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Coaching, Collaboration, Other, Soft Skills, Therapy and Support, VR-Related

Explore Foretell Reality’s Accessibility Features

At Foretell Reality, our mission has always been to create inclusive and immersive experiences that enhance human interaction. We believe that emerging technology should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities or preferences. This month, we are thrilled to showcase our commitment to accessibility and highlight the various options we have integrated into our platform to enhance user experiences for individuals with diverse needs.

1. Closed Captioning for a Seamless Visual Experience

Understanding the importance of accessibility in media content, we have taken significant steps to ensure no one is left out of the experience. With the addition of closed captioning, our users can now enjoy private and group conversations, irrespective of hearing impairments. Whether it be a group conversation or a one-to-one private chat, closed captioning ensures that the narrative reaches everyone.

2. Enlarged Text for Improved Readability

We recognize that users may have varying visual capabilities, and reading small text can be a challenge for some. To address this, we’ve introduced an option to enlarge text across our entire UI system, including notifications, closed captioning, and tooltips. By making text size customizable, users can adjust it to suit their comfort and avoid eye strain, providing a more enjoyable reading experience for all.

3. Real-Time Spoken Notifications for Visual Impairments

For individuals who face difficulties in visually identifying notifications, we’ve incorporated a spoken notification feature. Users now have the option to receive the notifications in spoken form, ensuring they never miss an essential update.

4. Optimized App for Colorblindness

Accessibility shouldn’t be limited to 95.5% of the population with great color vision. Color plays a significant role in design and user interfaces, especially in VR. Foretell’s new design ensures that vital information is conveyed through visual cues such as tooltips, icons, and animations, allowing colorblind users to engage seamlessly with the platform. We have also redesigned the color scheme to be higher in color contrast, accommodating the potential needs of those who are colorblind.

5. Single-Hand Mode for Different Levels of Mobility

For individuals with both temporary and permanent mobility issues, we’ve implemented a single-hand mode feature. Navigating through our platform using just one hand is now possible, providing greater convenience to those who may have limited mobility.

At Foretell Reality, accessibility is an ongoing journey, and we remain committed to continuously improving and expanding our features to cater to diverse needs. We firmly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to explore and enjoy the wonders of virtual reality and related technologies.

VR is a technology that can unite people from all walks of life but is still behind on some critical accessibility features offered in other devices like phones and computers. At Foretell, we are mindful of the different population segments, as we enhance our platform to foster a culture of inclusivity and empowerment.

Stay tuned for more updates on accessibility and other exciting features from Foretell Reality!

Coaching, Other, Soft Skills, VR-Related

Foretell Reality for Special Education and Soft Skills Development

In their recent article, Questar III Boces explains how they found success using Foretell Reality in their classrooms for special education. Questar III is a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and educates approximately 1,600 students in various programs including career and technical education (CTE)New Visionspre-K, and special education. Questar III also provides affordable management and administrative services ranging from grant writing to financial planning.

Student Satisfaction

Foretell Reality partnered with Questar III to create training sessions for key soft skills like employer expectations, customer service, and mock interviews for students from three different education centers. 84% of students using Foretell indicated that the VR experience was “easier than in person”, and 14% specified that it was easier thanks to the increased focus on a survey.

The Work Readiness and Transition Perspective

“There are some real benefits to using virtual reality with our students … Not only do we see increased engagement and focused attention from our students, but it also provides them with more knowledge retention and boosted creativity,” says Jon Levine, Work Readiness and Transition Coordinator for Questar III BOCES Special Education.

Levine says that VR classes relieved anxiety for their students because they gave them an opportunity to practice soft skills that they were not exposed to. Indeed, 72% of the students indicate that the use of virtual reality highly benefits their education, and gave the highest score for wanting to see more VR and Foretell Reality applications in future lessons.

Teacher Reviews

“I think VR offers engaging additional practice and create a realistic environment that can help future employees be more prepared for the process.” says a teacher using Foretell Reality as part of the program. “Most of our students are very engaged with the technical world and very much enjoyed their experience,” they add. All teachers interviewed agree on the benefits of engagement and realism provided by VR simulations in classrooms and express positive sentiments about its potential.

Industry News, Other, Therapy and Support, VR-Related

Foretell Reality at AWE with Yale University

Asher Marks, MD, Medical Director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at Yale University School of Medicine, recently spoke at AWE Europe about his collaboration with Foretell Reality. Featured alongside CMO of the Glimpse Group, James Watson, Dr. Marks explained the value of VR in clinical treatments for pediatric cancer patients, a support group therapy in VR, and why the Yale School of Medicine chose to partner with Foretell Reality.

“We needed a company that was going to work with us to customize the experience for what we felt our patients needed, and what our patients said they needed.” Yale Oncology Department chose Foretell because it is a peer-to-peer secured application, has great spatial audio, is hardware agnostic, and is customizable, Dr. Marks says. In his talk, Dr. Marks also highlights how VR has a lack of distraction, includes body language, a shared space, and opportunities for self-expression through avatars. His study participants followed his sentiment, saying “I preferred VR to Zoom due to the fact that it felt more immersive as though I was leaving my house to attend group”. “I would prefer a VR group to a Zoom group, as this feels more immersive” another participant agrees.

“Participation went from 0% to 73% when we put our patients into social VR support groups,” said Dr Marks, highlighting the significant impact the VR-based cancer support groups have had. “It was extremely helpful to be able to vent to people who actually get it”, adds another cancer participant. The support groups aimed to improve psychosocial care for cancer patients aged 18-25. But using the phone was their grandparents’ technology, and using Zoom was their parents’ technology, Dr. Marks says. VR, however, was something new and exciting. As an added benefit, the groups allowed patients with Leukemia to interact without having the increased risk of infection spread. Some patients joined support group sessions from the hospital, and some others were homebound. “I think I greatly benefitted from the group and it made me feel less isolated”, says a patient after participating in the program.

After over 9 months of detailed planning, Dr. Marks and his team ran Phase 1 and 2 pilot clinical trials with assessment tools such as resilience surveys to measure results. The average participant age was 19, and the most common diagnosis of participants was Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. They had four patients per group, a professional social worker, and an invisible observer. The results were very encouraging: they found statistically significant improvements in resilience. “I was a little embarrassed to be myself, but this group provided me with the confidence to be myself.” adds one member.

Following this collaboration, The Glimpse Group is working to make the implementation, management, and measurement of XR technology in healthcare easy, and to promote more studies and partnerships. As XR becomes more mainstream, the cost of entry will become more affordable, Asher Marks adds. One of the major benefits of this study will be that it sets a precedent for other healthcare organizations, as mentioned in their Q&A.

virtual reality auditorium class
Collaboration, Industry News, Other, Soft Skills, VR-Related

A Guide to Education in VR

Introduction

Right after telelearning comes learning in virtual reality (VR). And before you say I have Zoom fatigue, we can assure you that this will be different. Rather than interacting with teachers and classmates through a screen, you will feel immersed and engaged in learning. You can have your next science class underwater and learn about the animals swimming around you– All while seeing and hearing your classmates through your headset. VR creates a sense of social presence that telelearning lacks, and a level of immersion that beat in-person classes.

Effectiveness

Experimental learning, simulations, and role-play all have a large place in VR. It is less about passive learning, like listening or reading, and more about active learning, like practice and discussion. With VR learning, your information recall and retention rates will be higher. The benefits of VR usage in classrooms also include raising students’ success and enabling collaboration across remote participants from different backgrounds. Finally, in areas like language learning, VR can help expose students to the language and culture repeatedly, increasing the depth and breadth of practice (VRScout).

Virtual reality promotes learning by doing. Researchers suggest that increased levels of immersive content stimulate multisensory engagement and can ultimately lead to more effective learning outcomes (Webster 2016). As an extension, an experiment conducted with over 1000 undergraduate STEM students found that VR education improved grades by a full letter grade (DeHart, 2018). The improvement is primarily related to increased engagement and motivation. In addition, VR was found to be more effective in improving knowledge compared to non-VR scenarios like simulations or traditional learning (Chen et al.). 

A review found VR education to be particularly effective in STEM, architecture, and medicine, as well as more fundamental skills and knowledge like learning how to organize thoughts (Hamilton et al., 2020). “A relatively small VR device can even act as a whole science lab.” writes Adobe. Think about reduced safety concerns, increased lab capacity, and an end to those nighttime lab sessions. Students are not limited in what they can create, and teachers are not required to have long hours of preparation. And for those who get queasy dissecting a frog, there are simplified simulations.

Accessibility

One way that VR helps level the playing field is by making field trips accessible to all. This is especially relevant for k12 students whose parents often have to pay extra for more engaging learning opportunities (Maristute, 2020). For example, students can travel to recreations of Ellis Island in the 19th century, meet the Egyptians who built the pyramids or go to the moon in a spaceship. Furthermore, many prominent museums and galleries have their exhibitions available in VR for students to explore and interact with at their own pace.

In addition, VR can recreate physically impossible scenarios for students to experience. For example, students can learn history surrounded by the remains of the Acropolis in Athens while conversing with animated gods and goddesses. As a result, VR is spreading among virtual campuses like Edstutia, as well as in brick-and-mortar universities like Harvard University, Nova Southeastern University, and Fordham University.  Some institutions, like Harvard University, have also started giving certifications in VR education to teachers.

Implementation

Just like remote work and therapy have not gone anywhere after the pandemic, remote learning is here to stay, taking education to the next level. In fact, a study published in 2018 that VR technologies are now mature enough to be integrated into education as much as any other computing technology (Elmqaddem, 2018). At Foretell Reality, we provide widespread education solutions, from virtual campuses to small discussion rooms and classrooms just like in a traditional school or university. On top of that, our users can customize their avatars, play games, collaborate on whiteboards, and explore 3D objects with their virtual bodies.

VR during surgery
Industry News, Other, VR-Related

Virtual Reality as an Alternative to Anesthesia and Painkillers

Hospitals across the UK are embracing virtual reality (VR) as a tool for pain distraction during surgery and are finding that the benefits extend even beyond minimizing pain. 

A recent article published in The Irish News takes an in depth look at the impact VR  is making for patient populations. By using VR, the elderly are sometimes able to avoid anesthesia, which can result in serious side effects for older patients, including postoperative cognitive dysfunction. VR is also being used for children, as the sensory experience helps anxious and fidgety young patients to sit still during complicated procedures.  And VR’s benefits extend to all patients as it has been shown to reduce anxiety before, during, and after procedures.  An additional important use is the treatment of chronic pain as an alternative to addictive painkillers, which can result in long-term substance abuse disorder. The article cites a 2020 review from Health Technology Wales, which concludes that VR is actually more effective at reducing pain during and immediately after procedures than standard care, such as painkillers. 

Beyond improved patient care,  hospitals experience the added benefit of reducing overall costs. Anesthesia itself is expensive, and it often requires an overnight stay. Many patients (not just the elderly) are adversely impacted by anesthesia and experience symptoms like vomiting and chills, which extends their hospital stay. 

So why are the VR simulations, from a roller coaster ride to a wildlife safari, so effective? According to Jordan Tsigarides at the University of East Anglia, “VR is immersive. It floods the brain with audio-visual signals, engaging the senses and diverting the brain’s attention from processing pain signals…by putting someone in a situation outside of their normal environment, VR can be relaxing. And if you add in an engaging task such as a game, then it’s not hard to grab their full attention.”

Industry News, Other

Five Events in October Pushing VR Forward (and the month’s not over yet)

  1. Accenture announces it will purchase 60,000 VR headsets to train new hires.

Why it Matters: More demand for hardware will create more competition among headset manufacturers which will advance innovation.

2. HTC announces the release of new immersive glasses for relaxation.

Why it Matters: More affordably priced headsets in the marketplace targeted at specific consumer applications like relaxation will increase adoption among consumers.

3. Facebook announces it will hire 10,000 new employees in Europe focused on building out metaverse.

Why it Matters: With 10,000 employees in the U.S. already working on AR and VR, this is a clear indication that the largest social media company in the world is going all in on a 3D future globally.

4. Magic Leap raises another $500m and reveals Magic Leap 2.

Why it Matters: Having now raised a total of $3.5b, it shows that large investors see augmented and virtual reality as a long-term play.

5. Paris Hilton headlines the inaugural Metaverse Festival and embraces the decentralized world of blockchain, Decentraland, and Genies.

Why it Matters: Alternative social VR platforms show that Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse isn’t the only game in town meaning more choices for consumers, more innovation, and less centralized control.

Other

Discovering Diversion, Connection, and Wellbeing inside VR

In light of the recent pandemic, stay at home orders are causing people to feel confined, isolated, and anxious. For WIRED’s Chelsea Leah, VR (Virtual Reality) became an unexpected tool for staying active and relieving stress during this period. Through meditation, exploration, socializing, and movement, she describes how she overcame her initial skepticism to make VR part of her regular routine. Here are some of the applications she discovered:

Meditation: Reef migration, as the name suggests, is an underwater VR environment in which one can explore a coral reef and interact with marine life. 

The graphics are wonderful, the sounds are peaceful, and there’s enough passive action to keep my brain entertained. The best part? I’m not wet or cold, and I don’t need to go up for air”

Exploration: Google’s VR version of Google Earth allows anyone who may feel homesick to revisit places from their childhood through their VR headsets. 

“Simply being able to see these places in VR helped me cope with the nostalgia and longing to go somewhere”.

Socializing: Rec Room is a social space where people from all over the world can play games and do other activities together.

“I recognize the subtle head and arm movements of my individual friends, making it feel as though we truly are in the same room together.” 

Movement: Beat Saber challenges players to physically slash through rapidly approaching music blocks with a virtual lightsaber. 

anything that mixes pop music with light sabers is destined for success.”

The Foretell Reality platform leverages the strengths of VR for professional use cases including tools and environments for therapy and support, soft skills training, and business collaboration. 

Other, Soft Skills

Recruitment and Hiring Through Virtual Reality (VR)

Online interviews are now the standard for job hiring. They are of course, not without their own challenges. From technical glitches, lack of body language cues, difficulty maintaining eye contact, and judgements on camera position and background, online video interviews can be uncomfortable and challenging.

One way to improve this experience would be to shift it to Virtual Reality (VR). VR touts many benefits from enhancing eye contact and body language to allowing both parties to grasp the context of questions and fit better. An interview is an opportunity for both the interviewer and interviewee to learn more about one another. A prospective employee can tour the office workspace virtually and view the company culture firsthand.

VR allows the candidate to interact with virtual team members in an immersive environment, perhaps even working through simulations to demonstrate their expertise. VR also masks the physical appearance of a candidate, removing stigma and bias from the interview process and also relieving a source of stress for the candidate who now does not have to concentrate on their appearance or physical location. VR also allows for all participants to be better focused and attentive.

Though video and audio may be the standard at the moment for interviewing, forward thinking companies should consider VR which promises a much more immersive, unbiased, and lifelike alternative to find the best candidates.

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