Virtual Reality Today
In the modern era, virtual reality has had a tremendous
impact on our society. We see its influence in our everyday
lives with products such as the Oculars Rift, Google Daydream, IOS and
Android. Virtual reality has played a comfortable role in our modern culture.
I believe as time goes on "Vr technology" will become more
advanced and proficient. We as a society will incorporate its values, and
become more dependent on it to carry out duties in the work place. It can
increase productivity and the overall profit of businesses in
the near future.
"Vr technology" is not just in the realm of entertainment
anymore, it has spread to various other fields. I would like to explore
its impact in the medical field and the news field, for my blog.
Virtual reality is our future
With the current rate of expansion in technology, corporations
such as the health industry & news industry, will incorporate
virtual reality in some form into their work force. My job as a virtual
reality designer will vary from industry to industry. In the field of
medicine virtual reality would play important roles in the future.
"Medical applications for virtual reality (VR) are just beginning to
emerge. These include VR surgical simulators, telepresence surgery, complex
medical database visualization, and rehabilitation"
(Satava, 1995)
One role which I as a virtual reality designer could play, is in the
implementation of virtual projectors in clinics for nurses and doctors to
use. These virtual projectors would be utilised as platforms for medical staff
to make virtual diagnosis for patients. Which is much more simplistic, and
gives patients easier access to health care practitioners. I can see this
technology being useful in rural areas where the majority of people don’t have
easy access to healthcare services, as they would in densely populated
cities. Also for medics, visual explanation provided by patients is more easily
understood and therefore, this allows medics to make a direct diagnosis which
allows for quicker treatment.
"Reaching a diagnosis means conducting a
series of tests which produce complex sets of data. But virtual reality can be
used to create a visual explanation of this data which is easier to read, understand
and interpret". (Reality, 2015)
Tampa General Hospital have virtual reality services available on their
website. Patients are able to use their Virtual care app on their smart phones,
and other devices to get a virtual reality diagnosis from a doctor in real
time. What is good about this app is its ability to connect patient and doctors
easily, prescriptions can be sent directly to the pharmacy.
"Patients, using an app on their mobile devices or computers, can
explain their symptoms and hear the medical opinions and advice of a
board-certified doctor. Doctors will consult with patients via voice and video
in real time". (Hospital, 2016)
"Live, face-to-face care for adults and kids. Prescriptions can be
sent directly to your pharmacy. Wait time averages 3 minutes. A doctor can
typically resolve a health care problem in 10 minutes". (Hospital, 2016)
Training
in augmented reality
Another way which "VR" comes in handy, in medicine is in
virtual training, nurses and doctors can be trained with this alternative
option rather than to be trained the more traditional way. This is advantageous
as understanding and level of training acquired is increased as humans learn on
a more visual format, virtual reality training also reduces costs for
hospitals and medical institutes.
"Let’s start with virtual reality as a
means of training healthcare professionals. It is used in medical schools and
other similar settings as a means of education and instruction. It enables
medical students to acquire knowledge and understanding about the human body by
means of interaction within a virtual environment." (Reality, 2015)
My job as a virtual reality designer could be to improve virtual
graphics, this already is important as better graphics means easier learning.
This is because Humans learn things better with visuals. Also implementing
better methods of carrying out surgeries and safer ways to follow procedures. I
think my job in this area of medicine will consistently change. This is because
medicine is always progressing and new methods are always developing and old
methods evolving so I believe this field of medicine will always be in need of
virtual designers with better technology to fit the market.
Virtual reality training is also safer than practising on real patients.
As real surgeries carry’s a risk of performing badly and can result
in injury of organs or potential lawsuits.
"Simulated three dimensional reconstruction of
organs from radiological cross sections is an important diagnostic tool by
providing clinicians with a more naturalistic view of a patient's
anatomy".
(Székely and Satava, 1999)
"There are other benefits to VR training besides cost savings. Next
Galaxy VR software uses Leap Motion force feedback technology so that health
care professionals can feel when they’re doing the procedure wrong. Practicing
on real patients carries the risk of major consequences such as the perforation
of organs, and potential malpractice and other lawsuits" (FORTUNE,
2015)
UC DAVIS CENTRE FOR VIRTUAL CARE
This centre is an example of a place which deals with virtual care
today. These services include virtual training which shows us that this form of
training is already on the rise.
"The UC Davis Center for Virtual Care incorporates a variety of
sophisticated simulation training tools to create a virtual hospital
environment for practicing medical procedures".
(System, Center, and Care, 2015)
News coverage and virtual reality
Now at days, people watch news on smart devices such as televisions,
phones, and computers. With the introduction of virtual reality technology
the rating of news will only continue to grow as viewers can finally
immerse themselves into the news to get compelling and intimate stories.
360 degree films
With the decline in news ratings, news corporations such as vice use
virtual reality technology to develop 360 degree films in an attempt to
reengage their viewers. One of the 360 films developed was about the millions
march protest which took place December 2014 in New York City.
"One of the three films was developed by Vice News in partnership
with Chris Malik, who is a digital artist, and experienced director Spike
Jonze. They collaborated on content which captured the Millions March protests
which took place in New York in December 2014". (Zlatanovska,
2016)
360 news is good as it immerses viewers into a 360 environment which
causes the viewer to be more engaged in what they are viewing, furthermore
viewers have the ability to have their own interpretations and
opinions from what they view. This helps to spark more interest in the
viewer. 360 news is done in the hope that, it will increase the ratings of news
content.
Having a wider scope of what is happening also means that people will
want to watch content various times as they will spot different occurrences and
images on each viewing.
"The whole experience of being in a 360-degree environment
helps the viewer to become more immersed in the experience. People are able to
take their own interpretations from what they see. This helps to improve
interest and excitement levels. The hope is that this will raise the number of
viewers of news content."
Another way which "Vr technology" impacts news coverage is
automated collection. With the use of advanced drones which can get a closer
look at a news scene from a higher ground, & sneaky drones that can get
through windows. Viewers can receive a more intimate view of what is going on,
this type of news coverage is much more advanced than any news a newscaster of
today can bring the viewers. Which means the quality of news acquired through
VR is much better than today's standards.
I see my role as a “VR designer” in this field very important. With the
development of 360 films the market is very vast, and there is a lot of space
for creativity. One thing I as a “VR designer” can do is to develop the
technology to a very high standard maybe by giving users the ability to get
live news. Once it occurs as long at the user has access to use the “VR
technology” then they can continuously get news updates.
Another way is to develop better visual graphics that way it’s possible
for the user to get a more realistic experience and engage more with the 360
news. Another important role I could potentially play is developing more
efficient drones for news coverage this could be smaller faster powerful
drones. Which pick up news from any range, currently the drones developed for
news coverage can fly from 1000 feet in the air. This range can be manipulated
to fly comfortable at any range and still get a good shot of the news
scene.
"Every local
incident, whether it’s a plane crash, a protest, a robbery, or a murder will
trigger a fleet of news-gathering drones to converge on the scene. With a
combination of high flying drones
to give the 1,000-foot perspectives and tiny sneak-through-any-open-window
drones to give a more intimate view of the situation,".(Frey,2016)
ABC News Company have already started using virtual reality as a means
of news coverage with the crisis in Syria the news company decided to use
"VR technology” to give views a more emotional and intimate view of
what war really looks like.
"The news organization
launched ABC News VR today in the hopes of doing just that, with an assist from virtual reality
tech company Jaunt. For ABC’s first VR project, viewers can immerse themselves
in a story about Syria to see the streets and sights in a way that they
wouldn’t be able experience otherwise without visiting the war zone". (Greenberg and McHugh, 2015)
Bibliography
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Satava,
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