoot-houses. "It disorients some people," the artist told the Washington Examiner.

But the Army is convinced these kinds of VR technologies are the future, and is putting them to use.

As for me, I will return to my comfortable existence as a weekend shooter, taking aim at clay pigeons and paper targets. And will call this, "mission accomplished."

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I went on a 'mission' to see if the Army's virtual reality training is the real deal - Washington Examiner

National Theatre predicts a future fused with virtual reality – CampaignLive

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When the National Theatre first launched its Immersive Storytelling Studio in 2016, the organisation set out to explore emerging virtual-reality technology and the role it can play within dramatic storytelling. Working with artists using emerging tech, NT developed new dramatic work and experiences. While brands such as Major League Baseball, Mastercard and American Express have produced gaming experiences utilising the tech, NT is showing how the immersive nature of VR aligns with fictional narratives.

Toby Coffey, head of digital development at NT, tellsCampaign: "Each industry will find out what's the best way to use it [VR] for them. We're really exploiting what it means as an opportunity for storytelling. Theatre is an immersive experience. It allows your audience to engage in a more in-depth way.

"It's definitely not just for gaming. It's definitely not just for performance. Its a new technology and everyone's trying to work out what it means to them. Ive noticed that theatre makers respond well to it, because they are used to an environment whereby the performer works in a 360 space and the audience can look wherever they want, any particular point in time."

Most recently, the Immersive Storytelling Studio drew inspiration from Small Island, which tells a story that journeys from Jamaica to Britain through the Second World War up to 1948. Developed with NT's partner for innovation Accenture, it created a VR experience to accompany the play. All Kinds of Limbo(pictured, above) is a musical exploration looking at the different genres of music in the BritishCaribbean community that can be watched in a 360-degree environment, where the audience has the option to watch the main performer from any angle. At NT, three performances took place each hour for a five-month summer run.

Previous projects include Draw Me Close, a co-production with the National Film Board of Canada. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, had a limited run at the Young Vic in January 2018 and will be on at the Soulpepper theatre in Toronto in June and July 2020. Draw Me Closeuses performance, VR and animation to immerse people in a memoir about the relationship between a mother and her son in the wake of her terminal cancer diagnosis. The audience is put in the position of the son and have moments of interaction with the mother something that Coffey thinks is distinctly special about this medium.

He adds: "I think the advantage is that the storyteller allows you to experience something in a way that would be more unique than experiencing it through a stage experience. The embodiment of you becoming a five-year-old child. People made an association of themselves being a child. When their mum tucked them into bed and walked away, people would be putting their arms out to reach for her."

As a message for brands going forward, NT believes the focus should be on quality and not viewing VR as an add-on.

"Theres been a strong element of VR being used as a marketing add-on at the moment and I think we've got to be really careful with audiences that we they don't think that's what this medium is for, but there is a life beyond that," Coffey continues. "It will be used as part of marketing as TV and radio and everything else, but it's got to be able to find its own feet at the same time."

And Coffey foresees an exciting future for performances, predicting the first wave of contact lenses versus heavy headsets for VR. He adds: "I think we'll be in a world with VR and mixed reality, where users can blend more seamlessly between them."

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National Theatre predicts a future fused with virtual reality - CampaignLive

Louisville parents can now step into their kid’s brain with this lifesaving technology – Courier Journal

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Surgical Theater is new technology that allows surgeons the ability to take a virtual tour inside patients brains Louisville Courier Journal

The goggles and hand controls look like a typical video game but this virtual reality system isn't a plaything.

It's Surgical Theater, the newest tool at Norton Children's Hospital used by pediatric neurosurgeons preparing for surgery.The high tech system helps doctorsbetter perform surgery andgives a young patient andtheir family a better way to understand their condition from the inside out.

Maybe another way to explain Surgical Theater is to think about the way pilots train to fly a new plane.

Theyspend hours on the ground in flight simulators perfectingboth routine and rarely-used skills so that when they are miles above the earth they are overly prepared.

Similarly, the immersive 3D visuals of the Surgical Theater technology allow surgeons to plan for brain surgeries and practice procedures before they set foot inthe operating room. In fact, the technology, which helps improve outcomes in the operating room, was created by an Israeli fighter pilot who understood the advantages of training in a simulator before taking flight.

Having this new technology really helps us with surgical planning and execution, and allows us to better educate patients and families about their treatment options,"said Dr. Ian S. Mutchnick, a neurosurgeon with Norton Childrens Neurosurgery.

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Screen grabs from the video of a tour of a human brain at Norton Children's Hospital utilizing their new Surgical Theater.(Photo: By Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal)

So how does it work?

Wearing virtual reality goggles,the same type worn by serious gamers,Dr. Thomas Moriarty, another pediatric neurosurgeon at Norton Children's Hospital, virtually steps inside his patients brain and travels anywhere he needs to go.

"This technology is so vastly different than what we had to work with when I was a medical student," said Moriarty. "State-of-the-art. Twenty years ago, it meant looking at black and white two-dimension scans on a couple of separate screens and half crossing your eyes to get an idea of what you were looking at."

Today when he works with medical students using SurgicalTheater, Moriarty can see in their faces when they "instantly get" what they are looking at.

"Using this tool isso much easier to understand that it used to be,"he said.

Norton Childrens Hospital is the first pediatric hospital in the region to offer this virtual reality medical imagining system. The technology wasmade possible through the Childrens Hospital Foundation with support from the community, WHAS Crusade for Children and Texas Roadhouse.

In the lab, 2D images from MRI, CAT and blood vessel scans are combinedto create the 360-degree, color virtual reality model of the skull.

Now bysimply turning their head, the surgeon can explore a patient's anatomy and plan everything from the craniotomy, the surgical opening into the skull, to a clear surgical path andtrajectory for the procedure. They can alsotake measurements, prepare for abnormalities and practice with different surgical tools so they know the best equipment to use for each individual case.

You may like: Growing up on a Kentucky dairy farm helped this 'Walking Dead' creator get gory and grim

Kirby Adams tries on the Surgical Theater goggles to take a tour of a brain with Surgical Theater technician Andrew Carlson at Norton Children's Hospital,(Photo: By Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal)

The cutting edge technology isn't just a benefit to the arsenal of brain surgeons at Norton Children's Hospital but it's proving to make brain surgery less frightening for patients and their families.

"We have the patient and their parents put on the goggles and we show them aroundthe brain," Mutchnick said."Using the VR headset and controller, we can guide a family through their childs brain, seeing the anatomy from all angles."

This "walk-in" view of a patient's brain isa valuable tool for a better understanding of their condition and treatment plan.

Kids dont stop to wonder about the joystick or the virtual reality headset, Dr. Mutchnick said. They just step up, take the controller and start looking around.

Norton Children's Hosptialexpects to use the one-of-a-kind view inside the headon more than 100 local patients a year. To learn more or to donate to Norton Children's Hospital, visitnortonchildrens.com/foundation/ways-to-help/.

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter@kirbylouisville. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:courier-journal.com/kirbya.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/wellness/health/2019/10/24/pediatric-neurosurgery-new-tech-gives-virtual-tour-childs-brain/2313007001/

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Louisville parents can now step into their kid's brain with this lifesaving technology - Courier Journal

CORRECTING and REPLACING AppliedVR Receives NIDA Grants to Study Virtual Reality as an Opioid-Sparing Tool for Pain – Business Wire

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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Headline of release should read: "...Grants" instead of "...Grant." Second paragraph, first sentence should include "Dr." before Beth Darnall's name.

The corrected release reads:

APPLIEDVR RECEIVES NIDA GRANTS TO STUDY VIRTUAL REALITY AS AN OPIOID-SPARING TOOL FOR PAIN

More than $2.9 million in funding will support clinical trials to study virtual reality platforms as a therapeutic alternative for acute and chronic pain

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

"We are grateful to NIDA for its confidence in our vision and ability to execute a novel opioid-sparing treatment option," said Dr. Beth Darnall, Chief Science Advisor to AppliedVR. "Novel opioid-sparing treatment options are necessary in addressing the opioid epidemic, and we plan to leverage these grants and our existing expertise to address this unmet need in pain management."

The grants are a result of AppliedVRs following applications, both of which were respectively awarded in September 2019.

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

About AppliedVR

AppliedVR is pioneering the next generation of digital medicines to deliver safe and effective virtual reality therapeutics (VRx) that address unmet needs and improve clinical outcomes for patients with serious health conditions. Its evidence-based, non-invasive treatments immerse and engage patients to help drive measurable clinical outcomes. As the most widely used and deeply researched therapeutic VR platform, AppliedVR is the first company to make VR therapeutics widely available in clinical care, having immersed more than 30,000 patients in over 200 hospitals. AppliedVR has established world-class research and commercial partnerships and continues to build the infrastructure to accelerate the mass adoption of VRx. To learn more about AppliedVR, Inc., visit: https://appliedvr.io/

About Geisinger

One of the nations most innovative health services organizations, Geisinger serves more than 1.5 million patients in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The system includes 13 hospital campuses, a nearly 600,000-member health plan, two research centers and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. A physician-led organization, with approximately 32,000 employees and more than 1,800 employed physicians, Geisinger leverages an estimated $12.7 billion positive annual impact on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey economies. Repeatedly recognized nationally for integration, quality and service, Geisinger has a long-standing commitment to patient care, medical education, research and community service. For more information, visit geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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CORRECTING and REPLACING AppliedVR Receives NIDA Grants to Study Virtual Reality as an Opioid-Sparing Tool for Pain - Business Wire

Virtual Reality Venue Coming To Bergen: Good Bergen News – Patch.com

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BERGEN COUNTY, NJ There is enough negative news out there. But there are also stories that focus on the betterment of people and have happy endings. We are focusing on those stories for this weekly roundup. (Click the headlines to read.)

PARAMUS, NJ Virtual reality is coming to Westfield Garden State Plaza. The Void, a developer of virtual reality entertainment centers, plans to open its first New Jersey location sometime... Read more

OAKLAND, NJ A cat is available for adoption after her owner fled from domestic violence.Arielle was surrendered to the Oakland-based Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge because her owner was not... Read more

PARAMUS, NJ When a retiring Bergen Community College communications professor went out for breakfast at a local diner in honor of her last day on the job, she didn't expect to wind on a hidden... Read more

FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ A high school football player in Franklin Lakes is one of several students from across the tri-state region being recognized for his moves on the field and off of it. Samuel... Read more

PARAMUS, NJ British Swim School, a franchised brand of swim schools founded in England nearly 40 years ago, has recently opened its first Bergen County locations, operating out of a hotel in Mahwah... Read more

PARAMUS, NJ A professional cheese carver hit some sharp notes over the weekend the Paramus... Read more

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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Virtual Reality Venue Coming To Bergen: Good Bergen News - Patch.com

Day 3: Will Lewis testifies in his own defense – FOX Carolina

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Greenville, SC (FOX Carolina) - On Wednesday, suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis told his side of the story when he testified in his defense.

The state called their final witness Wednesday morning and the defense began laying out their case after the lunch break.

Day 3 of the trial followed a day that included emotional testimony from Lewis' former assistant Savanah Nabors.

Nabors spent four hours on the stand Tuesday. During her testimony, Nabors outlined the alleged extra-marital affair Lewis is accused of using taxpayer funds to to pay for. She also described how Lewis allegedly assaulted her in her hotel room on that trip.

Lewis has maintained that their relationship was completely consensual.

Prosecutors called former Greenville County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Drew Pinciaro to the stand.

Pinciaro testified that before Lewis took office, the role of Savanah Nabors was mostly filled by sheriff Loftis' secretary Jackie Cooper. Pinciaro said that previously in his role as PIO, he, Ryan Flood, and Cooper took care of scheduling meetings for the sheriff, writing speeches.

Pinciaro said that he would describe the relationship between Savanah Nabors and Sheriff Lewis as that of a big brother and little sister. He went on to say while most employees under Lewis referred to him as sheriff, Nabors always addressed him as Will.

According to Pinciaro, he never noticed anything unusual until the day he said Nabors failed to show up for a fallen Spartanburg officer's funeral. Previously it had been agreed that she, Lewis, Flood and himself would attend the funeral together, but was told by Lewis she had left to go to Florida.

According to Pinciaro Lewis, Flood, and himself all attended the church service, but when they arrived for the graveside service for the officer, Lewis stayed in the car on the phone with Nabors.

Pinciaro went on to say he was told by Sheriff Lewis that Nabors had quit or was going to quit and that he told he and Ryan Flood, "If I was you, I wouldnt talk to her.

Pinciaro was also questioned about Nabors involvement at a crime scene and asked why should would be there. According to Pinciaro, he never saw Nabors predecessor at a crime scene and didn't know why she would be there.

The state called a SLED forensic investigator Lt. David Britt Dove, who specializes in mobile devices, to the stand. After establishing the investigator as an expert witness in his field, he testified that he performed an extraction on Sheriff Lewis' phone.

According to the investigator, the extraction reveals text messages, call logs, apps, and locations of the phone's user.

The witness confirmed that the messages between Nabors and Lewis presented in this trial did in fact come from Lewis' phone. He also went on to explain why phone calls between Nabors and Lewis did not appear in the extraction.

The final witness to take the stand in the state's case was Major Ty Miller. Miller was at the time, and still is, the highest ranking female deputy in the sheriff's office and on the GCSO command team.

Miller testified about the relationship between Lewis and Nabors saying their relationship was very giggly and fun, going on to say Nabors addressed the sheriff by his first name and said they seemed very comfortable together.

When questioned about the perceived favoritism towards Nabors, Miller said it caused some contention in the office that she got a new car and new phone when there wasn't money in the budget for some deputies to get new vehicles.

Around April 22, Miller said she received a message from Nabors stating she needed to talk to her. Miller met with Nabors, who told her that she and the sheriff had kissed and played her a recording she had made of Lewis talking about a possible trip to Reno in which they would stay together.

According to Miller, she couldn't understand a reason that Nabors would need to go to a sheriff's school training trip funded by taxpayer dollars, stating that there was no reason for her to be there.

At a later date, Miller says Sheriff Lewis admitted to her and Marcus Davenport that he'd had a sexual encounter with Nabors and was going to have a press conference to address it.

After Miller left the stand, the state played the press conference and rested their case.

The defense took over shortly before noon.

Attorney Rauch Wise entered a number of motions that the judge said he would consider during the lunch break.

The judge also advised Lewis of his rights, his right to testify and the protections offered under the Fifth Amendment.

Willis told the judge he intended to testify.

After the lunch break, the judge said he felt both indictments against Lewis contained very similar charges.

Solicitor Kevin Brackett argued however that the indictments were for different charges that go hand-in-hand, but they are not the same crimes.

The court agreed to that for time being.

Savanah Nabors' former boyfriend from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office was the first witness called by the defense.

Chad Ayers answered questions about his relationship with Nabors, which he admitted was kept hidden from the sheriff's department.

Ayers answered several questions about text messages exchanged between Nabors and himself.

Martine Helou, a former Greenville County Sheriff's Office employee was next up for the defense.

Helou testified that she was hired to help with community outreach and to create new programs from the sheriff's office.

During the cross-examination, Helou said she had expressed interest in working for Lewis while the suspended sheriff was campaigning. She was hired the month after Lewis won the election.

Helou said the left the sheriff's office in May 2019 after her position at the sheriff's office was eliminated.

Two more witnesses testified for the defense, a paralegal and an attorney at the law firm where both Nabors and Lewis worked previously, before Lewis took the stand.

Lewis's testimony began by outlining his military and law enforcement experience before he ran for office.

Lewis said Nabors was hired before he took office in accordance with the county pay scale for an administrative coordinator. During cross-examination, the solicitor questioned the salary range Lewis gave, but Savanah's initial salary was in the upper end of the salary range the solicitor provided.

Lewis said Nabors was actually his third choice for the position after a male candidate and a longtime paralegal who he had worked with previously did not take the offers.

Lewis wanted someone who could keep him on track, read his e-mails, and document closed-door meetings on his behalf. He said he was looking for someone flexible who could be on-call at all hours, and someone put together who could handle his calendar and schedule.

Lewis said he identified major needs for new vehicles, equipment, and radios when he took office. He said the normal annual increase in the sheriff's office budget was not enough to cover it, so he reached out to Councilman Joe Kernell for advice.

Lewis testified that he recalled it was Kernell who suggested they schedule a meeting out of town since they could not initially get their schedules to jive.

This suggestion led to the budget meeting in Charlotte.

Lewis rebutted some of Nabors' claims when he testified about the weekend gathering.

He admitted to taking a bottle of liquor on the trip.

Its not uncommon for us to take a bottle of wine or a bottle of liquor with us when we go out of town," Lewis said.

Lewis said the bottle would not fit in his suitcase, so he placed it on top of Nabors' zipped bag.

He admitted that after the first night's activities, he returned to Nabors' hotel room for a nightcap.

He said they began talking and then kissed, which Lewis said surprised him.

The kiss led to them both taking off each other's clothes and intimacy, but said nothing was done without Nabors' consent.

Lewis also denies that Nabors was unconscious during the sexual encounter.

Afterwards, he said, "A million things went through my head. I knew that I had violated my oath to my wife. I was very bothered that I had cheated on my wife."

He then claims he went back to his room, alone, and that was the end of the sexual contact between them on the trip.

Lewis said he and Nabors

had no problems personally or at work when they returned from Charlotte. He said their sexual encounter was talked about briefly, but more in the context of shame for Lewis.

He admitted that he continued to pursue Nabors, and referenced a conversation between them that was recorded.

I pursued on audio and it was evidently clear that I was just dumb for pursuing a relationship with a woman who was not my wife.

Lewis said he never cussed Nabors out or threatened her but claims they had "boyfriend-girlfriend squabbles, like back in high school.

Through Wise's questioning, Lewis maintained that he never improperly spent any company money.

When wise asked if Lewis ever spent any inappropriate money on Nabors, he replied, "No."

Lewis said that once news of his affair broke, a councilmancalled for audit of the sheriff's office's finances. Lewis said that audit yielded no findings of misuse of money.

During the cross-examination Lewis stated, "I would not have hired Savanah if I knew we would've had an affair."

Lewis denies that he once told deputies he and Nabors never had sex.

"My attorney at the time told me not deny having sex but that I could deny the rape and sexual assault."

Lewis said he only denied those allegations when he spoke to his staff. He maintained in his testimony that he still denied those allegations.

He did admit to asking Nabors, "What happens in Charlotte stays in Charlotte, right," because he did not want his wife to learn about the affair.

Recordings were played in which Lewis told Nabors he was not manipulating her but could if he wanted to.

Im completely capable of manipulating you, but I choose not to," Lewis said in the recording.

He maintained he was not manipulating Nabors, but was instead trying to "convince her" to go to a conference in Reno, NV with him "to continue an adulterous relationship."

Shortly before 6 p.m. the judge announced that he would dismiss the jury for the day and the solicitor's cross-examination will resume at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.

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Day 3: Will Lewis testifies in his own defense - FOX Carolina

SCOTUS to Review Appeals of Credible-Fear Denials – Immigration Blog

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The Supreme Courtlast week agreed to review the Ninth Circuit's decision in Thuraissigiam v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec.I wrote about the case in a March post captioned "Ninth Circuit Rules Expedited Removal Review Violates the Constitution: Expect more appeals, fewer negative credible fear findings, and more entries". The Supreme Court's ultimate decision, regardless of how it rules, will have significant ramifications for the administration's attempts to expand expedited removal.

The alien in that case, a Sri Lankan national, entered the United States illegally on February 17, 2017, and was arrested by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer 25 yards north of the border. He was placed in expedited removal proceedings, and referred for a credible fear interview with an asylum officer after he claimed a fear of persecution. His credible fear claim was denied, and he requested a review of that decision by the immigration court. The immigration judge subsequently affirmed the asylum officer's negative credible fear determination.

Thuraissigiam then filed a petition for habeas corpus with the district court, which was dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction in accordance with the statute governing judicial review of expedited removal orders, section 242(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) . The district court also rejected his constitutional claims under the suspension clause, discussed below.

The alien's petition for review to the circuit court asserted that the credible fear screening he was provided by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deprived him "of a meaningful right to apply for asylum" and protection under article 3 of the Convention against Torture (CAT). He also asserted that the asylum officer and immigration judge violated his due process rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

Specifically, the alien alleged that the asylum officer had "failed to 'elicit all relevant and useful information bearing on whether [he had] a credible fear of persecution or torture.'" He also alleged that there were "communication problems" between him, the asylum officer, and the translator, as well as similar issues during the credible fear review hearing before the immigration court. Finally, Thuraissigiam claimed that he did not know whether the information he had given to the asylum officer and immigration judge "would be shared with the Sri Lankan government."

The statute governing judicial review in expedited removal proceedings strictly limits the scope of the questions the Article III court can consider and the relief it can grant. In particular, it allows review in habeas corpus proceedings, but this review is limited to determining whether the petitioner for habeas corpus is an alien, whether the petitioner was removed under the expedited removal provisions of the INA, and whether the petitioner could "prove by a preponderance of the evidence that [he or she] is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence", a refugee, or an asylee.

The circuit court concluded that this statute violated the Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution. That clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 of the Constitution states: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." The circuit court described the procedural protections in the judicial review provisions governing expedited removal cases as "meager", and found that that this was "compounded by the fact that" the review provision "prevents any judicial review of whether DHS complied with the procedures in an individual case, or applied the correct legal standards."

It should be noted that Congress went to great pains to limit the availability of judicial review of expedited removal determinations, consistent with the "expedited" nature of those proceedings. Simply put, Congress expected that aliens who entered the United States illegally would be quickly returned (with extremely limited exceptions), not that their cases would linger in the courts for years.

It is not a surprise that the Supreme Court agreed to hear this case for a number of reasons (including the clear restriction on the review authority of Article III courts from expedited removal proceedings set forth in the relevant statute), but perhaps the most significant is the fact that Thuraissigiam created a "circuit-split", that is, a disagreement with a decision in a different circuit, a fact I alluded to in my March 2019 post.

Specifically, in finding that the suspension clause was violated by the review procedures Congress had allowed in expedited-removal cases, the Ninth Circuit explicitly rejected the analysis of the Third Circuit in Castro v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., which I described in significant detail in an April 2017 post.

The Third Circuit there held that 28 different petitioners could not invoke the Constitution because each was apprehended shortly after entry, and therefore deemed an alien seeking initial admission to the United States, limiting their constitutional rights. In April 2017, the Supreme Court rejected a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the petitioners in that case.

Thuraissigiam has not yet been set for argument. The Court's decision, however, will have significant ramifications with respect to the appeals rights of aliens in expedited removal proceedings.

This is especially true if the September 27, 2019, injunction issued by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District for the District of Columbia is stayed or dissolved. That injunction blocked an attempt by DHS to expand expedited removal under section 235(b) of the INA to any alien who is apprehended after entering the United States without admission or parole and who has not been physically present in the United States for two years, in accordance with authority provided by Congress under section 235(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II) of the INA.

Should the Supreme Court find that the judicial review limitations in section 242(e) of the INA satisfy the constitutional rights of an alien like Thuraissigiam, who was apprehended shortly after he entered the United States, the question will then be whether they also satisfy the constitutional rights of an alien who has been in the United States for just less than two years. It is doubtful that the Court will directly answer this question even if it reverses the Ninth Circuit (and Judge Jackson's injunction is no longer in effect), but it will likely provide clues as to its ultimate conclusions on the issue.

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SCOTUS to Review Appeals of Credible-Fear Denials - Immigration Blog