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virtual reality (VR) virtual embodiment
Collaboration, Soft Skills, Therapy and Support

Virtual Embodiment In VR Raises Questions

In its simplest form, Virtual embodiment is the perception of sensory feedback related to a person’s virtual, non-physical body, also known as an avatar, and the effect it has on the particular person behind the avatar. Virtual embodiment comes as an offshoot of the study of embodiment cognition, which is the idea that the mind and body are in unison, with the two working in harmony. Embodiment cognition research shows how the aspects of a person’s body seem to generate built-in tendencies in how that person views the world around them. Those aspects include motor functions, height, number of limbs, handedness, and the body’s interactions with the environment.

Given we cannot control many factors like our height or handedness, the most common way we seek to control our identity in the physical world is through clothing, accessories, make-up, tattoos, piercing, hair styles, hair coloring and now, masks. We display these attributes to show our personal style and to provide non-verbal clues about our personalities.  If we want to be seen as diplomatic and professional, chances are we wear business attire and keep ourselves well groomed. If we want to be viewed as someone who is bold and anti-establishment, we may choose ripped clothing and cyan colored hair. We rely on these outward signals, whether consciously or not, to frame interactions with other people before any words are spoken.

As our bodies and minds become more integrated with virtual mediums, the same avenues of expression we have in the physical world are finding their way into the digital world. From the more basic Bitmojis on Snapchat to full-fledged 3-D avatars in a Virtual Reality simulation, we continue to seek ways to express and represent ourselves in order to provide non-verbal clues as to who we are underneath.  The difference with virtual embodiment, however, is that the only limitations to creating an outward identity is the level of customization afforded by a particular platform. Skin color, gender, height, facial features, number of limbs – all potentially alterable within minutes. Staying within our own species is not even a requirement in some cases.

No where is virtual embodiment taking on more meaning than in Virtual Reality (VR) where interactions between avatars are convincingly lifelike and the range of customization options is broader than any other digital medium. Take entertainment-based social environments like Rec Room, AltSpace or Facebook’s Horizon. Many people in these worlds engage and interact purely through virtual identities without ever knowing what someone looks like in real life.

While this level of anonymity and freedom of identity is fine in that context, those same attributes do not necessarily lend themselves to a business or professional environment. With VR being used more and more for corporate collaboration, mental and physical healthcare, and training and education, the role of the avatar brings up more nuanced questions around virtual embodiment that need to be thought through. 

For example, in the case of a pitch meeting held in VR, is there a responsibility for both parties to represent themselves as close to who they are in the real world as possible? Since pitching is partially about the person or people behind the product or service, an argument can be made that they should not appear younger, a different ethnicity, or a different gender than they are in real life. Or maybe that actually shouldn’t matter at all and non-realistic should be encouraged in order to weed out implicit bias in the process.

Therapy sessions also produce an interesting use case. It may be that the therapist should adhere closely to his or her real world identity whereas the patient may benefit from a virtual embodiment that they feel expresses themselves better. The very act of customizing one’s virtual appearance to better represent how one would like to be seen can be a part of the therapeutic process itself. Or maybe there is a benefit in the therapist playing a particular role or roles throughout the therapeutic process in order to elicit responses from the patient.

Foretell Reality recognizes the importance of virtual embodiment, particularly in professional settings. Through our work with partners like Yale School of Medicine, Fordham University, and XRHealth, we see firsthand the importance and promise of virtual embodiment in VR to redefine digital identity as a whole.  Toward that end, we recently expanded our avatar selection tool to include many more customization options.

virtual reality (VR) isolation
Collaboration, Soft Skills, Therapy and Support

Foretell Reality: Transforming Remote Interpersonal Experiences

We’re excited to share another quick video below that provides visuals of some of our use cases including therapy and support, soft skills, and corporate collaboration. We believe VR is the next evolution of remote human communication just as the telegraph evolved to the telephone which evolved into the computer we all have in our pockets today.

virtual reality (VR) forecast
Collaboration

$4.5b VR Forecast Despite Challenges

Foretell Reality powers remote support groups for XRHealth, one of the innovative companies highlighted in this recent ABIresearch forecast of the 2020 Virtual Reality (#VR) market.

With the market expected to grow to $4.6b by the end of the year, declines in revenues from location-based VR due to COVID-19 are being made up for by in-home and enterprise solutions for training, learning, and physical and mental healthcare.

“companies such as XRHealth operating within the immersive healthcare sector have seen accelerated growth opportunities as patients seek alternatives to in-person meetings and sessions (e.g., physical and/or mental health therapy).”

Foretell Reality powers life-like experiences for XRHealth along with other companies and institutions for applications including therapy and support, soft skills development, and business collaboration.

#mentalhealth#virtualreality#digitalhealth

https://lnkd.in/gtYu429
Collaboration, Therapy and Support

Collaborative Data Analysis: Foretell Reality and D6

https://www.d6vr.io/

D6 develops tools to support multi-dimensional data visualization in Virtual Reality (VR). The platform allows analysts and others to visualize and manipulate complex data in 3D space, deriving insights that are faster, more powerful, and more memorable.

Through an integration with Foretell Reality, D6 was able to turn its single-user experience into one that allows shared data visualization workspaces in which clients and colleagues around the globe can present, discuss, and manipulate multidimensional graphs and charts as a group.

In addition to these shared data visualization spaces, D6’s “Hyperdesk” frees teams of remote analysts from the limits of a physical workspace. Colleagues can move between multiple customizable “Data Rooms,” with unlimited virtual monitor space, and integration of both traditional keyboard/mouse and hand gesture inputs.

As demonstrated by D6, collaboration in virtual reality not only overcomes geographic constraints, but even the limitations imposed by the physical world. Where else can remote team members collectively analyze three-dimensional data or view multiple screens at once while truly feeling like they are in the presence of their colleagues?

Foretell Reality is an enterprise VR solution for interpersonal communication and business collaboration. Learn more here

Collaboration

Virtual Reality is the Platform for Team Building

With a rapidly growing remote workforce, there is a risk of team members becoming ever more isolated from one another. While many platforms exist for connecting remote colleagues and teams, virtual reality (VR) is the only technology that makes team members in different physical locations feel like they are all sharing the same space.

A shared VR environment is not only a more natural way to collaborate, it also provides an opportunity to build cohesion, trust, and empathy through fun and challenging team building exercises. Immersive activities can range from collectively detonating a bomb to escaping the room to ping pong competitions to meditation retreats.

Team building can also involve role playing where different team members take on identities that place them in roles and scenarios they may never have in the real world. This allows for empathy and understanding of what other team members may feel and experience themselves. For example, a male colleague may play the role of a female of color during a pitching exercise or a manager can take on the role of a front-line employee dealing with a challenging customer.

Virtual reality for team building has many advantages not only to other remote collaboration platforms but also to real world exercises. These include:

  • Experience of being in the same environment versus sharing a screen.
  • No need for physical travel.
  • Team building activities not confined by constraints of the physical world.
  • Role play that builds empathy and cohesion among team members.
  • Cost savings for travel, lodging, and activity expenses.

Virtual reality is the only platform that truly brings a team together. In these challenging times and beyond, it offers an experience that is immersive, engaging, and most importantly, shared.

Foretell Reality is an enterprise VR solution for interpersonal communication and business collaboration. Learn more here.

Collaboration

VR is the Future of Remote Meetings

This piece by Glimpse CEO Lyron Bentovim highlights the benefits of VR over video conference calls. Among them are higher engagement, more meaningful connections, fewer distractions, and the ability to mimic realistic peer-to-peer interactions.

Read more about each of these benefits here:

https://ceoworld.biz/2020/04/10/stop-your-video-conferencing-headaches-virtual-reality-is-the-future-of-remote-meetings
vr ar classroom
Collaboration

It is time to adopt AR and VR into the classroom

It was not all that surprising that the most popular areas of my daughter’s elementary school science fair last week were tables where kids could build, design, and problem solve with each other.

While everyone appreciated the stationary displays, the real engagement came when kids got together to practice and learn both hard skills like paper robot building and soft skills like negotiation, teamwork, and empathy.

And then it struck me that there may be no school next week or even the week after. I know there will be online classes but that is not a substitute for what kids need to continue to stay competitive confident, and connected.

As Glimpse Group CEO Lyron Bentovim points out in his argument for modernizing classrooms with AR and VR capabilities, humans are social, collaborative, and spatial learners and AR and VR are the only technologies that fully support this type of learning.

We need to get AR and VR into schools now so our kids remain engaged when they cannot be together in person. The prices are no longer prohibitive but the cost will be high if we cannot keep our kids engaged in learning, especially in difficult times.

virtual reality (VR) remote work
Collaboration

Virtual Reality and Remote Work Isolation

Research indicates that remote work will equal, if not surpass, fixed office locations by the year 2025. Already, 70% of professionals work remotely at least one day a week and over 50% work remotely half the week.

And there are good reasons as highlighted in this recent article that lists 17 benefits remote working brings to both employers and employees. Among them are the fact that remote workers are 13% more productive – mainly due to taking fewer sick days, 83% of workers feel they would be happier working from home, and companies save $11k annually per remote worker.

But what is sometimes overlooked with all of the benefits of remote working is the feeling of isolation that can occur when teams are dispersed. Lost are shared lunches with colleagues, cross-functional events that bring different teams together, and after work happy hours.

And this can have real effects. According to a recent Gallup study, perceived workplace isolation can lead to a 21% performance drop while another study from Future Work found feelings of isolation having significant effects on employee engagement and retention.

While platforms like Slack and WebEx allow teams to communicate instantly through text or through scheduled video chat, they do not replicate the feeling of presence and connection that occurs with face-to-face interactions and meetings around the office.

Enter virtual reality, a technology that opens the door to providing a shared environment for people who are located remotely from each other. For similar reasons people who work remotely or independently look for physical co-working spaces, VR spaces provide the virtual version of WeWork and alike.

Unlike conference calls, screen shares, and chat streams, a shared work place in virtual reality offers a persistent location for workers, teams and even whole companies that feels more like a physical location than a specific productively tool.

Remote workers can have their own desks, connect with one another in separate conference rooms, share 2D and 3D content at any time, attend larger company events in virtual auditoriums, and even play games together like Ping Pong, Pool, or Beat Saber.

VR work spaces can also be personalized, engaging, and energizing, encouraging colleagues to come to the ‘office’ on a regular basis.

This will lead to more spontaneous meetings and interactions increasing engagement and innovation, especially for those who are feeling isolated. At the same time, with the click of a button, anyone can transfer to a virtual “quiet space” to focus with lack of interruption. And for employers, providing a center of gravity to a dispersed organization can help with retention and even recruitment.

Why does this matter? Remote working is not an anomaly anymore. It is the new normal. But it is also in direct conflict with the fact that humans are social animals. Working from home is good for the environment, work-life balance, and a company’s balance sheet, but we need new platforms to provide the human touch to support this new (virtual) reality.

Collaboration

What would you do with 163 billion more minutes a year?

A great article by Niclas Johansson highlighting the 7 benefits of VR for meetings.

He touches on a range of areas where VR is making a real impact on increasing engagement: feeling of presence, removal of distractions, limitless environments and interactions, saving the environment, and, perhaps most importantly, saving time and money.

I would add one more to the list:

8. Come back anytime, and stay as long as you like. Imagine a meeting room that is always available and does not require having to clean up after a collaborative session. No need to transcribe and erase the white boards, remove stickies, or unplug your laptop from the in-room display. A virtual meeting room can be accessed again at any time from anywhere to continue where the meeting left off or to reference the collaborative output that was created. And no one will be waiting at the door glaring at their watches if the meeting runs over time.

Also worth reading the comparison of platforms at the end of the article. While social VR will offer a new paradigm for group interactions, enterprise solutions will require a higher level of scalability, security, compliancy, and integration with existing systems. It will be exciting to see how those platforms evolve and gain traction.

To follow how Foretell Reality is approaching these challenges, visit our website and keep reading our blog posts.

Collaboration

Three Ways VR Can Help A Remote Working World

Research indicates that remote work will equal, if not surpass, fixed office locations by the year 2025. Already, 70% of professionals work remotely at least one day a week and over 50% work remotely half the week.

Here are three ways VR helps increase collaborative productivity in an increasingly decentralized world:

Increases Focus and Attention

Currently, employees rely on some combination of phone calls, video conferencing, and group chat to communicate and collaborate remotely. Everyone is in their own world along with all the distractions that go along with it. With VR, remote participants meet in a singular, shared environment and interact through high quality audio, all encompassing visuals, and true-to-life movements and gestures. In short, the ‘real’ world does not distract focus from the work at hand.

Enables More Productive Collaboration

With VR, collaboration is not restricted to a meeting room or monitor. Collaborators in 3D environments can view content across multiple screens at the same time, manipulate and analyze objects from any angle, recreate real-world scenarios by embodying any persona, seamlessly break out into smaller sessions, and preserve the output of any collaborative session to revisit at a later point in the same space.

Creates a Feeling of Being There

As more people work from home, WeWorks, and local coffee shops for more days a week, employers will face the ongoing challenge of creating a work environment that feels tangible, connected, and real. Despite the name, virtual reality offers the closest thing to a real feeling of proximity, place, and community of any other communication technology that exists today.

With stand-alone VR headsets now less expensive than a typical mobile phone, there has never been a better time to introduce VR into the communication mix of any remote work force.

Foretell Reality is an enterprise VR solution for interpersonal communication and business collaboration. Learn more here.

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