VR is helping doctors see coronavirus-infected lung tissue in simulation

Doctors at the George Washington University Hospital came across their first Covid-19 patient, who is now the subject of their experiment wherein his lungs are being diagnosed to see severity of the disease.

The doctors used VR technology simulation in which they are able to see healthy as well as virus-infected tissue, as can be seen in this YouTube video explainer.

Dr. Keith Mortman, chief of thoracic surgery at GW Hospital, said in an interview for HealthCast, the...

30 March 2020 | Healthcare

NexTech to acquire Jolokia for AR holograms in web conferencing

NexTech AR Solutions announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire interactive video solutions provider Jolokia in an all-stock transaction.

According to the deal, on closing, NexTech AR would require an initial payment of 1 million shares in restricted stock priced at $1, with a 12-month earn out if certain revenue milestones are hit of an additional $4 million in restricted stock.

As corporate meetings and events are happening online these days by medium of...

18 March 2020 | Applications

Porsche introduces VR experience for customers to explore new Taycan model

Porsche has announced the launch of the Taycan VR Experience, which aims to let customers view the new Porsche Taycan model up close and even under the bodywork by making use of VR goggles.

Customers can trace the contours of the latest model by wearing the goggles, as well as experience the Porsche styling for themselves.

Robert Ader, head of customer relations at Porsche said: “The Taycan is the beginning of a new era at Porsche – and it is only appropriate...

12 March 2020 | Brands

All Nippon Airways to introduce VR safety training to enhance risk prediction and worker safety

Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced that it will soon be introducing virtual reality (VR) training designed to help its mechanics predict future risks and also improve safety in all aspects of aircraft operation.

According to the company, the latest VR Safety Training System will make use of 3D simulations of work environments in order to build real-world scenarios based on common work-related accidents. Those workers who would be participating in the VR training...

10 March 2020 | Brands

AR market value to exceed $100bn by 2024 – through emerging interaction methods for smart glasses

The value of the augmented reality (AR) market is set to break $100 billion by 2024, according to ABI Research, as emerging interaction methods for AR smart glasses maximise and optimise user experience.

The analyst firm’s latest report, ‘User Interface and User Experience in AR Technology’, states that more intuitive and user-friendly interaction would enhance UX and drive growth of the AR smart glasses market in the coming years.

Eleftheria Kouri,...

2 March 2020 | AR

Survey: VR headset sales on Steam sees biggest ever jump in January

According to the January 2020 data released from Valve’s Steam Survey, VR headset growth on Steam has taken its largest leap yet, with 1.31% of the population having headsets that were connected to their computers.

With a year-over-year increase of 43%, this beats out the earlier record that was set in January 2019 when monthly-connected headsets jumped to reach 0.91% for the very first time. As per the estimations made by the researchers, the number of monthly-connected...

17 February 2020 | Gaming

Oxford VR secures $12.5 million investment to help VR for mental health mission

UK-based Oxford VR has announced $12.5 million (£9.63m) in a series A funding round led by Optum Ventures and supported by Luminous Ventures. Existing investors which include Oxford Sciences Innovation, Oxford University Innovation and GT Healthcare Capital Partners also participated in this investment round.

According to Oxford VR, the funding will help the firm to boost US expansion of its evidence-based and scalable automated VR therapy solutions for behavioural health...

13 February 2020 | Healthcare

NexTech AR collaborates with Poplar over new brand advertising initiative

NexTech AR Solutions has joined hands with UK-based AR collaborative platform Poplar wherein the latter will utilise NexTech AR’s advanced WebAR technology, while NexTech AR would leverage Poplar’s brand new AR campaign creation platform.

David Ripert, CEO and co-founder of Poplar and ex-head of YouTube Spaces, EMEA, at Google, said: “We are thrilled to become partners with NexTech AR, whose web-based 3D visualisation tool will empower our global AR creator...

11 February 2020 | Advertising

AR to overtake VR as dominant platform for healthcare, finds GlobalData

While healthcare assistance for virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies remains nascent, AR is expected to move ahead over time as capabilities increase.

That’s according to a new report from GlobalData. The paper states that as the technology advances and with the availability of cheaper, more user-friendly VR and AR headsets, the barriers to widespread use in healthcare are beginning to fall. Though the technologies are in their early stage of adoption,...

5 February 2020 | Applications

Pinterest launches AR feature to allow users to virtually try on shades of lipstick

Pinterest has introduced a new AR feature that enables users to try and apply different shades of lipsticks virtually on their smartphone application.

Dubbed as Try On, the application is the first AR filter on the social networking site’s mobile application that will build on its other product discovery tools, such as visual search that can match items in a picture to product catalogues.

To allow its users to “try on” a variety of lipstick shades,...

30 January 2020 | Advertising