Tag

VR

Reise in die virtuelle Realität ermöglicht Kindern eine angstfreie Behandlung auf der Notfallstation

Im Kinder- und Jugendnotfallzentrum des Luzerner Kantonsspitals stehen seit kurzem zwei Virtual-Reality-Brillen zur Verfügung. Damit können Kinder in ihre Wunschwelt abtauchen und werden von der Behandlung abgelenkt.

Alex Donas, Leitender Arzt der Kinder-Notfallstation Luzern, behandelt ein Kind, das währenddessen dank Virtual-Reality-Brille und Kopfhörer in eine andere Welt abtauchen kann.

Für Kinder und Eltern ist der Besuch im Notfallzentrum eines Spitals meistens mit Stress verbunden. Ein Unfall oder eine akute Erkrankung ausserhalb der Öffnungszeiten von Kinderarztpraxen machen den Gang dorthin aber manchmal unumgänglich. Neben Schmerzen und Unwohlsein kommt noch die Angst vor der Behandlung dazu.

…

Quelle:

https://www.luzernerzeitung.ch/zentralschweiz/kanton-luzern/luzerner-kantonsspital-reise-in-die-virtuelle-realitaet-ermoeglicht-kindern-eine-angstfreie-behandlung-auf-der-notfallstation-ld.2509575?reduced=true

Foto: zvg

19. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Metaverse Technologies Are Creating New Opportunities for Teachers to Inspire Students

Takeaways

We are announcing a new program with 15 US universities that are teaching using immersive technology.
We are also launching dedicated education shelves in the Meta Quest store.
There are signs of growing momentum for VR education tools in Europe.

Digital technologies have transformed so many areas of education in recent decades. From pocket calculators to laptops, tablets, and the video conferencing tools that helped learning shift online during the pandemic, technology plays a crucial role in how people teach and learn. Metaverse technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) promise to create new ways for teachers to inspire students. In fact, they’re already being used to do just that.

The metaverse is the next evolution of the internet. It spans a range of technologies, including VR headsets that transport you to whole new environments, AR glasses that will one day project computer-generated images onto the world around you, and mixed reality (MR) experiences that blend both physical and virtual environments. These technologies create a more immersive, 3D experience where you feel like you are right there with another person or in another place.

Technologies that create a sense of presence and shared space offer new ways for teachers to do what they do best – teach. While it is still early days for these technologies, we’re already seeing promising signs of the impact they can have. A recent report by PwC found that 40% of VR learners are more confident in applying what they’ve been taught, and 150% more engaged during classes. The XR Association (XRA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) found that 77% of educators believe immersive technologies ignite curiosity and improve engagement in class.

In a randomized control study of the VR mathematics program Prisms, students learning in VR had test scores 11% higher than those in the control group. The study also found an increase in students’ confidence, engagement and ability to describe mathematical concepts. And Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, which has been an early adopter of VR, found that students who learned in VR had an average final test score of 85, versus 78 in person and 81 for traditional online methods. They also found an uplift in student attendance and engagement.

We want more and more teachers and students to benefit from these technologies. That’s why, as students return for the new academic year, we’re announcing a new partnership program to help college students in the US learn using VR and testing more ways to make it easier for Meta Quest users to find educational resources in the Meta Quest store.

US University Program

We are collaborating with 15 universities across the US who are actively embracing immersive learning. The universities are each conducting classroom sessions and exercises in virtual reality to examine how immersive technologies can contribute to the future of education. They include:

Stanford University, which is using the BodySwaps app to teach its Business School students soft skills, like how to have a difficult conversation or how to nail an interview.
Arizona State University, which is using VR so students can practice having conversations in a new language in different virtual environments.
New Mexico State University, which is using VR across a range of subjects, including criminal justice where students investigate virtual crime scenes.
University of Iowa, which is using VR to help business students with soft skills training.
Purdue Global, which will be training nurses in virtual simulations of hospitals.
University of Alabama at Birmingham, which is teaching business courses in their virtual campus in partnership with VictoryXR.
Nova Southern University, which is using VR to teach its first year medical students about organs in the human body.
Miami Dade College, which has created a virtual campus and is teaching VR-enhanced courses in areas like music, architecture, research, chemistry and biology.
Morehouse College, which has established a digital twin campus to teach classes across a range of subjects including chemistry, biology, business, and journalism.

Education Shelves in Meta Quest Store

There are a range of education-related apps available for Meta Quest across an extensive range of topics including science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM), history, language and more. To help parents, teachers and students more easily find age-appropriate education content in the Meta Quest store as they return to school, we are looking at new ways to help spotlight the apps available and are testing dedicated shelves in the store over this period.

Image of language-learning apps in the Meta Quest store

Growing Momentum for VR Education Tools in Europe

We’re also seeing encouraging signs of educators embracing metaverse technologies in Europe. In Italy, as part of national education investments, schools can integrate immersive experiences into their lessons with digital and virtual technologies. Also in Italy, University of Camerino will host its first course conducted entirely in the metaverse in the coming term, with both students and the tutor joining the classes via VR headsets.

Europe is also home to a growing sector of companies developing education apps and software for metaverse technologies.

In Germany and Austria, GoStudent is revolutionizing language learning through virtual reality. With their foreign language classes, GoVR, students can transport themselves to virtual learning environments that simulate real-life settings. These environments enable students to interact live with native-speaking tutors and classmates from across the country.
In Italy, Itaca Education works with teachers to develop virtual learning experiences for subjects like natural sciences and physics. This way, students can immerse themselves in science laboratories filled with equipment that most schools would never be able to afford.
And in the UK, Noun Town is an award-winning education app using gameplay to remove the grind from learning new languages, including Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Chinese.

We remain hugely optimistic about the impact metaverse technologies can have – and are already having – on education. But for everyone to benefit from the incredible opportunities these technologies open up, governments and other institutions need to embrace them and utilize them across public education systems. Above all, it is skilled teachers who know best how to inspire their students. Getting this equipment into their hands is the necessary starting point. If we, collectively, get this right, the opportunities to inspire students in new and exciting ways are endless.

Quelle:

Metaverse Technologies Are Creating New Opportunities for Teachers to Inspire Students

19. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

HaptX partners with Y-12 National Security Complex to advance nuclear operations training

HaptX Inc., a provider of lifelike touch feedback technology, has today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS), an american federal contractor that operates U.S. nuclear weapons related facilities, to collaboratively advance virtual reality (VR) technology and speed its use to support U.S. Government training missions. HaptX co-founder, Professor Robert Crockett made the announcement in a presentation to U.S. government representatives at the Augmented and Virtual Reality Policy Conference.

CNS manages and operates the Y-12 National Security Complex located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Pantex Plant, located in Amarillo, Texas, for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. Y-12 was built as part of the Manhattan Project for the purpose of enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs, and is considered the birthplace of the atomic bomb. In the years following World War II, it has been operated as a manufacturing facility for nuclear weapons components and related defense purposes (view source).

The newly constructed Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) in Tennessee trains those responsible for safeguarding nuclear and radioactive material in the U.S., as well as first responders and other experts in nuclear operations, safeguards, cyber, and emergency response. ORETTC is leading Y-12’s efforts in augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and extended reality (XR), according to HaptX.

As a result of the MOU, Y-12 is integrating HaptX Gloves to enhance the sense of immersion in VR training sessions. In addition, HaptX engineers will collaborate with Y-12 staff to support ongoing improvement of virtual training environments and application features. HaptX stated that Y-12 selected its HaptX Gloves in order to enable natural interaction and true-contact haptics, which are vital for enterprise-scale training environments involving complex, precise procedures.

“This collaborative approach brings together government and industry to research AR, VR, and XR technologies that will expand the scope and speed of technology development,” said Ashley Stowe, ORETTC director.

Screenshot of virtual environment for Y-12 National Security Center glovebox operator training, recently developed by Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center in collaboration with HaptX, Inc., and the University of Central Florida. The Y-12 training simulation implements HaptX Gloves to enable natural interaction and realistic, multiuser haptics for learning complex, precise procedures.

The first collaborative Y-12 HaptX prototype is a virtual glovebox simulator—a first-responder training system that uses haptics to demonstrate high-hazard, low-occurrence response scenarios. The glovebox containment units will allow workers wearing protective, arm-length gloves to manipulate hazardous materials in a controlled environment. Learning glovebox skills and techniques is critically important, and a success factor for training is replicating the realism of the strain without the danger, HaptX stated.

“It has been a truly collaborative journey working with HaptX to develop the glovebox trainer,” Stowe added. “Working in a glovebox is not familiar to most new hires. Incorporating the HaptX gloves enhances the training experience to prepare trainees to work with hazardous materials with restricted mobility without introducing the hazard to the trainee.

“This partnership is a game-changer as we build the nuclear workforce of tomorrow,” continued Stowe. “The multiuser haptics functionality allows us to train crews of engineers, scientists, and operators to work together to complete manufacturing tasks.”

To replicate realistic touch, Y-12 instructional designers implemented the HaptX Gloves DK2 Development Kit. They are among the first to deploy the new multiuser haptics feature in the HaptX Software Development Kit, which allows multiple users to work in the same virtual environment and feel the same objects, regardless of physical location.

“We are proud and inspired to collaborate with Y-12 to develop a safer way to help nuclear engineers and scientists become even more effective in their operations,” said Professor Robert Crockett, co-founder of HaptX. “They are taking bold steps toward deploying touch simulation in systems that help build real muscle memory, physical dexterity, and situational awareness.”

HaptX will demonstrate the Y-12 glovebox training simulator at today’s ARVR Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., and at upcoming exhibitions. To learn more about HaptX and its haptic feedback technology, please visit the company’s website.

Quelle:

HaptX partners with Y-12 National Security Complex to advance nuclear operations training

Image credit: HaptX / ORETTC

18. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Virtual Reality Training is Transforming the Workplace

While virtual reality training is not new for the technology, the way in which virtual reality is being adopted and utilized by enterprise organizations is evolving rapidly. What was once a medium primarily used for teenagers to slash fruits and swipe boxes that approached in rapid succession, has now become a medium in which brands can eliminate risk for dangerous professions and avoid injury overall by using digital twins and digital transformation. Simply put, VR is changing the workplace in countless ways, and today we’re going to dive into all the aspects in which VR is proving beneficial in the workplace.

As previously mentioned, the ability to generate a zero-risk and harm-free environment has countless benefits for workers, especially if there is an inherent risk to their profession. By using virtual worlds, employers can now onboard employees for jobs that pose a high degree of risk and eliminate on-the-job injury altogether. By simulating a hazardous environment, enterprises can now have employees that may not have the experience of a senior role, learn through a digital double of a real-world job process that in the past could pose a critical risk.

A real-world example of this can be seen in the utility sector, where workers deal with all kinds of dangerous situations. Consider for a second a damaged or downed wire situation where a utility worker has to deal with live electricity, and where one wrong move can have them electrocuted causing drastic injury or even worse. By creating a digital double of this scenario, utility companies can simulate the hazardous job without any risk whatsoever. This leads to employees being better prepared for the real world when they have to respond to an emergency situation that is inherently dangerous.

Full Case Study Available Here

Another area that is paramount to the adoption of VR for training has been with being able to standardize workflows. Having a set course where no instructor is needed allows employers to optimize learning outcomes in a way that just wasn’t possible before. This allows for faster compliance and the ability to surpass audits with ease — which then leads to the ability to train more people faster and at scale. This foundation for training allows for integration across multiple functions in the enterprise, which will lead to much more technical training success as users can replay scenarios without fail as many times as needed to harness the material.

VR has the potential to take many industries to the next level by changing the way employers onboard new employees for technical training roles, where senior instructors may not be readily available. Overall this creates increased retention and allows for faster learning through exposure than ever before. The ability to replay recorded sessions at length gives learners a new way to learn – by doing, as many times as necessary to become confident before leaving the proverbial metaverse. These immersive 1-to-1 environments will many times mimic the real world, so the dilution from the virtual world to the real one becomes less of an issue.

This leads to a dramatic cut in costs for training and onboarding employees. Not only does this save time and money for employers, but it also saves time for the employee, giving them a unique way to learn material that has previously never been available. This increases not only ROI but also cuts back on space requirements that were previously required for training dojos. While ROI increases, insurance premiums get lowered and the savings start to add up tremendously. This not only impacts the bottom line but is also helping with overall travel expenses for corporations as many times learners can have a VR headset sent to them wherever they are located which leads to not only savings but less of an impact on their environmental footprint.

While the benefits are seemingly endless, VR training still does have its challenges. With true VR adoption, there are definitely costs of software development and hardware to be considered, especially at scale. One of the biggest hurdles to VR adoption is the lack of understanding of the technology in the market today. The use cases are scarce and it’s hard for brands to envision the benefits without seeing what someone else has already done in their sector. Let’s not forget that just over a decade ago this technology didn’t exist — or was extremely bulky and hard to manage. Although, the way the hardware is evolving it will only be a matter of time for adoption to hit the mainstream. I expect to see more adoption in our post-pandemic world as any tools that can make learning more enjoyable and make travel less of a requirement will increase user acceptance.

Quelle:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/virtual-reality-training-transforming-workplace-roni-cerga%3FtrackingId=3bO9ftHluQRQakdcjOVOzg%253D%253D/?trackingId=3bO9ftHluQRQakdcjOVOzg%3D%3D

18. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

3D/VR-Welten: Die Revolution der Markenpräsentation durch interaktive Geschichten in 3D/VR-Space

Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der Grenzen verschwimmen, Geschichten lebendig werden und Lernen und Arbeiten zu einem immersiven Erlebnis verschmelzen. Willkommen in der 3D/VR-Revolution, wo Marken nicht nur gesehen, sondern gefühlt, erlebt und gemeinsam gestaltet werden.

Tauchen Sie ein in eine neue Dimension der Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation! Stellen Sie sich eine Website vor, die nicht nur informiert, sondern Sie in eine andere Dimension entführt.

Entdecken Sie den „Torsten Fell Space 2.0“ – eine revolutionäre 3D/VR-Welt, die direkt in Ihrem Browser, auf Ihrem Mobilgerät oder mit einer VR-Brille erlebbar ist. Erleben Sie unser Firmenlogo wie nie zuvor: Als beeindruckendes 3D-Objekt, das die faszinierenden Welten von 360°, VR, AR und MR zum Leben erweckt. Und das ist noch nicht alles: Wir führen Sie durch die verschiedenen Entwicklungsstufen immersiver Technologien, die in den unterschiedlichen Zuständen unseres Logos dargestellt werden. Dies ist nicht nur eine Website – es ist ein Erlebnisraum, der die Grenzen des Möglichen verschiebt und Ihre Marke in einem völlig neuen Licht präsentiert. Seien Sie gespannt und lassen Sie sich von der Zukunft der digitalen Interaktion begeistern!

Die digitale Evolution der Markenpräsentation

In einer Zeit, in der die Digitalisierung rasant fortschreitet, suchen Unternehmen ständig nach innovativen Wegen, um ihre Brands hervorzuheben. 3D/VR-Welten bieten hier eine bahnbrechende Möglichkeit, Marken durch interaktive Geschichten, Lern- und Arbeitswelten zum Leben zu erwecken.

3D/VR-Welten: Mehr als nur Technologie

Die Einführung von 3D/VR-Technologien in den Unternehmensbereich geht weit über beeindruckende Grafiken und realistische Simulationen hinaus. Es geht darum, Geschichten zu erzählen, die die Zuschauer fesseln und sie in eine Welt entführen, in der sie lernen, arbeiten und kollaborieren können.

Geschichten im Mittelpunkt: Emotionalität trifft auf Interaktivität

Brands, die in der Lage sind, emotionale Geschichten zu erzählen, bleiben im Gedächtnis. Durch 3D/VR-Welten werden diese Geschichten nicht nur erzählt, sondern erlebt. Der Nutzer wird zum Protagonisten, der die Geschichte aktiv mitgestaltet und beeinflusst.

Lern- und Arbeitswelten der Zukunft: Räumlich, Interaktiv, Kollaborativ

Stellen Sie sich vor, Sie betreten einen virtuellen Raum, in dem Sie Interessierte zufällig treffen könnten und in Kontakt kämen. Daraus könnten neue Beratungs-/Verkaufs-Situationen oder Bewerbergespräche entstehen. Sie könnten in den Spaces mit Kollegen*innen oder Kooperationspartnern aus der ganzen Welt zusammenarbeiten, neue Fähigkeiten erlernen und komplexe Probleme in Echtzeit lösen. 3D/VR-Welten bieten genau das – eine Plattform, auf der Lernen und Arbeiten Hand in Hand gehen und die Grenzen des physischen Raums überschreiten.

Vorteile für Unternehmen: Warum 3D/VR-Welten unverzichtbar sind

Markendifferenzierung: In einer überfluteten Markenlandschaft ermöglicht die 3D/VR-Technologie Unternehmen, sich durch einzigartige Erlebnisse abzuheben.
Engagement steigern: Interaktive Geschichten fördern das Engagement und die Bindung der Nutzer an die Marke.
Effizientes Lernen und Arbeiten: Durch räumliche und kollaborative VR-Umgebungen können Teams effizienter arbeiten und schneller lernen.

Die Zukunft der Markenpräsentation ist räumlich

3D/VR-Welten sind nicht nur ein Trend, sondern die Zukunft der Markenpräsentation. Unternehmen, die diese Technologie nutzen, um Geschichten zu erzählen und interaktive Lern- und Arbeitsumgebungen zu schaffen, werden in der digitalen Landschaft von morgen führend sein.

Um Anregungen und Umsetzungen zu erleben, wurde ein Space geschaffen, in dem das Logo von mir die zentrale Rolle spielt – unter https://www.torstenfell.space finden Sie eine im Browser, auf dem Mobile Device oder in einer VR-Brille begehbare Welt. Es gibt viel zu entdecken und zu lernen – Viel Spass beim Besuchen dieser.

Quelle:

Torsten Fell

15. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Neue Konzepte für die digitale Ausbildung

Die zunehmende Digitalisierung in der Arbeitswelt verändert berufliches Lehren und Lernen. Die aktuelle Ausgabe der Fachzeitschrift „B&B Agrar“ gibt praxisnahe Einblicke in digitale Lernwelten und zeigt, wie sich digitale Tools, insbesondere Virtual Reality, sinnvoll und innovativ in Lehr- und Lernprozesse integrieren lassen.

Das Virtual Reality Education Center Hannover (VRECH) bietet wertvolle Ressourcen, um landwirtschaftliches Ausbildungs- und Lehrpersonal in die Ära der Immersion zu führen. So können beispielsweise angehende Landwirtinnen und Landwirte gemeinsam in virtuellen Umgebungen auf einem Bauernhof arbeiten und reale Situationen simulieren, um alltagsrelevante Fähigkeiten zu erlernen.

Virtual Reality in Land- und Hauswirtschaft sowie Gartenbau

Die Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Gartenbau (LVG) in Heidelberg hat den digitalen Wissenstransfer weiterentwickelt, sodass im Fachschulunterricht Virtual Reality-Technologien Rundgänge durch Gartenbaukulturen oder Motorsägen-Trainings ermöglichen und so virtuelle Lernräume zur Baumpflege schaffen. Digitale Kursangebote unterstützen Berufspraktiker bei der Umstellung auf torfreduzierte Substrate oder auf den ökologischen Gartenbau.

B&B Agrar stellt außerdem Virtual Reality-Anwendungen für die Fachpraktiker-Ausbildung in der Hauswirtschaft vor. Diese Anwendungen ermöglichen es, neben dem Sammeln wertvoller Erfahrungen spielerisch an die Arbeiten und Lerninhalte heranzugehen.

Alle Beiträge zum Schwerpunktthema „Digitale Lernwelten – Neue Konzepte für die Ausbildungspraxis“ finden sich in der neuen Ausgabe von „B&B Agrar – Die Zeitschrift für Bildung und Beratung“ unter www.bub-agrar.de.

„B&B Agrar“ ist die einzige Fachzeitschrift, die sich bundesweit mit Bildung und Beratung im Agrarbereich beschäftigt. Sie wird von dem in der Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE) angesiedelten Bundesinformationszentrum Landwirtschaft (BZL) redaktionell betreut und publiziert.

Quelle:

https://www.dega-gartenbau.de/aktuelles/news-gartenbau/neue-konzepte-fuer-die-digitale-ausbildung,QUlEPTc3MDE2MDAmTUlEPTE3NzcyNg.html

www.bub-agrar.de (c)BLE

15. September 2023 0 comment

Examples Metaverse

CelcomDigi and South Korea’s VIRNECT to co-create industrial virtual learning programmes based on AI and metaverse

CelcomDigi Bhd (CelcomDigi) and South Korea’s VIRNECT are working together to co-create industrial virtual learning programmes using metaverse and AI-based solutions, for multiple Malaysian universities.

The collaboration aims to produce industry-ready graduates who are skilled in metaverse applications, accelerating the development of Malaysia’s future talents with AI-based digital growth.

VIRNECT is a South Korea-based technology company that specialises in the development and commercialisation of industrial extended reality (XR) solutions.

Using the Metaverse platform across various learning segments, students will be trained with an immersive learning and education method that will potentially benefit enterprises such as cybersecurity, healthcare, robotics, as well as oil and gas engineering.

CelcomDigi chief executive officer Datuk Idham Nawawi said the collaboration will allow them to leverage Metaverse, 5G and AI technology, to potentially establish innovative and productive digital solutions for Malaysian enterprises, spurring Malaysia’s digital ecosystem into a new era of digital leadership.

CelcomDigi via its Innovation Center aspires to build the nation’s most inspiring innovation ecosystem by teaming up with VIRNECT and XRA, VIRNECT’s local partner and support team in Malaysia, to deliver strategic initiatives leveraging from the capabilities of cutting-edge metaverse and AI-based technology solutions into higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Quelle:

https://www.nst.com.my/business/2023/09/953371/celcomdigi-and-south-koreas-virnect-co-create-industrial-virtual-learning

15. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

VR Einsatz in Krankenhäusern

VR steht für Virtual Reality, eine Technologie, die es ermöglicht, eine künstliche Welt zu erschaffen und zu erleben. VR wird in der Medizin immer häufiger eingesetzt, um Patienten und Ärzten zu helfen. Hier sind einige Beispiele für VR-Anwendungen in der Medizin:

VR gegen Schmerzen:

VR kann Patienten ablenken, die unter starken Schmerzen leiden, zum Beispiel bei Verbrennungen oder Verbandwechseln. Mit einer VR-Brille können sie in eine andere Umgebung eintauchen, die angenehm oder spannend ist. Studien haben gezeigt, dass VR die Schmerzwahrnehmung reduzieren kann.

VR gegen Angststörungen:

VR kann Patienten mit Angststörungen oder Phobien konfrontieren, die sie in der realen Welt vermeiden würden. Zum Beispiel können Patienten mit Höhenangst auf einem virtuellen Hochhaus stehen oder Patienten mit Spinnenphobie mit virtuellen Spinnen interagieren. Die Therapeuten können die Situationen kontrollieren und anpassen, um die Patienten schrittweise an ihre Ängste zu gewöhnen. VR-Therapien haben sich als wirksam und kostengünstig erwiesen.

VR bei der Reha:

VR kann Patienten helfen, die nach einem Schlaganfall, einer Verletzung oder einer Erkrankung ihre motorischen Fähigkeiten wiedererlangen müssen. Mit VR können sie Übungen machen, die ihre Beweglichkeit, Koordination und Balance verbessern. VR kann auch das Feedback und die Motivation erhöhen, indem es den Patienten Fortschritte und Belohnungen zeigt.

VR für Ärzte:

VR kann Ärzten helfen, ihre Fertigkeiten zu trainieren oder zu verbessern, ohne reale Patienten zu gefährden. Mit VR können sie Operationen simulieren, anatomische Modelle studieren oder seltene Fälle üben. VR kann auch die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Ärzten aus verschiedenen Orten erleichtern.

VR ist also eine vielversprechende Technologie für die Medizin, die viele Vorteile bietet. Allerdings gibt es auch einige Herausforderungen und Risiken, die beachtet werden müssen. Zum Beispiel können einige Patienten Nebenwirkungen wie Übelkeit, Schwindel oder Desorientierung erleben. Außerdem müssen ethische Fragen wie der Datenschutz, die Verantwortung oder die Qualitätssicherung geklärt werden. VR ist noch eine relativ neue Technologie, die weiter erforscht und entwickelt werden muss, um ihr volles Potenzial auszuschöpfen.

Quelle:

VR Einsatz in Krankenhäusern

15. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Geschichte der Textilindustrie meets VR

Das Museum Neuthal in Bäretswil ist bekannt für ihre Ausstellungen zur Industrialisierung und die Geschichte der Textilindustrie im Zürcher Oberland. Vom 10. September bis 1. Oktober zeigt das Museum jeweils am Sonntag den Virtual Reality (VR) Film «Hanni und die stürmischen Zeiten des Kanton Zürichs».

Im Zürcher Oberländer Museum Neuthal können Besuchende in die Geschichte der Menschen, Bauten und Technik, welche die Region und weite Teile der Schweiz geprägt hat, eintauchen. So können Interessierte unter anderem den Produktionsprozess für ein Stück Stoff mit funktionierenden historischen Maschinen erleben.

Für eine kurze Dauer lädt das Museum Besuchende jetzt ein, einen VR Film zu geniessen, der die spektakulären Veränderungen im Kanton Zürich im 19. Jahrhundert zeigt. Erzählt wir die Geschichte anhand einer fiktiven Person namens Hanni, die alle Umwälzungen selbst erlebt hat. Die Zuschauer tauche ein in die Frühzeit der Schweizer Textilindustrie, den Eisenbau und in den Kampf um mehr soziale Errungenschaften.

Der Film ist im Museumsticket inbegriffen.

Quelle:

Museum Neuthal

14. September 2023 0 comment

Examples

Meta’s VR technology is helping to train surgeons and treat patients, though costs remain a hurdle

Surgeons are using Meta’s Quest 2 to simulate procedures, allowing doctors to practice from home.
Virtual reality technologies have gained adoption in the area of pain management.
Medical schools are starting to insert VR into the curriculum.

Just days before assisting in his first major shoulder-replacement surgery last year, Dr. Jake Shine strapped on a virtual reality headset and got to work.

As a third-year orthopedics resident at Kettering Health Dayton in Ohio, Shine was standing in the medical center’s designated VR lab with his attending physician, who would oversee the procedure.

Both doctors were wearing Meta Quest 2 headsets as they walked through a 3D simulation of the surgery. The procedure, called a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, can last around two hours and requires surgeons to carefully navigate around neurovascular structures and the lungs.

After the mock procedure, Shine took his headset home to practice. He did so roughly twice a day before the surgery.

„You can really fine-tune and learn what to do, but also what definitely not to do, with zero risk to the patient,“ Shine told CNBC in an interview.

Ultimately, there were no complications in the procedure and the patient made a full recovery, he said.

„Anecdotally, I think it went smoother and quicker than it would have,“ Shine said, than if the attending physician „was having to walk me through every step in the case the same way that he did in the VR.“

While consumer VR remains a niche product and a massive money-burning venture for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the technology is proving to be valuable in certain corners of health care. Kettering Health Dayton is one of dozens of health systems in the U.S. working with emerging technologies like VR as one tool for helping doctors to train on and treat patients.

The broad category of „extended reality“ includes fully immersive VR headsets like the Quest 2, and augmented reality (AR) devices, where the user can see a digital overlay on top of real-world surroundings.

Whether the nascent technology can ever be cost-effective across the medical industry is very much an open question, but early tests are showing the potential utility of VR in helping to improve health outcomes.

Meta, then known as Facebook, entered the market with the purchase of Oculus in 2014. Three years later, the company introduced its first stand-alone headset. In 2021, Facebook rebranded as Meta, and Zuckerberg committed to spending billions, betting the metaverse would be „the next chapter for the internet.“ Since the beginning of last year, Meta’s Reality Labs unit, which develops the company’s VR and AR, has lost over $21 billion.

Apple is preparing to enter the VR market, going after the higher-end user with the $3,500 Vision Pro that’s expected to debut early next year. Meta is slated to release the Meta Quest 3 as soon as next month.

An Apple spokesperson didn’t provide a comment on potential uses in health care and directed CNBC to an announcement in June regarding Vision Pro’s software developer kit. In that announcement, Jan Herzhoff, Elsevier Health’s president, is quoted as saying that her company’s Complete HeartX mixed reality offering „will help prepare medical students for clinical practice by using hyper-realistic 3D models and animations that help them understand and visualize medical issues, such as ventricular fibrillation, and how to apply their knowledge with patients.“

Extended reality as treatment for patients

To date, one of the primary applications of VR in health care has been targeted at pain treatment.

„It’s very hard to keep track of pain when you’re in a fantastical cyberdelic world,“ said Dr. Brennan Spiegel, director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

Spiegel said that when someone is injured, there is both a physical and an emotional component to their pain. Those signals are sent to two different parts of the brain, and VR can serve to tamp down the signals in both regions.

„It’s training people how to modify their spotlight of attention so they can swing it away from the painful experiences,“ Spiegel said. „Not just the physical, but the emotional experiences.“

Spiegel said Cedars-Sinai is preparing to launch a virtual platform to help people with gastrointestinal issues like Crohn’s disease, celiac disease or acid reflux, as well as others for anxiety, addiction and perimenopausal health.

The technology has also attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is using extended reality at more than 160 facilities to help patients with pain management, behavioral therapy and both physical and cognitive rehabilitation.

Caitlin Rawlins, the immersive program manager at the VA, said there are currently more than 40 separate use cases for the technology across the agency’s different sites. The VA first introduced extended reality in a limited capacity around 2015, and has found more opportunities to put it to use as the technology has improved.

„I’ve seen it change a whole lot,“ Rawlins told CNBC in an interview. „The first virtual reality headset that I used was this big clunky headset that had all these wires it had to be connected to a laptop to function.“

Rawlins said what drew her to extended reality was seeing the immediate response from patients. She recalled the first time she watched a patient use VR. He was a man in his 80s who had just undergone knee replacement surgery. The pain was so severe that opioids didn’t help, Rawlins said.

After mere minutes in VR, he told Rawlins he couldn’t feel the pain in his leg anymore.

„Just using that for a simple 30-minute session can mean the difference between excruciating pain, unable to do the exercises and the ambulation that they need to, to actually get up and move and get ready to go home,“ she said.

Rawlins described another patient as a „surly“ wheelchair-bound Army veteran who was experiencing some cognitive decline. The VA had the patient try VR to see if it could lessen the need for antipsychotic medications.

With the headset on, Rawlins had the patient navigate through a virtual nature scene, walking through the woods, climbing rocks and interacting with birds and deer. Rawlins said the patient was smiling and laughing and was transformed into a „completely different person.“

„To see a patient who has been wheelchair-bound for like 15 years getting to walk through the woods and interact with animals again, it was a pretty powerful moment,“ Rawlins said. „Those are the sort of experiences that we keep seeing over and over and over again.“

Both Spiegel and Rawlins said their organizations are hardware agnostic, meaning they can use headsets made by Meta, Apple or any other company as long as they can support the right software.

Spiegel said there’s „potentially millions and millions of people who might be willing to actually buy a headset“ but who see them as a gaming and entertainment devices and have no idea about the health applications.

Meta has loosely identified health care as a target market. The company has released case studies and promoted short videos depicting futuristic surgeons in training.

However, it doesn’t appear to be as much a priority as gaming and entertainment. For example, while Cedars-Sinai can technically make its software available in the Meta Quest Store, users would have to go to a section of the store called the App Lab to access it. Software in the App Lab is not marketed traditionally or as easily discoverable via search.

Meta didn’t provide a comment, directing CNBC to a post on Sept. 7, about uses of metaverse technology. The post says: „Training for surgery is just one of the many industries being transformed in ways that are positively impacting lives.“

‚Together in the virtual world‘

Doctors at Kettering Health Dayton practice with VR headsets.Source: Kettering Health Dayton

The technology is also becoming a fixture in many medical schools and residency programs.

At Kettering Health Dayton, VR recently became a mandatory component of the curriculum for first-year orthopedics residents. In July, the new doctors completed a monthlong „boot camp,“ where they carried out clinical services in the mornings and practiced in VR in the afternoons. They now have to complete at least three modules a week in VR with a score of over 70%.

For more senior level residents like Shine, VR training is not yet mandatory, but Kettering Health Dayton is actively working to build it into each level of the program.

„The way I trained in the late 80s, I mean, basically you read the books,“ said Dr. Brent Bamberger, the director of the orthopedic surgery residency program at Kettering Health Dayton. „We didn’t have the videos at that time. You may go to a lecture, you may get lucky and have a specimen lab or some type of lab to do it, but you were learning by watching.“

Dr. Reem Daboul, a first-year resident at the hospital, said headsets can’t replicate the physical feeling of a procedure. But she’s found them very useful in important ways. She can already use a headset to walk through the steps of an anterior hip replacement, which many orthopedic surgeons don’t learn until their third year of residency or later.

„Being able to have something help me and see what I’m supposed to be doing and be able to walk through the steps, it’s been super helpful for me,“ Daboul said in an interview.

For its orthopedics program, Kettering Health Dayton uses software developed by PrecisionOS, a company that builds VR modules for training surgeons, medical residents and medical device representatives. PrecisionOS co-founder and CEO, Dr. Danny Goel, said the company has nearly 80 customers across the globe.

Orthopedics residents at the University of Rochester also use PrecisionOS. Dr. Richard Miller, a retired professor at the university, said the software is „sophisticated“ and „very realistic,“ especially as a way to learn the steps of a procedure. He finds it so compelling that he’s been actively helping the orthopedics department implement the technology even though he retired three years ago.

Miller said the VR is a useful way for residents to hone their skills without having to immediately deal with operating room pressures. They can also practice at home.

„I can be at home in my study at night, and they can be in their dorm at night, and we can do a procedure together in the virtual world,“ Miller said.

Despite VR’s advantages, Miller said the software has to be able to update frequently to stay current with standards of care, best practices and surgery techniques.

„Next year, they may change the procedure a little bit, now you have other tools and things are a little bit different. Who’s going to change that? Who’s going to bring it up to date?“ Miller said.

Those are important questions for quality of care. They’re also important because hospitals generally have to work on tight budgets, and the costs aren’t always clear.

„I can’t get straight answers from anybody, really, as to exactly how much it costs and who does what,“ Miller said. „It’s got to be a hurdle.“

PrecisionOS declined to share specific pricing information with CNBC. Goel said costs of using the company’s software vary based on the institution and the partnership.

Kettering’s Bamberger said that in addition to the software challenges, the hardware is still rather „clunky.“ Others in his field also see the limitations.

Dr. Rafael Grossmann, a surgeon at Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire, has spent much of his career educating people about health-care applications for emerging technologies like extended reality.

In 2013, Grossmann became the first person to use the infamous Google Glass during a surgery as a way to stream the procedure, with the patient’s consent, into a room of students. Google had built a lightweight AR device that displayed tiny bits of information on a transparent screen in the user’s field of view. It was first sold to developers and early adopters in 2013 for $1,500, and quickly captured the imagination of tech enthusiasts.

But Glass never took off. The built-in camera led to fights over privacy, and the product became the butt of jokes on late-night television.

Ten years later, Grossmann said he now sees a substantial market for the technology, particularly within health care. He said headsets have improved dramatically, even if they’re still bulky and not entirely functional for doctors.

„The interface is better than it was three years ago, but it’s certainly not ideal for really any sort of health-care setting,“ Grossmann said. $A gallery assistant wearing an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headset to view the House of Fine Art (HOFA) Metaverse gallery stands in front of digital artwork "Agoria, _{Compend-AI-M}_ 2022 #16" during a preview in Mayfair, London, UK, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022.$ A gallery assistant wearing an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headset to view the House of Fine Art (HOFA) Metaverse gallery stands in front of digital artwork „Agoria, _{Compend-AI-M}_ 2022 #16“ during a preview in Mayfair, London, UK, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. Hollie Adams | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A growing area of research

As with all technology in health care, extended reality is going to have to clear regulatory hurdles.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a small team of researchers that are responsible for carrying out „regulatory science“ around the technology.

Ryan Beams, a physicist at the FDA, conducts this research alongside a team, consulting with a range of experts about emerging AR, VR and mixed reality devices. As a result, Beams said the FDA is able to help establish general best practices for how to test promising devices and bring them to market safely.

„We can say these are the tests we need done, these are the kinds of ways you should do the tests, and then we can help the companies get through those,“ Beams told CNBC. „What you don’t want is a device that potentially could help someone getting delayed because there’s uncertainty about how to go about doing the testing.“

Spiegel of Cedars-Sinai also helped co-found a new medical society called the American Medical Extended Reality Association in late 2022. He said it was created as a way for physicians, clinicians and other health-care professionals to help guide the future of the field.

The society currently has about 300 paying members, a number Spiegel hopes will reach into the thousands in the coming years. It’s also gearing up to launch its first official peer-reviewed journal called the Journal of Medical Extended Reality.

„This is not fringe science anymore. This is now mainstream,“ Spiegel said. „There’s still a lot of work to do. It’s not like this is a done deal, cake’s not baked, but we’ve seen massive advances on many levels that make this a real science now.“

Quelle:

Foto:

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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14. September 2023 0 comment