Category: medical

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Maplewood Using VR To Enhance Senior Living

As the general population ages, more attention is being given to ways to make the senior years more comfortable. Maplewood Senior Living are planning on using modern technology for this aim with the launch of the Centre of Aging Innovation and Technology, which, among other things, plans to use virtual reality (VR) to improve the lives of older people.

Maplewood’s stated aim is to provide the highest standard of care, the finest amenities and newest technologies to create vibrant environments. As part of this, the company is planning on trialling a VR system designed specifically for seniors which can offer not only entertainment, but can also spark memories and encourage socialisation and reduce stress and anxiety.

“The new Center for Aging Innovation and Technology helps us demonstrate the art of what is possible by incorporating new technologies, experiences and services into the lives of our residents,” said Gregory D. Smith, President and CEO of Maplewood Senior Living, based in Westport, Connecticut. “Maplewood has always been committed to pushing the boundaries of what senior living should look like and we are pleased to launch this Innovation Center to demonstrate to our clients how we convert next-generation solutions into tangible tools and outcomes.”

Other technologies the company plans on introducing is the Eversound wireless, noise cancelling headphones that can improve clarity of hearing for group activities. Also planned is the fall prevention systems and a Skype lounge to allow residents to communicate with friends and family using large, easy-to-see screens and optimised sound systems.

Brian Geyser Vice President of Clinical Innovation and Population Health at Maplewood, said: “New technologies like VR can really expand a resident’s world,” said Geyser. “For one of our residents, we were able to use VR to take her back to her hometown in Maine. We even visited her childhood home. We then capped off the experience with a fresh blueberry pie from our farm-to-table kitchen. It was quite a thing to see. I’m honored to be able to deliver experiences like this to our residents.”

VRFocus will continue to report on new developments in VR technology.

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Augmented Reality to Improve Dentistry

Augmented reality (AR) is a tool that has seen increased use in various business areas and is starting to see use in areas such as education and healthcare. One Swiss start-up company is aiming to use AR technology to improve outcomes for dental surgery.

Usually when major dental work is needed to be done, a dentist will do a cast of the patient’s mouth and make replica of the teeth. This approach has barely changed for decades. Kapanu is introducing modern technology to the process by taking 3D scans of the patient’s mouth and using this information to create an AR recreation of the person’s mouth cavity.

It is not uncommon for dentists to take 3D images of patients mouths, so this existing information can be used to create an AR overlay that locks onto the patient’s mouth to show areas that would be changed or improved by the procedure, showing in much greater detail what would change. The patient can then choose to tweak various options, such as teeth spacing.

Kapanu is a spin-off of Swiss technical university ETH Zurich. The CEO, Roland Morzinger worked alongside Disney Research to create an AR engine for use in medical technology and decided that applying the technology to dentistry was a good place to start.

The system was showcased that the International Dental Show in Cologne, and reportedly impressed the attendees there. Subsequently, the company was acquired by Ivoclar Vivadent.

It is unknown if and when the AR dental software will be available commercially.

A video demonstration of the application is available to view below.

VRFocus will continue to report on new and innovative uses of AR technology.

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VR App Sea Hero Quest Used To Further Dementia Research

A virtual reality (VR) smartphone app has been developed as part of an effort to gather data on dementia for the biggest dementia research experiment ever devised. The experiment involves an app called Sea Hero Quest, which was originally a non-VR smartphone app, but the researchers hope the move to VR will yield better results.

The original mobile title and the new VR incarnation was created by development studio Glitchers, along with Alzheimer’s Research UK. The developers are expecting up to fifteen times more data from the VR version, which should be a boon to scientists who are seeking a way to detect dementia in its early stages.

One of the first cognitive problems to develop is loss of the ability to navigate. As such, Sea Hero Quest puts the player in the role of a boat captain, trying to navigate the ocean and chase down various sea creatures. The app gathers data by recording data on the directions players take, as well as the length of time needed to look around and make a decision.

Max Scott-Slade, from the Glitchers development team, told the BBC: “It’s interesting to try to make something that’s normally quite a boring subject matter, and lab-based, and bring it to the public and make it as fun as possible. The value for us is to create this much richer dataset, we’re capturing 15 times more data from the VR version because we’re separating out where the head looks and where the boat’s moving.”

Sea Hero Quest is available for the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR for free download.

VRFocus will bring you further information on Sea Hero Quest VR as it becomes available.

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Birmingham City University Develop New AR Medical Software

We’ve already seen many incredible and potential uses for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) in medical and health fields, and yet more advancements are being made in the field. Now, Birmingham City University has developed a new mixed reality system that’ll help doctors view patient data and more.

The AR and MR hybrid will project diagrams, patient information, virtual replicas of patients’ organs, bones and more.

The interface will allow practitioners to easily view data and organise it in a 3D space using hand motions and gestures. The hopes is that it’ll allow doctors to easily showcase a variety of things, medical procedures, lifestyle choices, etc., quickly and conveniently.

Being easily able to pinpoint certain location on a 3D representation of a body, for example, to a small audience will be much less uncomfortable for the person having the surgery than actually having to be there in person. It can also be used to discuss areas on a patient’s body directly with the patient with the diagrams giving accurate and important information.

Birmingham City University’s Dr Ian Williams hopes this will make things easier on practitioners; “We are developing this system as a platform to allow medical professionals to interact with genuine patient data and manipulate it by hand to educate and inform patients.”

Dr Williams continues; “The real advantages this brings are being able to visually demonstrate parts of the anatomy, using virtual models which can be customised for each patient and show how they have been impacted by lifestyle choices or how they may be changed following treatments or surgery.”

University staff are still looking at other MR and AR projects, and as soon as we hear about them, you’ll be able to read all of the latest developments on VRFocus.

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Using Hololens During Real Surgery – ResearchVR Podcast 42

Using Hololens During Real Surgery – ResearchVR Podcast 42

This week’s ResearchVR episode is a little more crowded than usual. During this year’s Cebit we met three experts working on the use of AR to improve surgery.

Thomas Bedenk studied Human Factors. After studies, he joins the software development wave working as a freelancer. That led him to start his game studio. After seven years in the gaming industry, he joined another wave, this time VR and AR. Now he is a VR consultant at Exozet Berlin, where he leads the VR / AR department.

Thomas Schüler is a recurring guest on our podcast – he was our first ever guest on this podcast, back in Episode 4. He did his Ph.D. about using VR technology in medical fields. Currently, he works on VR for engineers and VR for medical applications at Virtual Spice.

Igor Sauer is an experienced surgeon at Charite Medical University Berlin, where he is the Head of Experimental Surgery AND Regenerative Medicine Department. He is a tech savvy surgeon, always on the lookout for new technologies that can improve his effectiveness in his life-saving job.

Episode Preview


In this episode, we take a deep dive into the project at Charite Medical University in Berlin, where already today HoloLens is used during the resection of the liver.

The technology used in preparation for such surgery is already advanced. Based on MRI, CT and other scans, a 3D model of an organ are generated. The essential step for a surgeon is to learn the location of all the blood vessels, up to 5th or even 6th branch. It is not easy.

This issue is currently bridged using HoloLens. And it is surprisingly straightforward – a 3D model generated before an operation is placed above the patient. Whenever the main surgeon has a question regarding a blood vessel, he asks his first assistant, who is wearing the headset. The assistant consults the model and has the precise answer within seconds.

Listen to Using Hololens during real surgery – ResearchVR Podcast 42 to learn more about the current implementation and plans for the project expansion in NEAR future.

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