Monthly Archives: March 2021

In a year that forced changes in nearly all of accounting firms day-to-day operations, hiring and onboarding processes were among the most impacted. The usually personal and hands-on experience of finding, engaging and acclimating new talent was transformed into a virtual one nearly overnight, and as they did with so many other things, firms had to adapt on the fly.

Even in normal times, firms of all sizes often have an urgent need to bring aboard fresh talent, and while the COVID-19 pandemic drastically complicates matters, firms are still seeking out job candidates.

We are now seeing activity pick up in many areas and have seen demand for accounting professionals relatively consistently even with the uncertainty of the pandemic, said Michael Steinitz, senior executive director of accounting staffing agency Accountemps. Many companies were able to quickly and almost seamlessly move operations to remote and keep their accounting and finance teams and functions operating efficiently.

In some ways, the move to remote work may actually have boosted firms abilities to reach candidates.

When the employer stops caring where the staff works, and begins to hire remote, our clients see large upticks in resumes for those remote positions about eight times more than for location-specific jobs, said Jeff Phillips, co-founder and CEO of recruiting platform Accountingfly.

So many of our clients started hiring fully remote, continued Phillips, who is also CEO of accounting and business consulting services provider Padgett Business Services. Firms that opened up to fully remote work like this had an easier time hiring they were talking to a larger amount of high-quality applicants and filling open roles faster.

For some firms, traditional recruiting methods were still able to work to their advantage.

LinkedIn provided most of our candidates last year, said Sarah Taylor, recruiting director at Austin, Texas- based Maxwell Locke & Ritter, which ranked No. 2 among midsized firms onAccounting Todays 2020 list of the Best Firms to Work For. Forty-one percent of our total hires came from LinkedIns sponsored job postings and/or the LinkedIn Recruiter platform. After LinkedIn, our internship program was our next significant source for new hires in 2020. We hired five interns for full-time roles, which is very unusual for our firms experienced-hire model. Prior to this year, we had only transitioned a handful of interns to full-time staff immediately after graduation.

Believe it or not, campus recruiting still brought in candidates for some firms last year albeit there, too, the effort was much more digital.

Our recruiting teams had to work extra hard to be more resourceful in how they worked with potential candidates, said Katrina Thompson, managing director of human resources at Top 20 Firm Dixon Hughes Goodman. On the campus recruiting side, we pivoted our efforts to be completely virtual. We actually experienced higher conversion rates of our summer 2020 interns, and we think that was largely due to how we were able to successfully pivot.

We embraced the virtual world, hosting virtual career fairs and events, and utilized innovative platforms to reach candidates, Thompson continued. These tactics have been effective for both our campus efforts and experienced hire efforts.

Welcome aboard (kind of)

Once that new hire has been found, a whole new challenge emerges in introducing and acclimating them to a team that may be spread out over a city, state, or even the whole country. As the vast majority of firms spent 2020 in a work-from-home capacity, how did firm leaders reach out and successfully welcome new employees into the fold?

One of the biggest challenges we faced across campus and experienced-hire onboarding was how to make new hires feel connected and engaged with the firm and their new colleagues, said Thompson. We were able to integrate a mix of games, questions and open discussion to create the level of connection and engagement we were used to in-person.

Remote staff can feel isolated, and starting new hires remotely can miss a lot of the socialization that normally occurs, added Phillips. We recommend having existing staff reach out to new hires before they start to welcome them to the team hosting welcome meetings over Zoom to introduce the new hire to the team, and assigning a mentor/buddy to make sure the new hire knows the team and gets what they need.

It may come as no surprise that the practices that found themselves well-prepared for 2020 are those that had embraced a more tech-forward approach prior to the pandemic.

We achieved our goal of providing an experience similar to our in-person onboarding experience for new hires with only minor changes, said Taylor. Prior to the pandemic, we transitioned to virtual onboarding sessions for our general firm orientation, so we were well-positioned to continue with virtual experienced-hire onboarding. Our technology team quickly pivoted to provide equipment at home and assist with virtual setups. For our campus hires, we created smaller cohorts, so they were all able to feel connected to one another.

The virtual environment [further] prompted us to upgrade our onboarding experience, she added. We recorded our training sessions and now have an online training library which gives new hires a resource to refer to as they transition to our team.

Being ahead of the game is ideal, but even if firms have to play catch-up in terms of virtual hiring and onboarding, it might not be as difficult or time-consuming as they may think.

Its been incredible how quickly organizations have shifted strategies to account for remote hiring and onboarding, said Accountemps Steinitz. Weve seen companies adapt quickly to create playbooks and onboard new hires virtually, and its been very successful.

PhonlamaiPhoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Casting a wider net

Firms will also have to reckon with the idea of what a post-pandemic business could and should be. Having had a taste of remote work, some staff may find they like their new work situations better.

Phillips cited a survey by online job platform LiveCareer that found 29 percent of working professionals would quit their jobs if they couldnt continue to work remotely.

Its my opinion that even after we fully recover, high-performing staff will demand to spend more, or all, of their time working from home, said Phillips. This change could be a challenge for CPA firms looking to return everyone with the office.

Hire virtual staff anywhere [across the country] for permanent and seasonal positions, Phillips advised. You will cut your time and cost to fill critical roles in half.

And despite a wounded economy and troubling employment numbers, hiring is indeed marching on. Steinitz pointed to a recent Robert Half survey of more than 4,000 managers that found that 51 percent of companies still plan to expand their teams in 2021, adding that how [firms] work may be different, but the volume of work continues.

Companies that were previously averse to offering flexibility and remote work for employees will now be open to it permanently, said Steinitz. This will be an expectation of workers moving forward, and businesses have shifted mindsets. Organizations are increasingly adopting a remote-first approach, and theyre realizing the value of recruiting outside their city.

Employers who accelerate the hiring process by having fewer rounds of interviews or fewer interviewers, for example put themselves ahead of the competition, Steinitz added. Research compensation trends regularly and be prepared to come to the table with a competitive offer, and increase your odds of attracting top talent by offering fully remote job opportunities and expanding your candidate search geographically.

Whats next?

While the last year and a half has brought much undeniable hardship, there has been some silver lining in embracing new ways of hiring, including expanded ideas about how firms can hire, who they hire, and where they can hire.

After the pandemic forced us to shift all interviews to the virtual setting, our team discovered that we can hire fantastic people without meeting them in person, and the virtual interview experience is just as positive, engaging and fun as it is in the office, said Taylor. As a firm that engages with significant out-of-area candidates, shifting to virtual interviews has been extremely beneficial; we have improved the candidate experience and made our recruitment processes more time- and cost-efficient.

I am 100 percent sure things will permanently change post-pandemic, said Thompson. The biggest happy accident of this entire pandemic was observing how resilient and resourceful people are. From a recruiting perspective, we learned how much we could do virtually that we previously did not think was possible; it actually removed some barriers and allowed us to be more places and reach more students. I do believe these will be permanent, and positive, changes.

As a profession, we have been talking about the future of work for a while, added Thompson. That future arrived sooner than we expected, due in part to technology advances and the intentionality we had to have with leading people and connecting.

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Staffing: The new virtual reality - Accounting Today

Wed, 03/03/2021 - 11:07am | By: Karelia Pitts

Faculty in The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Education have been teaching future educators for more than 100 years, but never before have they been afforded virtual reality technology to enhance learning and practicum experiences.

With support from the Governors Emergency Education Response (GEER) Fund program through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Education Stabilization Fund, Southern Miss students are gaining valuable, hands-on teaching experiences in a virtual classroom for the first time.

Having access to a virtual learning environment gives our teaching candidates an opportunity to work with the latest in simulation technology while providing them with a safe environment to practice skills which are needed in both traditional and online classrooms, said Dr. Noal Cochran, interim director and teaching professor of educational administration in the School of Education and associate dean for educator preparation in the College of Education and Human Sciences. We look forward to this innovative partnership and the many opportunities it will offer our students.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education awarded GEER funding to the nations governors to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on students and parents across America. Mississippi received an allocation of $34.6 million for proposals designed to prevent, prepare for and respond to the novel coronavirus.

After watching upperclassmen education majors at USM struggle to complete their practicum experiences due to the pandemic, Drs. Audra Classen, Hollie Filce and Anne Sylvest composed a grant proposal for the GEER Fund program. Their innovative educational solution was awarded $115,736 and will transform the practicum experiences of hundreds of undergraduate teacher candidates at USM in the spring and fall 2021 terms.

Through a partnership with the AVATAR Lab at Kennesaw State University (KSU), the Golden Eagles Teaching in Virtual Reality (GET-VR) program utilizes state-of-the-art technology to create an immersive, mixed-reality environment for students to practice and master their skills. Funds are being used to implement training scenarios and VR simulations focused on high-leverage teaching practices. Southern Miss students are among the first in the nation to participate in these simulations developed by KSU and the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR) Center at the University of Florida.

During a typical year, I oversee practicum experiences and teacher candidacy for approximately 400 undergraduates at USM. In 2020, many of these students had dramatically less time in field placements for their practicum courses due to obstacles resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, said Dr. Anne Sylvest, director of educational field experiences at USM. Concurrently, enrollment in practicum courses has increased, pushing the limits of what our faculty can reasonably manage. Our goal for GET-VR is to help offset the impact of COVID on our intermediate and senior block students practicum experiences by providing targeted training and practice in a virtual environment.

The AVATAR Lab delivers customized training scenarios that present professional challenges graduates will encounter on the job. Simulations focus on collaborating with families to support student learning and secure needed services, using student assessment data to analyze instructional practices and make necessary adjustments that improve student outcomes, using explicit instruction and strategies to promote active student engagement, and establishing consistent, organized and respectful classroom environments. The avatars are programmed to interact as second grade through high school students with a range of abilities and personalities, including an advanced student, an introvert, a rule-follower and a class clown.

While nothing can replace live interactions with students in our local educational settings, the coronavirus has forced K-12 schools to dramatically change their operational procedures, severely limiting opportunities for our teacher candidates. GET-VR will aid these students in gaining a deeper understanding of high-leverage practices critical to their ultimate success as teachers, said Dr. Hollie Filce, professor and coordinator of special education programs. This technology offers a safe space for our teacher candidates to practice teaching and receive feedback, so they learn from their mistakes and grow more confident managing their own classrooms in the future.

Southern Miss students are excited about the possibilities this new technology offers, including special education major Amber Taylor from Ocean Springs, Miss.

Im extremely grateful that our professors at USM saw our need, developed a plan and secured the best technology available so our student body can excel, said Taylor. They say 10 minutes of virtual reality teaching is like 45 minutes of teaching in-person because so many experiences are strategically packed into each session. I feel very blessed to be in this program because we have everything we need to succeed.

For more information about the College of Education and Human Sciences, visit http://www.usm.edu/education-human-sciences. To learn more about the School of Education, visit http://www.usm.edu/education.

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USM Offers Education Majors Virtual Reality Teaching Experience - Southern Miss Now

AUSTIN, Texas, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtuix, developer of Omni One, an omni-directional treadmill for the home that lets players walk and run inside popular games and virtual worlds, has announced that its campaign on SeedInvest, an equity crowdfunding platform, has surpassed $11Min funding from more than 4,000 investors, breaking records for the fastest uptake in the platform's history. Virtuix's campaign to back Omni One aims to raise $15Mand ends Friday, April 2, 2021.

Austin-based Virtuix is seeking to take home entertainment to the next level with the launch of Omni One, a consumer version of its "Omni" technology that fits tastefully in a living room or elsewhere in the home. Omni One's 360-degree experience enables players to walk or run in any direction inside their favorite videogames, delivering the immersive feeling of physically moving in VR.

"We're both thrilled and humbled by this outpouring of investor support for Omni One," said Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix. "Given that many of our new investors are also eager customers who plan to buy Omni One for their homes, our success on SeedInvest signals strong market demand for Omni One."

SeedInvest is the premier platform for fundraising campaigns under SEC Regulation A ("Reg A"), which allows qualified private companies to sell shares to the public. Virtuix's Reg A campaign allows anyone to invest in Virtuix and receive shares in the company. The minimum investment is only $1,000. As an investor perk, Reg A investors will receive a 20% discount (worth $400) when buying Omni One.

"Omni One is like no other gaming system," Goetgeluk added. "It's a breakthrough in omni-directional treadmill technology. The system is light, it's compact at only four feet in diameter, and it's easy to fold up and store. Best of all, it gives players unmatched freedom of movement, including crouching, kneeling, and jumping."

Omni One will feature its own game store with 30 titles at launch, including Call of Duty and Fortnite-style games developed by Virtuix, alongside top titles licensed from third parties.

For the complete Omni One entertainment system, which includes an all-in-one VR headset and operating software for a seamless user experience, Virtuix plans to charge $1,995 (or $55 a month on a monthly payment plan). This pricing puts Omni One in line with mid-tier gaming PCs or connected fitness gear like a Peloton bike.

For $995, Virtuix will offer a "dev kit" package that comes without a VR headset. The dev kit option allows developers and VR hobbyists to pair Omni One with their own PCs and headsets for development or to play PC-based VR games.

Backed by Mark Cuban and other major investors, Virtuix raised over $30Min seed and Series A funding and has shipped over $10Mworth of commercial Omni systems to entertainment venues in 45 countries, including top locations like Dave & Buster's. Virtuix's content platform, Omniverse, has hosted more than two million plays.

Sign up to invest in Omni One's SeedInvest campaign and qualify for an investor discount of 20% (worth $400) here: http://invest.virtuix.com. To see Omni One in action, check out Virtuix's latest demo video here: https://youtu.be/aOYHg8qdxTE.

ABOUT VIRTUIX:

Virtuix Inc., founded in April 2013 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, is the developer of "Omni" - the first omni-directional treadmill that enables 360-degree movement in virtual environments. Virtuix's Omni product line currently consists of Omni Pro, a commercial version, and Omni Arena, a multiplayer attraction comprising four Omni Pro units. Virtuix has shipped nearly 4,000 Omni Pro systems to more than 500 commercial entertainment venues around the world, making Omni Pro the most widely distributed VR hardware apart from headsets. Omni Pro runs on Omniverse, Virtuix's proprietary content platform that offers 24 VR games and built-in esports competitions. Virtuix, a private company, has raised more than $30 million from individual and institutional investors. Virtuix is launching Omni One, a consumer version of the Omni for the home market, in 2021. For more information, visit https://invest.virtuix.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jan GoetgelukCEO, Virtuix[emailprotected]

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omni-one-prototype.jpg Omni One prototype A player walks around inside virtual reality using the Omni One treadmill

omni-one-at-home.jpg Omni One at home An artist rendering of the Omni One entertainment system at home

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'Omni One' Virtual Reality Treadmill Raises Over $11M From More Than 4,000 Investors - PRNewswire

For years, Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Lalibert received countless proposals for virtual reality technologies, but they couldnt match the magic of his intensely visual and mesmerizing live performances. Now, with a new platform provided by Microsoft, hes rethinking that.

On Tuesday, he appeared at Microsofts Ignite digital conference via holoportation, which uses 3D capture technology to beam a lifelike image of a person into a virtual scene. In the companys first keynote experience designed entirely for mixed reality, people attending the conference from living rooms and home offices around the world could experience the show as avatars watching events unfold in a shared holographic world.

It was the companys first opportunity to showcase some of the experiences made possible by Microsoft Mesh, a new mixed-reality platform powered by Azure that allows people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences on many kinds of devices.

This has been the dream for mixed reality, the idea from the very beginning, said Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman. You can actually feel like youre in the same place with someone sharing content or you can teleport from different mixed reality devices and be present with people even when youre not physically together.

Kipman appeared on the Ignite virtual stage as a fully realized holoportation of himself, narrating the shows opening experience in real time as rays of light that simulated his physical body.

James Cameron, the filmmaker and ocean explorer, and John Hanke, CEO and founder of leading augmented reality company Niantic, Inc., also joined Kipman remotely to spotlight how Microsoft Mesh is helping them create shared experiences across the virtual and physical worlds.

Lalibert chatted with Kipman about a new collaboration to help Lune Rouge, another company Lalibert founded, realize a project called Hanai World. Its a social mixed reality platform that hes thought about for years which would connect live and digital entertainment experiences into single events but only now have technologies like Microsoft Mesh caught up with that vision.

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Microsoft Mesh will also enable geographically distributed teams to have more collaborative meetings, conduct virtual design sessions, assist others, learn together and host virtual social meetups. People will initially be able to express themselves as avatars in these shared virtual experiences and over time use holoportation to project themselves as their most lifelike, photorealistic selves, the company said.

The new platform is the result of years of Microsoft research and development in areas ranging from hand and eye tracking and HoloLens development to creating persistent holograms and artificial intelligence models that can create expressive avatars.

Built on Azure, Microsofts cloud computing platform, Microsoft Mesh also benefits from Azures enterprise-grade security and privacy features, as well as its vast computational resources, data, AI and mixed reality services.

More and more we are building value in our intelligent cloud, which is Azure, Kipman said. In these collaborative experiences, the content is not inside my device or inside my application. The holographic content is in the cloud, and I just need the special lenses that allow me to see it.

With Microsoft Mesh-enabled applications, designers or engineers who work with 3D physical models anything from bicycles to high-end furniture to jet engines to new sports stadiums could appear as themselves in a shared virtual space to collaborate and iterate on holographic models, regardless of their physical location.

Architects and engineers could physically walk through a holographic model of a factory floor under construction, seeing how all the pieces of equipment fit together in three dimensions, potentially avoiding costly mistakes.

Engineering or medical students learning about electric car engines or human anatomy could gather as avatars around a holographic model and remove parts of the engine or peel back muscles to see whats underneath. Colleagues could simply get together and chat in a shared virtual space, or companies could use Microsoft Mesh-enabled apps to offer virtual all-hands meetings or trainings to employees around the world.

The Microsoft Mesh platform will in coming months offer developers a full suite of AI-powered tools for avatars, session management, spatial rendering, synchronization across multiple users and holoportation to build collaborative solutions in mixed reality, the company said.

Though users will have the richest experiences in mixed or virtual reality, Microsoft Meshs open standards will give developers the freedom to build solutions that will work across many different devices: HoloLens 2, a range of virtual reality headsets, smartphones, tablets and PCs.

At Ignite, Microsoft announced two apps built on the Microsoft Mesh platform.

Those include a preview of the Microsoft Mesh app for HoloLens, which allows team members to remotely collaborate and is available for download. Customers can also request access to a new version of Mesh-enabled AltspaceVR, which will allow companies to hold meetings and work gatherings in virtual reality with enterprise-grade security features including secure sign-ins, session management and privacy compliance.

Over time, the company said it expects customers will be able to choose from a growing set of Microsoft Mesh-enabled applications built by external developers and partners, and also to benefit from planned integration with Microsoft products such as Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365.

This is why weve been so passionate about mixed reality as the next big medium for collaborative computing, Kipman said. Its magical when two people see the same hologram.

On board OceanXplorer, one of the most advanced research and deep sea exploration vessels ever built, theres only so much room to host all the scientists clamoring to learn from new data constantly collected by instruments and cameras on its deep sea vehicles that can probe everything from coral reefs and brine pools to sea life around deep hydrothermal vents and minerals around underwater volcanoes.

At Ignite, OceanX, a nonprofit that merges cutting edge science with compelling storytelling and product and technology experiences to support ocean education and awareness, announced a new collaboration with Microsoft to create a Mesh-enabled holographic laboratory on the ship that scientists could gather in either in person or virtually from labs and offices around the world to see 3D holograms of the areas the vehicles are exploring.

Researchers trying to figure out why sperm whales hunt in certain areas, for instance, might see a holographic representation of a deep sea canyon with data collected from tags put on the whales, overlaid with information about salinity, temperature and ocean chemistry changes and integrated with data from fish finders showing where squid and other prey might be.

The idea is to take all this amazing scientific data were collecting and bring it into a holographic setting and use it as a way to guide scientific missions in real time, said Vincent Pieribone, vice chairman of OceanX.

The goal is to allow any researcher with a HoloLens 2 or other compatible device, using Microsoft Mesh, to appear around a table as an avatar and point to a particular area on the holographic seafloor that they might have a question about and converse in real time with other scientists about what they are seeing.

On OceanXs research missions, there are often groups of people huddled around video feeds, posing questions and having sidebar conversations with their colleagues. Researchers who arent on the boat, even if theyre watching the same footage on a screen in their office, dont always benefit from those interactions, Pieribone said.

Theres a social component to this thats essential, he said. We want to bring everyone into the same room so they can bounce things off of each other and have that human connection.

To expand on an entirely different kind of exploration, Niantic demonstrated at Ignite a proof-of-concept Pokmon GO demo experience that runs on HoloLens 2. It was designed to showcase the vision for a new collaboration that will build on Microsofts and Niantics mixed and augmented reality capabilities.

In the demonstration, which does not represent a consumer product, Hanke and a bevy of Pokmon at his favorite park were joined by Veronica Saron, product marketing manager for Pokmon GO, to battle in a shared mixed-reality session.

Niantics mission is to create technologies that allow people to socialize and explore the world together, Hanke said, whether thats kids using Pokmon GO to explore their neighborhoods with parents or friends, or thousands of people gathering at parks for festivals.

Microsoft Mesh offers a whole new way of doing that, he said. This notion of bringing my virtual friends along with me as I go out and walk and explore the world I just love that concept and Im really interested to see what we can do with that.

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You can actually feel like you're in the same place: Microsoft Mesh powers shared experiences in mixed reality | Innovation Stories - Microsoft

Microsoft on Tuesday announced Mesh, a service to build apps for people to collaborate in augmented reality.

Augmented reality (AR) shows computer-generated images superimposed over the real world, and nearly all the major tech players are working on the technology as they strive to create the next computing platform that will replace the smartphone. However, AR headsets today are often clunky and expensive -- Microsoft's HoloLens starts at $3,500 -- and so far they've mainly been used in industrial applications. Apple and Facebook are reportedly building their own AR headsets or glasses for release over the next couple of years, which could help validate the market for consumers and create a sort of AR gold rush.

With Mesh, Microsoft wants to ensure that people who don't have AR systems can participate in virtual gatherings with those who do. The goal is to enable people to join Mesh-enabled meetings on any device, such as a PC, a tablet or a smartphone. It will also work with virtual reality (VR) headsets -- a slightly different class of device that immerse people in a computer-generated world but block out the physical environment, and are generally cheaper and more common than AR headsets. For example, HP sells a VR device that works with Windows, the Reverb G2, for $600.

To illustrate what Mesh can do, Microsoft built a sample app that runs on the HoloLens.

After putting on a HoloLens and opening the app, a person can design an avatar to represent themselves and join a meeting with other people, whose avatars appear like holograms. People's heads, bodies and hands can all move thanks to the information the headsets capture, and it's possible to talk with everyone, similar to a video call. Additionally, users can import, display and manipulate ready-made and custom three-dimensional holograms. Three-dimensional drawing tools are available, too.

To demonstrate the technology more broadly, the company is coming out with a Mesh-enabled version of AltspaceVR, a VR meeting app. Customers can request to download the app. Microsoft acquired AltspaceVR in 2017 for undisclosed terms.

Over time, Microsoft plans to incorporate Mesh into its own applications, such as the Teams collaboration app that has become more widely used during the Covid pandemic as a way for co-workers to meet without being in the office.

Mesh will be an Azure service and associated software development kit. Select customers can start testing the Mesh cloud service now in preview before it becomes more widely available. Microsoft has not disclosed how much it will cost to use the service. Azure is a public cloud service for hosting applications.

Microsoft derives less than 5% of its revenue from devices, while one analyst estimates that Azure represents 17% of revenue. Azure revenue grew 50% year over year in the fourth quarter, while devices revenue increased less than 4%.

WATCH: Here's how Microsoft's augmented reality headset will make Army soldiers deadlier

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Microsoft shows off its vision for future meetings, with your colleagues as holograms floating in space - CNBC

VR-DT (Virtual Reality Decisions and Tactics)

InVeris Training Solutions

The VR-DT (Virtual Reality Decisions and Tactics), or "Verdict," fromInVeris Training Solutions uses the latest fully immersive VR technology for training de-escalation of force in a wide variety of critical, real-world situations. The VR-DT enables law enforcement agencies, as well as private and military security forces, to maximize readiness and correctly educate students for field experiences. The system combines state-of-the-art hardware, scalable software and a content library that is always increasing. A variety of officer weapons and equipment can be accommodated, including simulated pistols, rifles, shotguns, batons, TASERs, OC sprays and flashlights. The adjustable and modular system works anywhere, from one to two-person sessions.

Utilizing the latest wireless, high-definition headsets with impressive 360-degree fields of view and weapons tracking, officers train in fully immersive environments that put them in the action. The ability to perform a traffic stop or intervene in a domestic altercation from two perspectives, create distance and angles between students and move to cover are all enhanced with the VR-DT. A lightweight, fully customized laptop allows the instructor to influence the scenarios, environments and weapons.

Depending on the trainees actions, the instructor can branch the scenarios to escalate or de-escalate the situation, then review their decision-making skills to ensure proper tactics are used from any angle during after-action review. These virtual environments and ambient features increase the students psychological immersion and focus when dealing with the situation at hand. By increasing the immersions, the trainees mental recall is heightened, thus enhancing their overall training experience.

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VR-DT (Virtual Reality Decisions and Tactics) From: InVeris Training Solutions Virtual and Live Fire Weapons Training Systems - Officer

There's a scene in the 2014 movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service" where one of the characters walks into a conference room and sits at a table with another character for a meeting. Both pick up a pair of glasses, and as they put them on, we see a half dozen or so other participants appearing around the table as life-like holograms.

It's obviously a spy movie, with all of the high-tech, science fiction gadgets that come with the genre, so we're fine with the fact that it's not real.

If it was up to Microsoft, however, it might become reality a lot sooner than we think. Well, a virtual reality, at least.

On Tuesday, at the company's annual Ignite Developer Conference, Microsoft gave the world a look at its plans for the future of virtual reality by way of what the company calls Microsoft Mesh a set of tools for collaborating within mixed and augmented reality experiences that it's building on top of Azure, the company's cloud computing platform. The company said it has plans to roll out Mesh-powered features on Microsoft Teams, its Slack equivalent, in the not-so-distant future.

It's ambitious, to say the least.

In addition to building VR capabilities of its own, it wants to be the platform that allows users to connect across devices and platforms.

Microsoft has HoloLens and Facebook has Oculus, but people using those different devices don't really have a way to interact with each other. As other manufacturers like Apple or Samsung, for example work on bringing additional products to the market, the technology will only become more siloed.

Imagine if you logged onto a video conference on a Dell laptop and could only communicate with people who were also using Dell. Or imagine you could only send text messages to people who were also using a device running iOS. No one would buy those products because we accept it as a given that all laptops that connect to the internet can communicate and all smartphones can send and receive messages with each other.

Microsoft's goal is to bring the same time of cross-platform collaboration that you can currently have with those devices to VR and AR hardware and software.

It isn't hard to imagine a future version of Microsoft Teams that includes the ability to launch VR meetings with your team or invite customers to a virtual space to give a sales presentation.

Microsoft has a built-in audience of both business and consumer customers that it can leverage as it builds out its own capabilities.

Over the past year, Microsoft says it passed over 115 million users for Teams, and even before the pandemic, the company reported it had more than 200 million corporate users of its Office 365 productivity suite.

If anything, Microsoft has proven it has remarkable stickiness when it comes to converting its existing customers into users of new software.

More importantly, however, is that Mesh will allow developers to take a VR app or service they've already built and make it possible to use it to collaborate. A big part of this effort is that Microsoft is building the APIs and frameworks necessary for that to work. There's a difference between developing for a small, niche product market that very few people are using and developing something that ties into a platform built by Microsoft.

Even as people return to the office, some version of remote work is most definitely here to stay, with major companies like Spotify leaning into the "work from anywhere" mentality.

If anything, the last year has proven that there are a lot of jobs that we thought were best done sitting in a corporate office but make just as much sense to do from wherever.

There are also very real advantages to continuing to incorporate remote work, not the least of which is the ability to attract top talent without having to relocate them.

Of course, there are barriers to collaborating when you can't be together physically. While video meetings have replaced in-person meetings in a lot of situations, there are times when the format limits the amount of interaction you're able to have or things you can accomplish.

Sometimes it helps to be able to collaborate in ways that go beyond sharing documents. For example, if you're working on a team that builds complex parts or products, being able to meet and interact with a virtual model is a lot different than just talking about it over a phone call or video meeting.

Even giving a team presentation is different in a video meeting. One person talks while sharing a slide presentation on a screen, while everyone else becomes a small box on the side. If you have more than a handful of participants, you can't even see everyone.

One of the most striking things about the technology is that not only will it allow people in different locations to interact together with virtual spaces and objects but to also see holographic representations of the other participants as they do. That can make a big difference in terms of the overall experience imagine being able to get your entire team together in a virtual space and interact as though you were all together in person.

Right now, VR allows you to appear as a sort of cartoon avatar version of yourself. In the future, Microsoft says that people could scan their entire bodies, appearing as a realistic hologram in a variety of different applications, including everything from games to meetings to productivity tools.

You might think of it as Zoom 2.0. In some ways, that's an apt way of looking at it.

If Zoom and software like it was the thing that brought much of the world together as we all suddenly had to find ways to stay connected without being together, Microsoft thinks Mesh could be the way to expand and enrich those experiences beyond staring at boxes on a laptop screen.

It just might work.

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Microsoft thinks you'll want to attend meetings in the future as a hologram. It might be right. - Business Insider

Eric Webb|Austin 360

Can't party in person this year for South by Southwest, but this might be the next best thing. The festival on Tuesday revealed an XR world for the 2021 online event and they've recreated downtown Austin landmarks from Congress Avenue to Red River Streetin virtual reality.

The term XR, also known as extended reality, covers virtual reality, augmented realityand mixed reality.SXSW, which hasincreasingly venturedinto that space, this year worked with artists and the studio VRrOOm to recreate venues like the Paramount Theatre, the Contemporary Austin, Mohawk, Empire Control Room & Garageand Cedar Street Courtyard as virtual spaces. Inside them, fest attendees will be able to see somelive panels; go to meet-ups and special events; and watchvirtual cinema programming and2-D video feeds of SXSW programming, according to a news release. The fest's XR experience will be hosted on VRChat and available via PC, PCVR and Oculus Quest headsets.

More SXSW: George W. Bush, Pete Buttigieg, Ava DuVernay to appear at SXSW 2021

SXSW really wanted to create a space in the virtual world that brought Austin to life in a spectacular way,Blake Kammerdiener, XR and film programmer for the fest, said in a statement.

The fest also announced a slate of XR programming, including sessions and virtual cinema events. Check out the lineup at sxsw.com.

If you're not looking to dive into the XR world, you don't need a fancy headset for SXSW Online. You'll be able to watch regular programming like that Willie Nelson keynote through web, mobile and TV app platforms.

Movies at the fest: Tom Petty, Charli XCX docs coming to SXSW Film 2021: see the full lineup

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SXSW unveils virtual recreations of downtown Austin for 2021 online fest - austin360

In Virtual Reality News

March 5, 2021 Travis Air Force Base (Travis AFB) located in Solano County, California, and part of the US Air Force (USAF) has announced that leaders from across its 60th Air Mobility Wing recently took part in a virtual reality (VR) suicide prevention training test phase.

The 30-minute training, which took place at the base from February 1719, is aimed at helping Airmens comfort in engaging with others to prevent suicide and involves participants putting on a VR headset and entering a scenario in which they interact with a person who is in obvious emotional distress. The goal is for the participant to convince the distressed person to get help by asking a combination of questions. If participants dont ask the right questions then a training coach chimes in to assist the participant.

The technology behind the training was developed by Moth+Flame, a virtual reality developer thats worked with Netflix, Taylor Swift, Discovery, and more, and is now creating VR training programs for government and enterprise

We are excited and highly motivated to be the catalyst for this innovative suicide prevention program, said Brig. Gen. Norm West, Air Mobility Command Surgeon General. The VR scenario is very realistic and this is the type of training we need to save lives in the real world. One life lost to suicide is too many.

Air Mobility Command (AMC) is the first VR project in the Department of Defense (DoD) to utilize immersive, conversational training for suicide prevention. We believe this training will not only save lives but prepare our Airmen for tough conversations that will build a more resilient force, added Victor Jones, AMC Suicide Prevention Program Manager.

According to, Master Sgt. Shawn Dougherty, a VR training facilitator at the base, one of the most common occurrences in the current training, which involves role playing with fellow trainees, is that when someone needs to say something tough, they dont say it as loud as the rest of what they say.

The unique part of this VR training is that its voice-activated, so youre required to say things out loud that maybe youve never had to say before, said Dougherty. Actually saying phrases to Airmen in distress like do you have a gun in the house? or Are you thinking about harming yourself?

Travis AFB, along with Scott AFB in Clair County, Illinois, were selected as pilot bases for this first phase of the training. During this phase, base leadership, squadron commanders, superintendents and first sergeants are participating in close-to-real-world, virtual scenarios.

The training lines up with the Air Forces A-C-E protocol, which encourages Airmen to Ask, Care and Escort someone in distress. The primary audience for the first phase of the pilot program is the Air Forces leadership, according to Dougherty, who continued: Were having wing leadership come in because their feedback is vital to making sure that we get this program right. He added, We have to have the best solution to roll it out and reach as many Airmen as possible.

Lt. Col. Glenn Cameron, 60th Civil Engineering Squadron Commander, who leads one of the largest squadrons on base, commented: Its a pretty intense experience, to be honest, Cameron said. You actually see a bona fide actor who doesnt feel like anything except a real human being talking to you, and he gives you real answers, and theres an interaction that gives you an opportunity to see when you cheese it up, he calls you out.

Cameron noted that having the training available to Airmen would be of benefit to them all, as it helps them deal with the difficult topic of Suicide and can provide an opportunity in which Airmen can have conversations that are not easy to have.

For more information on how the US Air Force is using virtual reality as part of its day to day operations and training, click here.

Video / image credit: US Air Force video/photo by Nicholas Pilch

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he covers news articles on both the AR and VR industries. He also has an interest in human augmentation technology as a whole, and does not just limit his learning specifically to the visual experience side of things.

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US DoD tests Virtual Reality suicide prevention training at Scott and Travis Air Force Bases - Auganix

Tomas S Aleman,1 3 Alexander J Miller,4 Katherine H Maguire,1,2 Elena M Aleman,2 Leona W Serrano,1,2 Keli B OConnor,1,2 Emma C Bedoukian,5 Bart P Leroy,3,6 8 Albert M Maguire,1 3 Jean Bennett1,2

1Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 3Division of Ophthalmology at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 4Neurology Virtual Reality Laboratory of the Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 5Division of Human Genetics, The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 6Department of Pediatrics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 7Department of Ophthalmology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 8Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

Correspondence: Tomas S AlemanPerelman Center for Advanced Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USATel +1 215 662 8676Fax +1 215 615 0527Email aleman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Purpose: To test the ability of a virtual reality (VR) orientation and mobility (O&M) protocol to serve a measure of functional vision for patients with inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs).Methods: A VR-O&M protocol designed using a commercially available VR hardware was tested in normally sighted control subjects (n=7; ages 10 35yo; Average 22.5yo) and patients with RPE65-associated Leber Congenital Amaurosis (n=3; ages 7 18yo; Average 12.7yo), in two of them before and after gene therapy. Patients underwent perimetry and full-field sensitivity testing. VR-O&M parameters correlated with the visual dysfunction.Results: Visual acuities in RPE65 patients were on average worse than 20/200, dark-adapted sensitivity losses > 5 log units, and fields constricted between 20 and 40. Before treatment, patients required 1000-fold brighter environment to navigate, had at least x4 more collisions, and were slower both to orient and navigate compared to control subjects. Improvements in cone- (by 1 2 L.u.) and rod-mediated (by > 4 L.u.) sensitivities post-treatment led to fewer collisions (at least by half) at 100-fold dimmer luminances, and to x4 times faster navigation times.Conclusion: This study provides proof-of-concept data in support for the use of VR-O&M systems to quantify the impact that the visual dysfunction and improvement of vision following treatments has on functional vision in IRDs. The VR-O&M was useful in potentially challenging scenarios such as in pediatric patients with severe IRDs.Translational Relevance: A VR-O&M test will provide much needed flexibility, both in its deployment as well as in the possibility to test various attributes of vision that may be impacted by gene therapy in the setting of translational studies.Precis: This study provides proof-of-concept data in support for the use of a virtual reality orientation and mobility test to quantify the impact of the disease and of treatments thereof on functional vision in inherited retinal degenerations.

Keywords: virtual reality, mobility, orientation, gene therapy, LCA, RPE65

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A Virtual Reality Orientation and Mobility Test for Inherited Retinal | OPTH - Dove Medical Press