Author

TorstenFell

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Trains Staff Using VR Seclusion Rooms

Building empathy with patients living in social isolation.

A new forensic psychiatric program being conducted at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton Charlton Campus in Hamilton, Ontario is exposing healthcare employees to the realities of isolated living in the hopes of building a more supportive relationship with patients confined to seclusion rooms.

Lead by Dr. Gary Chaimowitz, a Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences professor at McMaster University and Head of Service & Forensics at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, the exercise features two VR simulations. The first, a basic hospital seclusion room with no windows or bathroom; the second, a low lit prison cell. Each hyper-realistic environment was crafted by Ottawa-based VR/AR developers SimWave using a series of photos taken of actual hospitals and prisons.

During the seclusion room experience, participants must gain the attention of various in-game hospital staff in order to use the bathroom. As they call out for assistance, users are met with 10 predetermined responses, ranging anywhere from “Yes, we’ll get you something,” to “Hold on a sec, we’re a little bit busy right now.” One some occasions the users is met purely with laughter. Chaimowitz and his team hope that by placing healthcare workers in the shoes of the very patients they’re assisting, hospital staff will be able to develop stronger, more supportive relationships with their patients.

“We wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side of the door,” states Chaimowitz according to The Star. “I think many of us can imagine, or recall times when you’ve been in places by yourself, when you didn’t want to be by yourself, left alone, but this puts you, as a staff person, in our rooms.”

Some early reactions had several staff members removing their headsets out of pure discomfort, feeling enclosed by the tight space and lack of human interaction.

“We’re looking at how long you can be in there before you get anxious,” continues Chaimowitz, “and what it’s like to have a different staff response, the idea being that we are going to try to sensitize staff to what it’s like to be on the inside, which might change the way they interact with patients, both in terms of their tone and also a recognition of what it’s like to be there.”

These VR training modules are currently being employed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare with the hopes of eventually introducing the technology to not only healthcare facilities and penitentiaries, but to the patients themselves.

“They are basically stuck in their unit and the perimeter around St. Joe’s and Hamilton. So, they can’t do a lot,” states psychiatrist Sébastien Prat. “We want to develop that kind of project, in order to make them able to travel to a beach or somewhere they want to go, so they can enjoy something.”

Quelle:

https://vrscout.com/news/st-josephs-vr-seclusion-rooms/#

Image Credit: SimWave / Jim Rankin & Toronto Star

11. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

In VR boys learn best when the teacher is a drone – girls learn better from virtual Marie

The teacher is just as important in a virtual learning environment as in a normal classroom, but a new study shows that boys and girls differ greatly in terms of how they learn best: Boys learn best when their virtual teacher comes in the form of a drone, while girls get more knowledge from VR-teaching when they are taught by a young, female researcher-type named Marie.

Few years from now, students in schools all over the world will receive part of their education in virtual learning environments. Wearing VR-goggles the students will be able to enter 3-dimentional, simulated places and situations that they would normally not have access to because it would be too expensive, too dangerous or physically impossible. Teaching via VR-technology is spreading widely these years and international studies predict that this will revolutionize the way we learn.

Using VR, students can learn about the cells in the human body while “travelling” into the bloodstream, or “explore” the degree of plastic pollution in the oceans. They can also conduct complicated experiments using expensive lab-equipment and dangerous chemicals, just by putting on a pair of VR-goggles that immediately offers very realistic and lively experiences.

According to several of these reports, the cost of VR-technology will be reduced so much over the next 2-3 years that it will be included in everyday classroom teaching for around 15 million students across nations before 2025. This prognosis is backed by large investments in developing VR for teaching by tech-giants such as Apple, Google and Samsung.

But the rapid growth of VR-technology in teaching is a new and relatively un-tested field, and at the University of Copenhagen Associate Professor in Psychology Guido Makransky investigates how, why, and in what settings VR-learning provides an advantage over traditional methods and media, so society´s investments in VR-technology can be used in the most beneficial way.

-Our studies show that VR-learning where students train certain skills via simulations can be more effective than regular classroom teaching or learning via computers, and that it motivates and engages students more and heighten their self-efficacy. However, we need more information on when and how teaching via VR-simulations is an advantage, so we can steer clear of thoughtless investments in technology just for the sake of investing in technology without any real benefits in terms of better learning, he says.

Guido Makransky is especially interested in the pedagogical factors of VR-learning. In previous studies he has tested hundreds of high school and university student’s cognitive and emotional learning processes using electroencephalography (EEG) and by registering their sweat-responses (GSR), eye-tracking and facial expressions.

A virtual rolemodel

Since 2014 Makransky has documented in various studies that VR-learning in certain situations is more engaging and can lead to better learning outcomes compared to traditional methods. Furthermore, his latest research shows that girls and boys learning differs greatly depending on the form and appearance of the virtual teacher, the so called pedagogical agent.

In a study with 66 7th and 8th -grade students (half boys, half girls) at a Danish science talent school, Makransky and colleagues found that the girls learned most in the VR-simulations, when the VR-teacher there was a young, female researcher named Marie, whereas the boys learned more, while being instructed by a flying robot in the form of a drone.

– We can see that students´ ability to identify with the pedagogical agent improves their level of learning. This gives us an exciting possibility to actually make education more appealing to the students. This is important as children’s’ interest in school decreases in middle school, and there is specifically a desire to increase female students’ interest, in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Therefore, the possibility to engage girls is very appealing. In our opinion VR-program designers should use this knowledge to incorporate different types of pedagogical agents in VR for different types of students, says Guido Markansky.

The boys in the study on the other hand learned best, when the pedagogical agent instructing them was a flying robot in the form of a drone.

– Our results show, that the boys´ concentration and focus on the task rises when their virtual teacher is a non-traditional teaching figure like a robot or a drone. We also see these types of pedagogical agents are more effective in terms of the boys´ learning outcomes, possibly because they portray some of the superhero-qualities, that appeal widely to boys, and because they resemble the agents, boys are used to interact with in computer games, says Guido Makransky

VIRTUAL ROLE MODEL Even when students are taught via simulations and VR-glasses the teacher is an important figure: Girls learn best, when the virtual teacher is a young female role model, shows research from Virtual Learning Lab at the University of Copenhagen.

Other aspects of VR-teaching examined

The younger the students the more important it appears to be that they can relate to their VR-teacher. University students for instance have not been found to learn better when instructed by a figure that resembles themselves, whereas the ability to mirror oneself in the teaching figure has been identified as being very important for students in middle school classes.

But there are still many unanswered questions regarding VR-learning, adds Guido Makransky, who is currently heading a project funded by the Danish Innovation Fund where he and his fellow researchers at the University of Copenhagen Virtual Learning Lab examine a number of other aspects of when it is most beneficial for schools to implement VR-for teaching and how you design VR-learning experiences, that really add value to education and function well in a classroom setting.

Quelle:

https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2019/virtual-reality-research/

11. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

One of the Biggest Names in Home Fitness is Making a VR Exercise Bike

And it’s more motivating than a trainer

Games like Beat Saber and Creed: Rise to Glory are a great way to get your heart pumping while having a blast, and after having played a number of these types of games at a near constant since they came to VR headsets, I thought I was in decent enough shape to take on NordicTrack’s upcoming consumer exercise bike with VR headset integration. I haven’t been to the gym in forever, but now I’m definitely rethinking that (in)decision.

The Vive demo space at CES 2019 played host to a number of games, apps, and brand engagement pieces using Vive Pro’s new eye-tracking tech and Vive Focus, the company’s standalone 6DOF headset. Among the lot was the NordicTrack VR Bike, an upcoming exercise bike which includes a steerable yoke replete with standard controller input buttons, directional pad, triggers, etc.

Most importantly, the NordicTrack VR Bike comes with a Vive Focus and a number of gamified workouts designed to motivate you. One such title demoing today at CES was Aeronauts, a game that tosses you into a steampunk pedal-powered glider flying through a twisting canyon.

The objective is to go fast as possible, navigate through the ring checkpoints, and shoot down balloon targets by locking on with your gaze. It’s a pretty basic formula, but I have to admit it’s not only a visually polished game, but also engaging enough to take my mind off my rapidly declining ability to peddle. It worked surprisingly well. I wanted to keep pushing onward in the same way any decent racing simulator demands; it totally hooked into my innate sense of competition and not wanting to let the computer beat me.

So here I am, in canvas slacks and a button-up shirt ready to do a VR demo, interview some people, and then continue to stomp around the CES show floor. I wasn’t ready to sweat. I wasn’t ready to push myself farther than I should have in polite company. But I wanted to win. I wanted to get the high score.

By the time I got out of the three-minute race (just three minutes!), I was basically in shambles. I sucked down a bottle of water and carried on what I thought from the outside looked like a reasonable conversation about when the bike will land on consumer doorsteps, but I was actually dying inside (more so than usual).

If I had to describe my body type, it would say I’m deceptively skinny-fat. I haven’t jogged or lifted my dusty kettlebell in longer than I care to admit. I do play fitness-focused VR games on the regular though, and get my heart rate up into my Fitbit’s fabled ‘cardio zone’ from time to time, so I’m not a total slouch. After sweating it out on the bike, it’s clear to me now the missing key to a truly tiring VR workout is resistance with a capital ‘R’, the sort of variable push-back at-home gym equipment like the NordicTrack VR Bike aims to provide. I pushed through it the same way I would any game. I didn’t want to lose, and I desperately wanted to see that high score at the end. I’ve seen similar VR exercise bikes come and go in the 2+ years since consumer VR launched, but nothing ostensibly providing the level of immersion and polish that NordicTrack and Vive Focus do here.

Oh, here’s my Fitbit data from today. Guess when I demoed Aeronauts.

The full NordicTrack VR Bike package is slated to arrive in Summer 2019 at the $2,000 mark, including a Vive Focus outfitted with a number of purpose-built exercise games, and also a one-year membership to iFit, an online workout regime led by personal trainers and the company’s tech that automatically adjusts the bike’s incline, decline and resistance in response to personal trainer commands. iFit also streams what the company says will be “thousands of personal trainer-led workouts shot in studio or on location in beautiful settings all over the world.”

iFit isn’t likely to be VR-specific though, instead providing the training material via standard format videos rendered on the headset. We’ve reached out to NordicTrack to clarify this, and will update when we hear back.

That’s one of the most expensive VR ‘controllers’ I’ve heard of to date, but in the grand scheme of things it fits pretty much in line with the company’s other at-home exercise equipment, which generally touted for its high quality, and isn’t out of place with the growing trend of high-end, high-tech at-home exercise equipment like Peloton. The Vive Focus headset itself costs $600, and a one-year membership to iFit costs around $400, making the bike itself effectively a few dollars over $1,000.

The real clincher here is whether the company can provide enough engaging content like I saw today with Aeronauts. If so, they might just tap into a market of VR-curious users looking for a trusted name brand in exercise equipment to shoe them in.

Quelle:

Image: Image courtesy ICON, NordicTrack

One of the Biggest Names in Home Fitness is Making a VR Exercise Bike

10. Januar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

Aus aktuellem Anlass – Masterplan 2025 – Wie China Leader in VR werden will (i)

Vor einigen Tagen hat die chinesische Regierung ein Dokument mit Leitlinien veröffentlicht, das besagt, wie China sich wirklich für VR engagieren will, wie das Ökosystem gut und schnell wachsen soll und wie es auch die Welt in Sachen Virtual Reality anführen will – Auszug „Bis 2025 ist die Gesamtstärke der chinesischen Virtual-Reality-Industrie an die Weltspitze vorgedrungen, beherrscht die wichtigsten Kernpatente und -standards der Virtual Reality und bildet eine Reihe von Virtual Reality-Backbone-Unternehmen mit starker internationaler Wettbewerbsfähigkeit.“

Das Dokument mit dem Titel “Leitsätze des Ministeriums für Industrie und Informationstechnologie zur Beschleunigung der Entwicklung der Virtual-Reality-Industrie” wurde vom chinesischen Ministerium für Industrie- und Informationstechnologie 2018 veröffentlicht.

Ich denke, dass es interessant ist, das Dokument einmal genauer anzusehen und den langfristigen Plan des Roten Drachens besser zu verstehen.

Ich werde in einer kleinen Blog-Serie das Dokument einmal genauer analysieren. und meine persönliche Einschätzung wo wir in Deutschland dazu stehen, abzugeben. Nicht zuletzt meine Aktivität als Vorstand und nun als Beirat im „Ersten Deutschen Fachverband für Virtual Reality“ lässt mir hier die Möglichkeit ein Gesamtbild einschätzen zu können. Auch durch die Aktivitäten des neuen „Immersive Learning Institute“ werde ich mir genauer das Thema Education/Training“ einmal ansehen.

Ich will verstehen, wie China die Technologie wirklich von oben vorantreiben will, da sie Virtual Reality (VR) als eine Schlüsseltechnologie für die Entwicklung des Landes betrachtet – Auszug „…Um die Entwicklung der chinesischen Virtual- Reality-Industrie zu beschleunigen, die Innovation der Virtual-Reality-Anwendung zu fördern und neue Wachstumspunkte und neue kinetische Energie der Informationsindustrie zu entwickeln, werden die folgenden Stellungnahmen vorgeschlagen:..“

Interessant ist, dass die chinesische Regierung den Begriff “Virtual Reality” als Dachbegriff für alle Immersiven Technologien (VR, AR, MR) verwendet, während wir immer andere Begriffe wie “XR” oder Digital Reality verwenden. Aus diesem Grund werde ich im Folgenden auch von VR sprechen.

Das Dokument ist in mehreren Teilen gegliedert. Ich werde diese genauer ansehen:

Teil Einführung: Das Ministerium für Industrie und Informationstechnologie stellt fest, dass Virtual Reality etwas ist, dass einen großen Einfluss auf das Leben der Menschen haben kann. Das aber die Entwicklung der Technologien erst am Anfang steht und noch viel Potential besitzt. Dies sowohl bei der Hardware wie auch bei Inhalten.

Meine Einschätzung, diese Teile ich, insbesondere schaue ich mir natürlich die Inhaltliche Ebene an, hier wird das Potential der bestehenden Hardware leider meist heute nicht genutzt. Dies hat verschiedene Gründe u.a. zu niedrige Budgets der Anwenderunternehmen und manchmal auch fehlendes Know-How der Lösungs-anbieter im Umfeld Lernen.

Das Dokument soll helfen, die richtigen Schritte bei dem rasanten Wachstum des Themas VR zu gewährleisten.

Teil Leitideologie: Dabei spielt natürlich die Leitideologie eine wichtige Rolle. Der Teil des Dokumentes macht deutlich, dass die gesamte Entwicklung der Virtual Reality-Technologie nach den chinesischen Werten und nach der Führung von Premierminister Xi Jinping erfolgen sollte.

Teil Entwicklungsziele: Hier wird es wirklich interessant, denn das Ministerium hebt hervor, was die Meilensteine dieses VR-Entwicklungsplans sind. Das erste Schlüsseljahr ist 2020. Im Jahr 2020 erwartet China ein funktionierendes VR-Ökosystem, das bereits verschiedene Innovationen hervorgebracht hat und in den vielen Branchen mit VR arbeiten. Es wird auch erwartet, dass das Land über eine wachsende Infrastruktur verfügt, um VR-Produkte und – Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln. Hier wird u.a. von Innovationszentren gesprochen.

Mögliche Zahlenverhältnisse sprechen für sich – auch wenn diese mit dem Schwerpunkt Mobile Gaming sind – und es ist klar, wenn die Technologische Entwicklung mit der Investitionen Schritt halten kann, wird China hier weiter viel Investieren und Rahmen schaffen um Innovationen voranzutreiben, bleiben diese aus, wird man sehen müssen wie sich dies weiterentwickelt.

Das zweite Schlüsseljahr ist 2025. Im Jahr 2025 will China weltweit führend bei Virtual Reality sein. China will führend sein, wenn es um VR-Patente, Standards und Produkte geht. Sie will ein florierendes Ökosystem mit chinesischen Unternehmen, die auf der ganzen Welt sehr wettbewerbsfähig sind und eine ausgereifte Infrastruktur für die Entwicklung von VR-Produkten besitzen.

In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass China nach einigen Quellen im Jahr 2030 auch in der Künstlichen Intelligenz weltweit führend sein will, sollte der chinesische Masterplan in 10 Jahren China an der Spitze der wichtigsten Technologien gebracht haben.

Meine Einschätzung: Und was macht Deutschland? Auf Bundesebene aus meiner Sicht nichts! Im Moment wurde KI in den Mittelpunkt gerückt und in der Vergangenheit sehr stark die Aktivitäten im Games-Umfeld unterstützt. Natürlich gibt es Förderprogramme und –Schwerpunkte bei denen das Thema VR/AR eine Rolle Spielt, aber so Strukturiert wie dies China vorhat – ?, sind diese weit voneinander entfernt und auf meist nicht oder unzureichend untereinander vernetzt. Es werden Investitionen für ähnliche Umsetzungen mehrfach vergeben ohne sich abzustimmen oder auf zuvor erarbeitete Ergebnisse aufzubauen. Auch profitieren hier bereits etablierte Player wie Hochschulen oder andere Einrichtungen wie z.B. Fraunhofer & Co von den Förderungen. Die Start-Up-Unternehmen haben es meist sehr schwer, hier von den geldlichen Förderungen und Rahmen zu profitieren. Auch fehlen Investoren und Kapital in diesem Umfeld. Regional werden in Meet-Ups, regionalen Fachverbänden und Vereinen versucht die regionale Standortförderung voranzutreiben. Dies gelingt je nach Bundesland mehr schlecht als recht. Auf Bundesebene passiert hier leider sehr wenig. Kaum Unterstützung und Verständnis für das Thema durch Politik und deren Strukturen. Bei möglichen Ansprechpartnern sieht man hier erst einmal die Herausforderungen wie Motion Sickness, eine Suchtgefahr, die ethischen Fragestellungen und den Datenschutz. Typisch Deutsch eben. All dies ist wichtig, keine Frage, aber wo werden die Chancen und Möglichkeiten gesehen und unterstützt? Und ja natürlich gibt es regionale Innovationszentren oder Mittelstandsdialog-Zentren usw., alle sind hoch motiviert aber nicht untereinander vernetzt und der transparente Austausch ist eine große Herausforderung.

Wenn die Chinesische Region es schafft 2020 und 2025 die Entwicklungsziele zu realisieren, sind wir immer noch mit der Einführung von 4G beschäftigt und haben noch nicht einmal die Grundinfrastruktur die neuen Technologien in der Breite zu nutzen. Und ja, im Dokument werden auch die Herausforderungen besprochen und benannt, aber auch klare Aufgaben zur Lösung definiert.

Im einem der nächsten Blog-Artikel widme ich mir das Thema „die wichtigsten Aufgaben“ aus dem Dokument. In einem Sonder-Artikel werde ich vorher das Thema Education mir genauer ansehen.

Original-Dokument in Mandarin http://www.miit.gov.cn/n1146285/n1146352/n3054355/n3057643/n3057649/c6559691/content.html

Autor: Torsten Fell, Institutsleiter – Immersive Learning Institute

Quelle:

Aus aktuellem Anlass – Masterplan 2025 – Wie China Leader in VR werden will (i)

10. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

How Starlight Is Using VR To Replace Pain Medication For Seriously Ill Children

Starlight is a well-known charity organization with the mission to create “moments of joy and comfort for hospitalized kids and their families” through a variety of initiatives. Initiatives include issuing gowns that let kids dress up as whatever they want to feel powerful, fun centers with things like video games, and Starlight Sites to transform hospitals into fun play zones. The most recent program, Starlight Xperience, is all about bringing the magic of virtual reality to the hospital. In partnership with Google and Lenovo, Starlight delivers a Starlight Xperience kit to participating hospitals. The VR headset is a custom Lenovo Mirage Solo headset pre-loaded with over 20 VR experiences and customized for hospital use. The kit also includes headset-mounted headphones, charging cables, and a branded carrying case. Inside the headset the software has all been modified as well so instead of being in the Daydream UI you’re actually inside of a Starlight-branded portal with strict access to only the pre-approved age-appropriate content.

The Starlight Xperience

“Starlight is a 35-year old charity with a mission to make the hospital experience for seriously ill kids and family as positive, fun, and comfortable as possible,” said Chris Helfrich, CEO of Starlight in an interview with UploadVR. “We see children getting immersed in VR during painful medical procedures and the immersive distraction therapy lessens the need for heavy painkillers and anesthesia. VR can even take the place of pain killers in some cases.” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this sort of usage for VR. I know some people personally that have worn VR headsets at the dentist to distract themselves and there are even documented cases of people using it during child birth. Not to mention use cases for VR to help combat racism, mental health treatment, physical therapy, treating a fear of flying, across the spectrum of health care, and even Oculus’ own “VR For Good” initiative. Distraction therapy is a well-studied and well-documented form of therapy. The tricky thing is finding the right balance of stimuli. If something is purely passive, such as watching a video, it may not be enough. But if it’s too intensive and challenging, children give up or get frustrated, which exacerbates pain during a procedure.

The Magic of VR

“Our partners at Stanford developed very basic games that let administrators click a button to make it more challenging on the fly,” says Helfrich. “That lets them administer more of a cognitive load, forcing them to focus extra hard when the need is higher, so they’re fully distracted during the most painful points.” “Whether they want to go snorkeling in the ocean or on a trip to the top of Mt. Everest, we accommodate as many interests as possible,” says Helfrich. The types of experiences on offer vary as well, but they’ve partnered with Disney for some apps, such as the Droid Repair Bay, to deliver familiar characters in an interactive space.

“Just because you’re in the hospital doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to experience the wonder and magic of child life,” says Helfrich. If you work for a hospital that’s interested in Starlight and the Starlight Xperience VR program, you can learn more at the official website and request your kit right here. Let us know what you think of the program down in the comments below!

Quelle:

https://uploadvr.com/starlight-vr-replace-pain-medication-children/amp/

9. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

The Top 10 Educational VR Apps of 2018

Use VR to train your brain rather than just continually shoot stuff.

2018 has been a great year for immersive technology in education. From the launch of the affordable Oculus Go headset to the transition of the Merge Cube from toy to educational tool to the plethora of ARkit and ARcore enabled experiences that launched on mobile devices, there has been a wealth of opportunities for educators around the world to begin integrating AR and VR in classrooms like never before. Whilst mobile developers seem to be focusing more squarely on AR-enabled content, there have been some stellar virtual reality experiences released for the Vive, Rift and even WMR headsets.

I actually produced a “Best of the Year” list last year (which you can find on my site www.virtualiteach.com) but I specifically focused on educational apps for the Vive. For this year’s list, I’m expanding the range to include other platforms as some excellent content has launched outside of the Steam VR Store. I will only be including apps that were actually released during 2018 though and I would highlight the fact that every app on this list was personally selected by me and this list does not represent the views of VRFocus as a whole.

Before we take a look at the Top 10 itself, I want to give honourable mentions to five apps:

Honourable Mentions

Sharecare VR – This excellent app launched late in 2017 but I didn’t try it in time to include it on my list last year. Being able to stand inside a beating human heart is a breathtaking experience that literally echoes the educational future portrayed in Ready Player One.

Kolb Antartica Experience – A great idea and I love the interactivity with the penguins but it only lasts about three minutes at present. I’ll return to this in 2019 to see how it has developed.

Robotics in VR – This app lets you build a giant Lego EV3 robot then program it to move around a warehouse-sized maze. It’s still early-access but well worth a look.

Dreams of Dali – As weird as you’d expect but great for art students looking for a new perspective on the work of Salvador Dali.

1943 Berlin Blitz – Brilliant use of historical recordings to bring this moment to life in VR. It’s annoying that the app insists on the use of a gamepad controller though!

With the honourable mentions out of the way, let’s dive into the actual Top 10:

Top 10 VR Education Apps 2018

1. Number Hunt (Vive/Rift/WMR)

I absolutely loved the Number Hunt concept as it’s an excellent example of gamification in action. Taking the format a first-person shooter, you find yourself hurtling around a range of vibrant arenas that are populated by anthropomorphised numbers. Your aim is to make target totals before your opponents by shooting these numerical NPCs with a gun that can apply each of the four operations (add, subtract, multiply, divide). It’s great fun and a totally unique approach to practising maths.

2. Nanome (Vive/Rift/WMR)

In the popular SAMR model for technology integration on education, the highest level (Redefinition) is defined as “technology allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable.” Virtual reality seems to achieve this quite easily, especially when using an app like Nanome – one of the most exciting scientific apps to launch in 2018. Nanome allows the user to interact with an enormous range of chemicals and proteins like never before. It supersizes nanotechnology as if the student was Ant-Man and offers huge potential both in the upper levels of schools, higher education and beyond. Best of all it allows for multiple students to collaborate within the same space!

3. Nefertari: Journey to Eternity (Vive)

Ancient Egypt is my all-time favourite topic to teach and so I’m always eager to try new Egypt-themed VR experiences. This one really did raise the bar though. The app allows you to walk through Queen Nefertari’s tomb, guided by some first-rate narration and interaction points teach students about the history, culture and construction of the tomb. It also boasts some incredibly crisp visuals thanks to the use of super-precise digital scanning and unlike some other Egyptian tomb apps, it’s not terribly dark, which can be off-putting to younger students. It really is great to see educational content being produced with such polish and detail.

4. Becoming Homeless (Vive)

I actually had to double check the release date on this one as I was convinced it came out in 2017 (it was actually launched January 2018.) Stanford VR Lab set the benchmark when it comes to empathetic VR experiences and exploring how VR affects us as human beings and Becoming Homeless is a great example of this. It’s a short but potent experience which sees you step into the shoes of someone who can no longer afford a home. As your situation worsens, you experience the harsh realities of life on the streets first-hand. Powerful and moving, this app can easily be used as a stimulus for writing, a discussion piece in the social studies classroom or an experiment in the psychology classroom.

5. Hold The World (Rift/WMR)

Produced by Sky and featuring the living legend that is Sir David Attenborough, this is unlike any other virtual museum app out there in that it focuses on interaction. This summer I took my kids to The British Museum in London and some of their favourite parts were the various stations where you could actually handle artefacts under the guidance of a resident historian who would explain the significance of each object. Hold The World offers a similar experience at London’s Natural History Museum with the unparalleled Sir Attenborough as your guide. Having selected the object you wish to learn more about, you can then focus on specific parts and dive deeper into its story. Incredible and fascinating in equal measure.

6. Google Tour Creator (Web)

Tour Creator is a web-based tool for building interactive, multi-scene virtual tours. Whilst it’s similar to several other pre-existing platforms, it streamlined the creation process (and made it free) so that it is by far the most accessible tool for educators looking to integrate simple 360 tours across the curriculum. Completed tours can be viewed in stereoscopic mode on iOS and Android devices and it also boasts Google Poly integration for easy sharing of projects. Like many other educators, I hope that it will also integrate with the Expeditions platform in the near future. It may be the only app on the list that isn’t a 6DOF, room-scale experience but Tour Creator offers a great stepping stone for educators new to VR.

7. Apollo 11 VR HD – (Vive/Rift/WMR)

I nearly left this high definition re-release of Immersive VR Education’s landmark title of the list since the original version was a launch title for the Vive and Rift back in 2016. I changed my mind though since even those who have tried the original will find fresh awe and wonder in this stunning update that serves as a testament to how far IVRE have progressed in such a relatively short space of time. The addition of new demo modes which allow you to choose specific scenes from the full experience are also useful for educators looking to facilitate larger groups. Essential stuff.

8. Anne Frank House VR (Rift/Go/Gear)
I’m a huge proponent for using VR to allow students to travel in time and walk through history and this is a superb example of just that. Produced in association with The Anne Frank Museum, this richly detailed experience recreates the infamous Secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding for more than two years during the Second World War. Historically accurate and punctuated by quotes from her diary, it is a truly powerful way to engage young historians with one of the most important stories of the last century.

9. The Kremer Collection VR Museum
I love the whole concept of virtual museums and galleries allowing people without the means of visiting the real places to engage with exhibitions like never before. 2018 saw the release of the Kremer Collection VR experience which many feel raised the bar. This virtual gallery contains more than 70 classic works of Old Masters like Rembrandt rendered in stunning detail and allowing you to get closer than ever before. Each is accompanied by both text and audio, a simple but important accessibility feature that enables a broader range of ages to engage with the artwork.

10. HoloLab Champions (Vive/Rift)

I remember watching previews of this Chemistry themed app from Schell Games in 2017 and thinking it looked fantastic and it didn’t disappoint. There are several virtual lab sims out there nowadays but none offer such a student-friendly approach through the clever gameshow framing of the science. Students are challenged to complete experiments quickly but also safely to become a Champion and unlock various achievements. It’s a canny mix of entertainment and education that is often lacking in other more serious titles and it’s an incredibly engaging way to let students hone their practical science skills in a safe environment.

Quelle:

The Top 10 Educational VR Apps of 2018

8. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

Can VR Improve Your Communication Skills?

Let’s face it, being able to humanely connect with people and develop good relationships is a key skill that many people need help mastering. Learning to improve your communication skills and being willing to grow and how you connect and talk with others can help you greatly in your life, career, business dealings and romance.

In the United States, the number of Millennials in the active workforce will soon reach 75-percent. Yet, many don’t know where to start to improve their interpersonal and leadership skills.

A survey of American executives reveals that verbal, written, communication and collaboration skills are among the top traits sought by hiring employers. Important professional capabilities — such as problem-solving, critical thinking, writing and attention to detail — are among the top skills today’s employers find that most job candidates fail to possess. These business skills are rated by enterprise leaders across all industries as the most important abilities of workers.

Most People Lack Soft Skills and Self-Awareness

Another survey of U.S. businesses with 100 or fewer staff members reports that miscommunication costs those firms each an average of $420,000 per year. Further studies of 400 American enterprises with 100,000 or fewer employees revealed that those firms lose an average of $62.4 million annually.

Resultantly, today’s educators must transition toward ensuring that graduating bodies of students have learned these essential business skills. While the demand for most skill requirements haven’t changed among employers for quite some time, the demand for collaborative skills has increased dramatically. People are also actively pursuing advance degrees and training to develop their leadership skills. In fact, studies show that collaborative activities have increased over 50-percent in the last two decades among US enterprises. Proprietors currently want employees who possess exceptional influencing skills and can build professional networks as well as company brands.

For the nation’s business leaders, interpersonal and influencing skills have never held more weight when making hiring decisions than they do now. Researchers have found that 60-percent of polled corporate executives rate collaborative skills as the most important business trait among others. That study also revealed that the respondents believed that most job applicants lacked collaborative skills.

Clearly, soft skills are an invaluable asset to employers. In the past, staff members could have avoided engaging in most collaborative situations where soft skills were required simply by closing their office door. However, a 24/7 always connected world and innovative open office workspaces make avoiding collaboration nearly impossible in the modern business environment.

Why Emotional Intelligence Is So Important

To be able to communicate well, you need to be able to understand emotional intelligence and learn how to be mindful of your statements, thoughts and feelings. Emotional intelligence (EQ) has been an important subject among business leaders for years. Contemporary hiring managers seek hi-EQ job candidates. They view this characteristic as important as education, professional certifications and technical skills.

Emotional intelligence lowers stress and burnout as well as improves communication and promotes rapport among internal and external organizational stakeholders. EQ encompasses effective self-expression, which requires self-awareness, self-respect and a commitment to improve continually. Furthermore, professionals who possess emotional intelligence are appropriately direct with others about how they feel, manage stress well and remain optimistic.

Additionally, EQ-enabled employees adapt well to unforeseen circumstances. Moreover, emotionally intelligent employees are proficient in managing long-term professional relationships.

Organizational leaders can develop soft skills, as well as teach them to those under their purview. Modern technology and EQ are poised to advance business in remarkable ways. Professionals, for instance, can now leverage virtual reality training to learn how to better assess the feelings of others by evaluating their feelings, speech cues, inflections and gestures. EQ competent leaders can also detect depression and emotional wellness by assessing workers vocal tones.

Enterprise leaders who possess EQ will continue to be an invaluable asset to organizations. Management and staff members of all levels can benefit by adding emotional intelligence to their professional toolkits.

How Virtual Reality Can Help With Communications

In the modern business environment, virtual reality is emerging as a new training tool for professionals. Potential applications for the technology are vast and range from military training to healthcare simulations. Immersive virtual reality training can help organizational leaders gain an accurate understanding of the variables involved in managing ethical dilemmas, for instance.

Professionals who participate in VR training are better equipped to handle real-world scenarios. Researchers believe that VR training will one day be an important resource for practicing, honing and assessing essential business skills, and once the price drops for the technology, there are great possibilities for enterprises of all kinds to benefit from immersive training.

In the past, influencing and inspiring others was solely the domain of senior managers and internal marketing teams. Today, enterprise leaders desire this skill among all their employees.

It’s never been more important for advancing students to learn the soft skills that are demanded by today’s enterprise leaders. As an example, the demand for critical thinking skills has risen more than 158-percent in the last four years. Additionally, job openings that list presentation skills as a requirement pay nearly $9,000 more annually compared to jobs that don’t require this competence. Moving forward, it’s essential that the nation’s educators prepare graduating students with the soft skills needed to compete in the modern job market.

Quelle:

https://vrroom.buzz/vr-news/trends/can-vr-improve-your-communication-skills-0

8. Januar 2019 0 comment

Examples

The Best VR Apps For Education

Learn about a new country by seemingly visiting one.

Virtual reality (VR) may be commonly used for gaming and watching videos, but there are actually plenty of ways in which it can used to educate.

In fact, many suggest that VR could absolutely transform education altogether, largely by making education much more immersive for students – which could help make lessons more interesting.

You don’t actually have to wait around for VR to change education, though: there are plenty of education-focused VR apps that are already available.

Whether you’re a teacher, a student, or simply interested in learning more about the world, here are the best VR apps for education.

Titans of Space

Interested in learning about the vast expanse of space? Titans of space offers an in-depth tour of a number of the planets, stars and other objects in the galaxy. Plus, it does so with beautiful visuals and a well-designed overall experience. Safe to say, this app definitely makes learning about space a little more exciting than it otherwise would be.

To help show the sheer scale of objects in space, Titans of Space does things like shrink down planets to a millionth of their actual size. For example, the Earth could appear to be the size of a house. In the app, you’ll find a variety of options, including the ability to customize the tour of space for you or your students. The app is available on a variety of platforms, including the Oculus Go and the Samsung Gear VR.

Discovery VR

Turns out, the Discovery Channel isn’t only about learning on the TV. The network has also put together a VR app called Discovery VR, in which you’ll be able to experience a variety of different settings as if you were actually there. In the app, you can enjoy content from shows like Discovery Atlas, Discover Presents, DNews Labs and more in VR.

Perhaps one of the best things about Discovery VR is that the content on it is free. You don’t necessarily need a cable subscription to make use of the app. Discovery VR is available on a number of platforms, including the Oculus Rift, Gear VR and HTC Vive.

InMind VR 2

It’s fun to learn about space and the Earth, but it’s also important enough to learn about the human brain. InMind VR 2 is set inside the brain of John, a teenager, and is inspired by Inside Out, the much-loved Pixar movie. In the app, you’ll have control over John’s emotions, but to control them, you’ll need to catch the right neurons by shaking John’s head. Get the right neurons, and the molecules will help John react to certain situations, helping shape his future.

The game is both educational and interesting to play, and it’s available on a few different platforms, including Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard and HTC Vive.

VirtualSpeech VR

This one’s perfect for those who have a fear of public speaking. As the name suggests, in the app you’ll find yourself in a variety of different situations in which you have to speak in front of others. You’ll be able to practice for things like job interviews, speaking in front of groups of people and more. You’ll be graded on things like the amount of eye contact you give, the number of filler words you use and more. Even if it doesn’t truly feel like you’re in front of a group of people, it’s a great way to improve your overall speaking skills.

VirtualSpeech VR is available in a few platforms, including Oculus Go, Gear VR, Google Cardboard and more.

Tilt Brush

Tilt Brush is an excellent choice for the artists out there. Imagine if you could take the concept of painting and apply it to 3D environments. That’s exactly what Tilt Brush aims to do. In the app, students can create their own artwork in a 3D environment, through using a variety of different brushes and colors. Students can also share their artworks in the form of animated GIFs. This app is especially good for those looking to learn more about colors and how they mix.

Tilt Brush is available on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Quelle:

https://vrroom.buzz/vr-news/son-image/best-vr-apps-education

7. Januar 2019 0 comment

Hardware Knowledge

Oculus Go Standalone VR Headset, Accessory And Game Buying Guide

Oculus Go is an all-in-one VR headset — it is a “standalone’ with no need for a PC or phone — and it comes with simple 3DoF movement tracking for both the headset and its single hand controller.

This means Oculus Go is best used seated and many of the most compelling VR games like Beat Saber and Superhot will never work on this system. Even so, Oculus Go can be quite compelling for private video viewing or for occasional games. Here’s our guide to the headset itself, accessories you might want to think about and the first games and experiences you should buy for the headset if you decide to pick one up.

What is Oculus Go?

Oculus Go’s $200 pricing was leaked in mid-2017, but the headset was formally revealed at the Oculus Connect 4 VR developer’s conference. The system started shipping in May 2018 starting at $200 in two versions that differ only in storage capacity — either 32 GB or 64GB for around $250.

Facebook advertises Oculus Go as supporting more than 1,000 apps and games because it is built on the framework the company built years earlier for the Samsung Gear VR. Millions of people received Gear VR bundled for free with the purchase of a Samsung phone, but because the VR mode on these phones drained power so quickly not many people wanted to expend the energy and time to use their phone this way.

While it doesn’t require a phone to operate, Oculus Go uses an app on Android and iPhone to manage the headset and activate a casting feature so that a friend can see what the player in VR sees. Oculus Go features integrated audio, so it has a microphone built in and sound comes out of the sides of the headset near the ears. You can also connect standard 3.5 mm headphones.

Advice: Oculus Go is a dedicated standalone VR headset that solves some of the problems facing phone-based VR combined with the strongest library of content you will find in this price range.

32 GB or 64 GB

The best VR games available on Oculus Go range in size considerably from Virtual Virtual Reality at 315 MB to Eclipse: Edge of Light at around 1 GB. Hopefully, apps like Netflix add support for locally downloaded videos but that’s not the case as of this writing, so there isn’t a huge reason to upgrade for the extra storage since you can re-download apps at any time.

As long as you’ve got solid Wi-Fi connectivity, there’s YouTube VR and Netflix apps as well as a robust Internet browser for other Web-based services and videos. If you’re not connected to the Internet, Oculus offers video rentals and purchases that can be locally downloaded and it is possible to sideload content onto the device with some work.

Advice: 32 GB is plenty of storage for most Oculus Go owners, but if you opt to buy 64 GB it is because you like having lots of local content and are expecting to store lots of videos internally on the headset itself.

Battery Pack

An Anker Powercore battery pack we’ve been able to fit into the official Oculus Go carrying case.

Oculus Go’s internal battery is non-removable and lasts two hours or moredepending on what you’re doing.

The headset also features a micro USB connector, which is usually the same connector found on most portable battery packs. This means if you have a 3-5 foot USB cable with a micro USB connector on it, you should be able to put the battery pack in your pocket and run the cord up to the headset to charge it up while using it.

Advice: A battery pack is incredibly useful for extending the battery life of Oculus Go and having a charged up pack on hand can mean the difference between using the headset and deciding now isn’t the right time.

Carrying Case

There are a number of carrying cases you can get for Oculus Go ranging from unofficial ones priced around $20 to the official case, pictured below, priced at $35.

Advice: We’ve tested both these travel cases with Oculus Go and each provides ample room for a battery pack, cords, controller and the headset itself. You won’t be able to fit a gamepad in these cases but it’s not exactly a necessity to carry that with Go.

Gamepads

A gamepad isn’t necessary for Oculus Go and there aren’t a ton of games which utilize it. Even so, it is possible to connect a PS4 controller, some Xbox One controllers and even the Nintendo Switch Pro controller to Oculus Go. At the time of this writing, Minecraft VR isn’t officially supported on Go and that would be the biggest reason to prioritize connecting a controller to the system.

Advice: Most Oculus Go buyers probably shouldn’t bother with a gamepad, but for those that need it you can certainly connect one.

Best Free Apps And Games

There is some really engaging free software that can you can download to Oculus Go for a taste of what the headset offers. For example, Face Your Fears, Bigscreen, Pet Lab, Bait! and Guided Meditation VR, are all free up front and provide a nice cross-section of the kinds of experiences and interactions that are possible with Oculus Go.

Also be sure to check out free family-friendly Oculus-backed projects like Henry, Coco VR and Crow: The Legend.

Advice: Start with these free apps and games when you first get the headset then move along to the paid games.

Best Paid Games

The pathway from Gear VR to Oculus Go means a number of developers have honed the design of their VR games for this headset over a number of years. But for quality gaming on Oculus Go you’ll want to take a closer look at the following titles in the Oculus Store:

Dead Secret: Circle ($14.99)
Republique VR ($9.99)
Thumper ($9.99)
Eclipse: Edge of Light ($9.99)
Wands ($9.99)
Catan VR ($9.99)
Drop Dead ($9.99)
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes ($9.99)
Ocean Rift ($9.99)
Virtual Virtual Reality ($9.99)
They Suspect Nothing ($7.99)
End Space ($7.99)
Anshar Online ($7.99)
VR Karts: Sprint ($7.99)
The Well ($4.99)
Smash Hit ($2.99)

Advice: If you’re new to VR games we suggest starting with a friend playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes and then see which of the other games on the above list look interesting to you.

Sideloading Content

We have to warn that sideloaded apps are not vetted by Oculus. Nonetheless, it is certainly possible for you to install them at your own risk, just keep in mind that they could affect the security or stability of your headset.

We provide that warning up front because well-made Android apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video — apps which let you download videos for offline viewing — are important enough to some people that taking the risk of sideloading content is worth it.

Advice: Check out our step-by-step guide for how to sideload content onto Oculus Go if you decide you need to have a few apps that aren’t available from the Oculus Store.

Quelle:

https://uploadvr.com/oculus-go-standalone-vr-headset-accessory-and-game-buying-guide/

7. Januar 2019 0 comment

Knowledge Research

INTEL TECH LEARNING LAB BRINGS IMMERSIVE STEM EDUCATION TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU

Remember back in the olden days… when you were in high-school, there was that one super-nerdy computer class, right? All the school geeks (mostly men, as I recall) just loved to take that computer course to fill their electives. If you were anything like me, you were moderately interested, but when you saw the audience you knew you didn’t belong there. If only someone could’ve told us then what we know now about the importance of computing skills in the modern workforce. I’m 100% certain the audience for that course would have been different, had we known.

Things have progressed since then, yes. But sadly, our education system today is no better at preparing students for the level of technical expertise that will be required of them in the years to come. As educators and parents, I fundamentally believe that we owe it to our children to prepare them for the future-state workforce requirements across America. If you’re with me on that, then I’ve got some encouraging news!!

Times are a-changing (thank goodness!). We’re now living in an age where our children’s future employers have begun taking tech education matters into their own hands. I’m referring to Intel, and its Tech Learning Lab tour across America. This mobile learning lab has built-in equipment for the hands-on demonstrations and lab practicals that high school students need in order to experience and fully comprehend the nature of what’s in store for them in their future careers.

If you’re an educator or parent, then you’ll probably be really excited to learn the topics that the Intel Tech Learning Lab are bringing to high school students around the nation. Those include:

Robotics – Students are building and testing their own virtual robots.
Virtual reality – Where students get a chance to experience 3D modeling, augmented- and virtual- reality with their own two hands.
Artificial intelligence – Students begin identifying what AI is and how it impacts their everyday lives.
Internet-of-things – Students discuss the future of tech and begin to anticipate how large of a role IoT will have in the future of work.

The emergence of Intel’s Tech Learning Lab marks a fundamental shift from how students have typically been exposed to the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics curriculums. The Tech Learning Lab utilizes advanced technologies in a classroom environment to turn learning into a sensory, impossible-to-forget experience, rather than the dry memorization and recitation of facts that it’s been in years past.

To learn more about how Intel is working hard to prepare our youth for the workplaces of tomorrow, go read up about it on their website here.

Disclaimer: This post was written as part of a collaboration between @BigDataGal and Intel, to help get the word out about the Intel Tech Learning Lab. We hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Quelle:

Intel Tech Learning Lab brings immersive STEM education to a school near you

6. Januar 2019 0 comment