2019 was a mega year for both virtual and augmented reality, together, in the broad spectrum of extended reality (XR). For the past several years, VR has been a niche industry. Although big corporations like Facebook, Microsoft, HTC, and other firms have collectively pumped billions of dollars into developing the ecosystem via VR headsets and AR tools but developers haven’t seemed very interested in developing a robust ecosystem of VR/AR apps. The one exception is games of course, which seems to be this vertical’s area of market-strength. Most people’s first experiences of VR and AR today are likely to be in gaming and entertainment. That’s changing, as research shows that the development of enterprise XR solutions is overtaking. The 2020 XR Industry Insight report collated by VR Intelligence states that 65% of the AR companies surveyed said they are working on industrial applications, while only 37% are working on consumer products and software.
It wasn’t always this way. In fact, there was a time when pundits predicted that VR would go mainstream sooner rather than later. Today, the potential uses for these technologies in healthcare and wellbeing are obvious, and over 2020 we can expect to see many of these uses transition from trials and pilots and gradually into general use.
Case Studies
Virtual reality has already been adopted in therapy, where it has been used to treat patients with phobias and anxiety disorders. VR is also used to help people with developmental disabilities to help develop social and communication skills, as well as to diagnose patients with cognitive impairments, by tracking their eye movement. SyncThink, which uses a virtual reality headset and eye-tracking to perform neurotechnology and brain health analytics, said it has partnered with two clinic chains that can use the tech to evaluate patients for brain health and concussion risk. Start-ups like Comprehensive Concussion Care (C3) and Brain Fitness Centers of Florida use the VR-based Eye-Sync system to help diagnose patients who have cognitive impairment or possible concussions.
Since COVID-19, the XR world which looks significantly virtual is headed strongly towards this vertical and has lots to offer. For many, the loneliness caused by compulsory isolation will begin to take its toll eventually. Boston startup, XR Health has been offering VR telehealth services since the outbreak. They have now begun harnessing XR to offer healthcare professionals the opportunity to interact with their patients and monitor their conditions remotely, eliminating the need for personal exposure. These patients can benefit from a range of breathing exercises, guided meditation, 360 film, physical activity, cognitive exercises, as well as support groups with other patients, where they are able to share experiences & discuss their fears to help cope in isolation.
Training in XR
While COVID-19 is occurring, many doctors and nurses are being drafted to manage COVID-19 and many other types of patients— those with heart attacks, strokes, gastrointestinal bleeding and other emergencies. To help assist these struggling hospitals in training staff, Oxford Medical Simulation has begun offering its medical training platform free-of-charge during the COVID-19 pandemic to U.S., Canada, and U.K. facilities in need of assistance with patient care. Since allowing free access, the VR simulation training has been adopted by more than 50 hospitals with a combined total of 17,000 students and staff. These medical professionals are now using the VR simulations to brush up on their skills via a series of randomized training scenarios. There is this huge need to train people up quickly, whether they are in the medical profession or whether they are coming back to the profession to help during the pandemic. Another successful case scenario is that of Oxford VR’s social engagement program which applies cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques within an immersive virtual reality setting that tasks patients with completing various objectives. Oxford VR (OVR) launched the social engagement app, a progressive behavioral health intervention using virtual reality technology to help individuals overcome anxious social avoidance — prevalent in multiple mental health conditions including agoraphobia, panic disorder, social anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and schizophrenia. According to Oxford VR, anxious social avoidance is a major unmet need in mental healthcare.
Disrupting Mindfulness
Seth, the co-director of the University of Sussex’s Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, has been studying a fundamental scientific problem for most of his career: the question of how consciousness happens.
Seth has been experimenting with virtual reality. “It’s been a longstanding goal that came about when trying to understand, from a neuroscience perspective, the notion of presence, the question of how and why we typically experience things are being real, as in really existing in the world. When we start asking that question, VR becomes an important experimental tool.” Seth uses VR to manipulate the way we experience our existence, being ourselves and the holistic experience of embodiment. Seth says. “The potential for VR in neuroscience is enormous and is just getting going. In five years, it’s going to be game changing.”
A parallel example of understanding that ownership is Personalized virtual reality (VR) technology, which enables new forms of self-reflection. In a successful case study, a collaborative team of researchers, led by experts from the University of Sheffield, are pioneering a highly personalized, therapeutic VR tool LifePathVR where people with common mental health problems can create an immersive version of their own journey through life.The tool allows people to capture life events, upload relevant digital content and reflect on their thoughts and feelings in a narrative approach .While helping with better mental health, this approach could also be beneficial for people receiving end-of-life care.
Conclusion
We’ve probably reached the point where we understand that there won’t be some magical leap into VR/AR, but a gradual adoption of these technologies is where it makes sense. Virtual collaboration is certainly one of those successful cases. Zoom in COVID -19 days along with other mixed platforms like Spatial, Imaginate and VR-ON give us hope that this vertical is not far from booming where the ability to pore over detailed 3D designs or projects in a VR or AR environment can really accelerate a work schedule and productivity. And it’s noteworthy that the advent of 5G means that virtual collaboration can happen anywhere at any time and transform the world into a better place. But I like the idea of “reality content” in Social VR — like commentaries or talk shows to make the virtual world more social and interactive especially after a prolonged span of social distancing. Over the past two decades, philosopher David Chalmers has established himself as a leading thinker on philosophy of consciousness. He quotes George Berkeley, the great Irish philosopher to address if normal reality is real, and can virtual reality be real in that way? He says, “To be is to be perceived. If something looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and so on, it’s a duck. That’s idealism: The world is all in your mind”.
Indeed. If it’s all in the mind, then it’ll be intriguing to gauge if the adoption of this virtual and augmented vertical by multiple industries remains as democratic as the physical reality.