ImmVRse, a decentralised application (ÐApp) and is backed by an ensemble of experts from a range of sectors, announced a collaboration with Imperial College to lead research on impact of VR on neural activity.
The next frontier is truly the mind. To explore our vast galaxy, one of the most useful avenues has been Virtual Reality (VR). What makes VR so special is its ability to allow you to transport into another world without literally having to move an inch. That said, even though the body is not moving, the brain is enormously stimulated, triggering significant amounts of neural activity.
There are many VR research projects currently ongoing. University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies has a MedVR lab dedicated to exploring various aspects of medical science such as medicine, psychology, neuroscience and physical and occupational therapy. They are researching the use of VR to assist people with phobia and trauma to cope in a controlled environment. At the University of Washington, they have done extensive research on VR with regards to managing physical pain.
Various training programmes have been created and the highly successful game known as "Snow World" which immerses burn victims in the world of snowball fights with a snowman. This was especially designed with child burn victims in mind. Additionally, engineering students at Stanford University have created a virtual reality technology called SUSIE (Senior-User Soothing Immersive Experience) for seniors who cannot leave their homes so that they may be able to experience the outdoors whilst physically being homebound. In this manner, VR can not only create jobs, but also help save lives.
ImmVRse believes that concentrating on research and development projects by forming a close partnership with universities will unlock the next chapter of this remarkable technology. The company has a tied partnership with Imperial College London to conduct VR-Neuroscience research.
Clinical Research and Innovation (CRI) is a brand new course in the early years of a medical degree at the Imperial School of Medicine. The purpose of this course is to teach students to conduct research analysis in addition to studying theories.
ImmVRse will be working with some of the most talented students from the medical school to study "The Impact of Virtual Reality on Neural Activity." The objective of conducting this research is to comprehensively understand the impact of VR on humans – their cognitive experience, feelings, opinion and also physical reactions.
This research experience will be supervised by CRI Theme Lead, Dr. Saleh. The VR research team will be led by the CEO of ImmVRse, Farabi Shayor. Six students – Ela, Shivam, Mai, Ruhi, Rachel and Francesca will be joining ImmVRse in conducting the research. The students will be using medically approved 12 channel Electroencephalography (EEG) headsets to monitor electrical impulses and neural activity. The participants are expected to wear VR headsets and interact with both passive and active VR whilst their EEG graphs are logged and analysed.
The outcome of this research will deliver robust scientific conclusions in relation to the effect of VR on humans. Essentially, ImmVRse hopes to build upon existing studies to unlock the complexities of the human brain, whilst proving that VR has the potential to become a major breakthrough consumer technology in the coming decade.