VR can help underserved patients, but reimbursement challenges stymie broader adoption, study finds
Healthcare providers, including users and non-users of VR, identified a lack of reimbursement for the technology as one of the biggest barriers for adoption, the UCSF-AppliedVR research found. More payers that support underserved populations will need to adopt reimbursement pathways to ensure VR can be prescribed by a provider and paid for by a payer, according to the researchers.
“There is a tremendous unmet need in the U.S. to deliver evidence-based digital therapeutics to the broader population, and virtual reality for pain management holds significant interest for front-line pain management clinicians and leadership in safety-net health settings,” said Urmimala Sarkar, M.D., UCSF professor of medicine and co-founder of S.O.L.V.E. Health Tech. “But, it will require collaboration across industries to overcome the hurdles that stand in the way of wider adoption, including commitments from payers for more reimbursement and adapted content that tailors to the needs of diverse populations.”
There is a huge supply issue with non-pharmacologic options for chronic pain sufferers, Josh Sackman, [ Los Angeles-based ] AppliedVR co-founder and president, told Fierce Healthcare.
See the full story here: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/virtual-reality-can-help-vulnerable-populations-chronic-pain-but-there-are-barriers-to-access
Public art project uses augmented reality to create virtual monuments in LA
"When we leave these voids and don’t fill those voids with like good stuff, then it just festers," Garcia said. "I feel responsible, following through with how this space gets used."
He was one of four artists commissioned by Oxy Arts to create original augmented reality pieces that could be viewed safely outdoors.
"So, not just creating another bronze and cement statue, but thinking about a totally different way to talk and think about monuments," said Frankie Fleming, Manager of Education and Community Engagement at Oxy Arts.
"It’s an oak sapling that is growing toward the stars and by bringing the stars a little closer to Earth. I’m also trying to reframe how we look at time and history," Garcia said as he described the images showing up on his phone.
His project also includes a chant from one of the Tongva’s tribal members.
See the full story here: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-east/inside-the-issues/2021/10/01/public-art-project-uses-augmented-reality-to-create-virtual-monuments-in-la
Roblox-Focused Game Developer Supersocial Raises $5.2 Million From Investors Including Warner Music Group
Keeping the points in mind, Supersocial emphasizes off the bat that the “experiences” it’s building “are not merely ‘games’, they are worlds that illustrate our approach to living in the metaverse – worlds that power creativity, foster inclusivity, and drive prosperity.”
Furthermore, Supersocial says that its team members (who are based out of “over 20 cities in 4 countries and 6 time zones”) are “very excited to be building for Roblox,” notwithstanding the continued prevalence of “misconceptions” about what the digital universe “is and what it truly provides as en [sic] eco-system.”
On this front, Supersocial is currently creating “multiple titles for launch on the Roblox platform,” such as Ghostopia (“a multiplayer RPG set in a haunted world where life meets afterlife”). Plus, the startup has established “Supersocial Labs, an evolution of the ‘cell’ concept in mobile games tailored to metaverse platforms like Roblox.”
...WMG higher-ups are preparing to bring their “roster of artists to life as avatars,” including by producing and distributing “virtual beings that facilitate fan reach across immersive platforms and metaverses.”
See the full story here: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/10/01/warner-music-group-supersocial-raise/
Kennesaw State professors develop virtual reality games to teach children cybersecurity basics
In order to teach school-age children the basics of cybersecurity, two Kennesaw State University professors are collaborating on a method to deliver lessons where K-12 students spend most of their time: playing video games.
Launched by Joy Li, assistant professor of computer game design and development, and Yan Huang, assistant professor of software engineering, the project is pegged as an alternative to traditional learning activities by teaching students the principles of cybersecurity in a immersive virtual reality (VR) environment. The program works by introducing students to 360-degree instructional videos and then testing their knowledge in a game setting using a VR headset.
Inside the VR headset users are transported to “Cybersecurity Park,” where they will have access to six education modules covering topics that range from ransomware to hacking ethics to phishing attempts. Each module has a unique theme and game associated with its lesson.
See the full story here: https://news.kennesaw.edu/stories/2021/virtual-reality-games-teach-cybersecurity-basics.php
AI Innovations In Media And Communications
Some of the top application areas used in this sector are: gaming, fake story detection, plagiarism detection, personalization, production planning and management, sales and marketing and talent identification.
One of the areas which is very exciting is understanding how AI is being used in news. AI is making major impacts in aggregating massive data analysis of the conversations across the world-wide web and classifying into themes to appreciate topics trending globally or even identify increasing risks of terrorism or even health risks, like a pandemic.
Companies like LeadSift in Canada are even analyzing all your searches on the world-wide web to draw relevancy to targeting the right buyer with the right interests to your products and services. This is an area called propensity to purchase signal detection.
Another company, Pesado for example analyzed over 18 million messages across 180 brands in 2019 to identify words that genuinely resonated with customers. These insights can help get closer to a buyer profile psychographic profile to increase their odds of engagement.
Continued dialogue between government, industry, citizens is needed to ensure AI is being developed for good vs harm. Fake news is one area where greater controls are needed.
Note: See The AI Dilemma for more info on the Media Industry.
See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cindygordon/2021/09/30/ai-innovations-in-media-and-communications/?sh=236c38c3599d
HOW MILLENNIALS SHAPE THE WHOLE NEW PERSONALIZED ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Personalized entertainment is all about recommending shows, movies, and documentaries to subscribers based on their streaming preferences and behavior. ...
Due to the influence of the millennial target audience, various streaming services such as Hulu, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus, etc. have added different enticing features to help their subscribers’ streaming needs appropriately.
For example, Netflix offers an attractive party feature that allows a group of subscribers having similar preferences and choices content-wise watch a particular show virtually at the same time without any hassle.
Besides, all these services have one thing in common, which is video streaming quality. That’s because users can change the video quality using different options like standard, UHD and 4K to stream media content depending on their requirements stress-free.
Millennials favorite TV shows and movies of all time
- The Walking Dead
- Outer Banks
- Supernatural
- Stranger Things
- Friends
- All American
- Money Heist (La Casa De Papel)
- Family Guy
- Grey’s Anatomy
- 90 Day Fiancé
- The Flash
- My So Called Life
- Boy Meets World
- Party of Five
- My Best Friend’s Wedding
- Notting Hill
- The Matrix
- Mortal Kombat
- The Mummy
- The Devil’s Advocate
See the full story here: https://filmthreat.com/features/how-millennials-shape-the-whole-new-personalized-entertainment-industry/
How Mixed and Augmented Reality Are Becoming Viable In-Venue Options
“The challenge for teams and even for companies like TFG is that the creative is as beautiful as it is time-consuming — and thus is a significant investment,” says O’Brien. “With only 10 home games, we’d ideally want the MR content to evolve each game, but development is a bit more complicated.”
Despite the creative challenges, opening up this door can only benefit the community by pushing others to adopt these workflows.
“Being able to use the technology throughout your entire show is the key to success, and as a live producer, it’s been a ton of fun figuring out ways to incorporate [MR] into our show. We want to keep pushing the limits on where this can go in the future.”
The Ravens’ O’Brien believes that MR can help sponsor-centric content gain traction and appeal. The technique could also help sponsorship messaging become more congruent with other high-quality aspects of the overall show.
See the full story here: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/09/29/how-mixed-and-augmented-reality-are-becoming-viable-in-venue-options/
Nreal’s new AR sunglasses are made for binge watching TV
Augmented reality company Nreal is launching a cheaper, iOS-compatible, more compact version of its smart glasses. The new Nreal Air glasses are supposed to ship starting in December 2021 across Japan, China, and South Korea.
Based on Nreal’s description, the new Nreal Air glasses have some core similarities with the Nreal Light glasses from 2020. Both are designed to look like relatively normal sunglasses and pitched as ideal for projecting a virtual big-screen display in front of your eyes. They’re both using micro OLED displays for their augmented reality optics and are powered by a phone via a tether cable. And they’re both aimed at consumers rather than businesses, researchers, or the military.
Nreal Air glasses, by contrast, don’t have any outward-facing cameras. They can display video and phone apps, but they can’t see what’s around you, which means they don’t have the spatial awareness and hand tracking options the Nreal Light does.
The new glasses let users tilt the lenses at three angles, making it potentially easier for more people to get a clearer image.
As with the Light, it’s going to be selling the glasses in partnership with major phone carriers; it hasn’t named specific partners, but it’s previously worked with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, Korea’s LG Uplus, and Japan’s KDDI.
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/30/22700782/nreal-air-smart-ar-glasses-release-date-shipping-countries
