The democratisation of virtual reality
Companies such as Swedish pioneers Brighter are using a VR dome and bicycle to take elderly patients on gentle virtual rides through their childhood neighbourhoods. This is to help sufferers with dementia and other cognitive-related illnesses a safe environment to get ‘out’ and about, an idea so inspired that it has caught the attention of Sweden’s Queen Silvia.
The importance of VR is illustrated by how it is starkly differentiated from other forms of media: the individual no longer sees something, they experience it. Academics such as Dr Matthew Nicholls, a colleague of Dr Glennerster at the University of Reading, has developed a virtual map of ancient Rome, drawing on sources as wide as surviving ruins, mosaics, paintings, written accounts, and even images on coins. It allows Dr Nicholls to not just speak of ancient Rome, but to take his students on virtual tours of the streets of the Empire as it was in its heyday. Largely a personal labour of love, the project has been so successful that TV companies and even game developers have taken an interest in his work and adopted it for their own endeavours.
Read the full story here: http://www.itproportal.com/2016/07/03/the-democratisation-of-virtual-reality-vr/#ixzz4DNa1o41A