With just four weeks to go until XRDC kicks off in San Francisco later this month, event organizers want to be sure you don't miss out on some of the fascinating opportunities you'll have to see the future of healthcare at this premier conference for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality innovators.
Doctors, researchers, scientists and patients alike are rapidly adopting AR/VR/MR applications to evolve healthcare as we know it, and you can learn all about it on XRDC's Healthcare track of cutting-edge talks.
"The Dolphin Swim Club: A Healing Underwater VR Experience", for example, is a promising XRDC talk that will see Dolphin Swim Club founder Marijke Sjollema and director Benno Brada breaking down exactly how the Club (a nonprofit organization and project that uses the healing power of art and nature to craft therapeutic VR experiences) works -- and what it's learned about the therapeutic uses of VR.
This is a big deal because the Club developed waterproof VR goggles that allow users to swim in real water, with virtual dolphins, and experience real therapeutic effects. This unique VR content is currently being used in over 350 hospitals and healthcare institutions worldwide, and is present in several scientific studies at Stanford University and elsewhere.
Attend XRDC 2018 to learn about immersive games & entertainment, brand experiences, and innovative use cases across industries.
Plus, you should check out Dr. Hargreaves' session on "Mixed Reality Guidance for Medical Procedures," as it will show you the needs, challenges and potential solutions for several applications where mixed reality devices can realistically play a role in medical procedures in the next five years.
It promises to be insightful and useful for industry professionals, as mixed reality technology is advancing rapidly, to the point that an ever increasing number of medical applications will soon be feasible. According to Dr. Hargreaves, the ability to upload and render 3D image data that is aligned to patients is particularly attractive, and when combined with tool tracking and rendering, offers even more options.
Examples in breast surgery, needle guidance and orthopedic surgery will be presented, examples which will use different types of marker-based and intelligent device tracking, integrated with mixed reality devices and appropriate user interfaces for real-time operation in patient settings -- including operating rooms.
Also, don't miss the XRDC 2018 panel on "Digital Medicine: What's Different About XR for Health?", which will together leaders from the forefront of therapeutic VR and AR applications. You'll hear about such diverse areas as treating chronic pain, improving mood with neurofeedback, training caregivers in virtual environments, and more.
Together, panelists Noah Falstein (President, The Inspiracy), Sarah Hill (CEO, Healium), Josh Sackman (President, AppliedVR), Carrie Shaw (CEO, Embodied Labs), and Sophia Batchelor (student, UC Berkeley) will discuss what health applications share with each other, as well as how they differ from each other and other kinds of XR.
The panelists will delve into technical, creative, business, and medical issues, exploring different approaches to XR and healthcare. No prior knowledge of specific healthcare issues will be needed, so don't skip it!
XRDC is happening October 29th and 30th in San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis Hotel. Now that registration is open, you’ll want to look over XRDC passes and prices and register early to get the best deal!
For more information about XRDC, which is produced by organizers of the Game Developers Conference, check out the official XRDC website. You can also subscribe to regular XRDC updates via email, Twitter and Facebook.