British firm claims quantum-computing breakthrough
Most of the major players in this field, including Google and IBM, use an approach involving freezing qubits, the building blocks of a quantum computer, down to near absolute zero.
...
Opening what looks like a standard server cabinet in Orca's compact offices on a west London science park, Richard Murray points to the computer and says: "We're completely changing the way people view quantum computers.
"Firstly, it's not cryogenically cooled, it's all at room temperature.
"And you'll also see it looks a lot like a normal computer would - it's a rack-mounted system, it looks very unspecialist.
"Our approach uses single photons, so single units of light.
"And the great thing about single photons is that they don't interfere with the outside environment."
...
"There's certainly a few important companies working on it," he says.
"Photonics is definitely not a fringe approach."
But Orca's four-qubit machine has about the same power as a thermostat or an Apple Watch.
"It's in an earlier stage in terms of qubit number than what Google and Rigetti and IBM are doing with superconducting qubits," Prof Morton says.
And scaling up is likely to be a major challenge.
See the full story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58738571?fbclid=IwAR0p4wFaqFYVFF-JUmaHF2_0NqjoRP-RNAh6vHIsX9x907I5kOF1fDC6uBw
A Tech-Savvy Holocaust Memorial in Ukraine Draws Critics and Crowds
The exhibits that made it into the memorial are ones the organizers felt would engage a generation that, for the most part, has not heard firsthand accounts from older people. An art installation, Mirror Field, for instance, displays mirrored columns shot with bullets of the same caliber as those used in the World War II massacre. Visitors see their reflections pierced with bullet holes.
Another exhibit features a small synagogue inspired by the design of a child’s pop-up book. The structure opens and closes like a book, revealing the interior.
See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/world/europe/ukraine-holocaust-babyn-yar.html
California Scientists Share Nobel for Work on Sense of Touch
Two California scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine for work on how the human body senses temperature through touch, which may have applications from pain management to virtual reality.
The scientists identified critical missing links that help understand the interplay between our senses and the environment, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The knowledge is being used to develop treatments for a range of health conditions including chronic pain. It could also help make virtual reality into a tactile experience.
See the full story here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-scientists-share-nobel-sense-104110101.html
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
