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Monthly Archives: March 2020

//March

Industry Vectors in AI, XR, 5G & More

  XR, AI, 5G, SCT Editor Andy Fawkes and industry experts look at some of the hottest trends in simulation and training technologies. There are numerous predictions of how, with advances in technology, the world might change over the next decade. Many centre around AI, the Internet, human interfaces, energy supply, health and transport, but how might safety critical sector simulation and training change? Predicting the future can be fraught because human endeavour is often chaotic and what seem like certain trends are consigned to history as other trends take over. However, as it is the start of a new decade, we asked industry experts for their view and have put together a guide to some of the trends in S&T-related technology. Innovation One does not need to be in the S&T community to observe that the take up of technologies, particularly consumer-focused, are accelerating. For example, mobile devices have reached levels of worldwide adoption in 10+ years which took telephone landlines 100+ years. Further, technologies once thought of as science fiction can now be found in our homes, such as Amazon’s Alexa AI. We are seeing both military customers and industry looking to this wider world and seeking the same level [...]

By | 2020-03-16T12:07:26+00:00 March 17th, 2020|
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The Future of Training – Editorial Comment

New Editor Andy Fawkes and SCT colleagues deep dive into key technologies which are driving the transformation of training. “at the start of the decade, what is the future of training in the safety critical sector and what are the challenges and opportunities that might lie ahead?” The Future of Training The simulation and training domain never ceases to interest me with its synergy of people and technology, and its challenges both enduring and emergent. It has a global community that for the most part shares its ideas and standards and looks to other sectors for innovation. So, at the start of the decade, what is the future of training in the safety critical sector and what are the challenges and opportunities that might lie ahead? Will we still need training in the future? Given the current conversations around automation and AI one might think we will not need humans at all. However, although we see striking developments in both civil and military domains, it will be a long time before machines can be as versatile and agile in thinking as humans. It is more likely that the nature of many tasks will change and that there will be more human and [...]

By | 2020-03-16T11:39:43+00:00 March 16th, 2020|
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Orbis Commences First US Training Program

Eye care professionals from Latin America came to Fort Worth, Texas, for two weeks of training on board Orbis International’s Flying Eye Hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on an MD-10 aircraft, which is currently at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. This marks Orbis’ first training program taking place in the United States and it is the 97th country where the plane has provided training. Simulation training with Chilean and regional South America partners. Image credit: Orbis International Over the next two weeks, Orbis's Volunteer Faculty (medical experts) will share their knowledge and skills with ophthalmologists, ophthalmologists-in-training and nurses – who are primarily from Bolivia, as well as from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru – in ophthalmic skills that will help them meet the eye care needs of their local communities. For example, learning surgical skills for cataract removal will be a major focus of the training because the condition remains the leading cause of blindness across Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for at least 50% of all blindness, despite being treatable with a 20-minute operation. Participants will also learn to treat other conditions that threaten vision, including glaucoma and strabismus, as well as how to [...]

By | 2020-03-11T20:28:05+00:00 March 13th, 2020|
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Varjo delivers industry-first chroma key and marker tracking

Finland's Varjo have added real-time chroma keying and marker tracking as early access features for its XR-1 Developer Edition headset. Varjo say it is the first company to deliver chroma keying in real-time for mixed reality devices. It is an industry-standard technique known as green-screening and used in broadcasting and film. With marker tracking, professional users can instantly anchor any virtual objects to the real world using printable visual markers. Together, these two features allow enterprise customers to integrate virtual and real worlds, interact with photorealistic virtual content as they would in real life, and achieve pixel accuracy and occlusion inside mixed reality. "We’re excited to introduce real-time chroma keying and object tracking to our customers just three months after the first deliveries of the XR-1, enabling absolute immersion inside mixed reality," said Urho Konttori, Chief Product Officer and co-founder of Varjo. VARJO CHROMA KEYING Varjo said chroma keying is beneficial for professional workflows where aligning virtual content accurately with the physical world is crucial. Users can define parts of reality, identify them with colour, replace them with virtual models or scenery without large costs. With chroma key, virtual content also occludes with real-world objects or hands, allowing intuitive interactions. [...]

By | 2020-03-09T22:01:13+00:00 March 10th, 2020|
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Talespin Raises $15 Million for XR Workforce Training

Talespin, a spatial computing company, has raised $15 million in Series B funding, which was led by Cornerstone OnDemand, a provider of cloud-based learning, talent management and talent experience software. Cornerstone also announced an ongoing partnership with Talespin, to deliver Talespin’s extended reality (XR) training solutions to customers. HTC also joined the round as a new investor, with participation from existing investors, including Farmers Insurance Exchange. Companies face massive reskilling challenges as they seek to transform their workforces to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, evolving workforce expectations, and growing talent gaps. Soft skills like leadership and communication are at a premium in an increasingly digital world, and process-oriented jobs are changing faster than people can train for them using traditional methods. Talespin addresses these challenges by empowering companies to systematically transition their workforces toward a new, skills-based economy with spatial computing. Talespin’s Runway platform accelerates knowledge transfer for soft and hard skills and offers advanced skills data to enable purpose-driven career decisions for employees, and better talent decisions for organizations. In addition to leading the Series B funding round, Cornerstone is partnering with Talespin to develop technology and products to up-level HR and L&D practices. Talespin’s VR learning content [...]

By | 2020-03-09T18:38:28+00:00 March 9th, 2020|
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Ocutrx Vision Reports Successful Preliminary Test Results of AR Tech

Ocutrx Vision Technologies, LLC, a technology startup developing an augmented reality headset, has announced the successful preliminary results of its Dynamic Opacity outer lens in providing safety for surgeons and operating room technicians using medical lasers. Used on the ORLenz Augmented Reality (AR) Surgery Visualization headsets, and designed to be combined with surgical digital microscopes feeds and laser technologies for treatment of conditions in the eye, the ORLenz AR headset is set to provide surgeons with enhanced surgery visualization, ease, comfort and safety. Image credit: Ocutrx Vision Technologies Medical lasers, including ophthalmic lasers, provide precise treatment for a range of eye conditions with little risk of infection – and are usually a less invasive option. The combination of safety, accuracy and relative low cost makes lasers useful ophthalmic tools for surgeries such as a posterior capsulotomy. Ophthalmic lasers are used with patients who have previously had cataract surgery then present with subsequent cloudy vision due to clouding of the posterior capsule. A surgeon uses a laser to painlessly clear the vision again. Other ophthalmic laser uses include treatment of glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, vein occlusions, retinal holes and retinal detachments. When medical lasers are used, there exists a nominal [...]

By | 2020-03-11T19:02:15+00:00 March 9th, 2020|
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Precision OS to Host First Cadaver-Less Training Course

Precision OS Technology will host the first cadaver-less training course at the Global Spine Congress (GSC) using their mobile platform, the Oculus Quest. Hailed as one of the largest gatherings globally for spine surgeons, the GSC takes place May 20-23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and provides a unique forum for the exchange of ideas, strategies and tactics that positively influence patient care. Image credit: Precision OS “We considered how to improve patient outcomes very carefully when creating our surgeon training platform,” said Dr. Danny Goel, an orthopedic shoulder surgeon and Chief Executive Officer, Precision OS. “Being in the operating room and understanding the challenges we face as surgeons is how we approached our model. There are critical unmet needs with current models of simulation that are required for surgeons to become experts — and we feel our method helps to fill those gaps.” The virtual reality educational modules, built on the Unreal Engine by Precision OS, enable the user to learn concepts faster — garnering a 570% improvement in efficiency over traditional approaches to training — while also enhancing technical skill and decision-making by 150% in the operating room. These advantages were proven out in a landmark [...]

By | 2020-03-09T16:42:07+00:00 March 9th, 2020|
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UofL School of Nursing, Trilogy Health Services Dedicate Sim Lab

The University of Louisville School (UofL) of Nursing dedicated the renovation and upgrades of a simulation lab with Trilogy Health Services, LLC, and The Bufford Family Foundation. Trilogy Management Services, manager of Trilogy Health Services, and The Bufford Family Foundation jointly committed $250,000 for the project. Image credit: University of Louisville Leaders of the UofL School of Nursing and Trilogy Health Services also announced an agreement to offer priority admission for Trilogy employees to attend the traditional Bachelor of Science in nursing program. Beginning in fall 2020, the school will work toward accepting 25 qualified applicants per semester, up to 50 annually. Trilogy Health Services will provide scholarship support and part-time, flexible hours to its employees who meet requirements for admission to the UofL School of Nursing. The agreement between UofL and Trilogy Health Services is an extension of Trilogy’s recent $10-million work-based learning commitment to hire 200 Kentucky high school students into health care jobs as part of the Trilogy Scholar Program. The collaboration with UofL will create a pathway for these students to earn a four-year college degree. “We understand the importance of fostering high quality nurses to care for and about our residents to support [...]

By | 2020-03-09T16:23:44+00:00 March 9th, 2020|
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Middlesex University invests in VR headsets

London's Middlesex University has bought five VR headsets so that student nurses can train in a virtual hospital ward. The university bought the devices from Oxford Medical Simulation (OMS). It follows the purchase of a four-bed simulation ward last year. Third year adult nursing and paediatric postgraduates are using the virtual wards. There are  plans to make the learning available to midwifery students later in 2020. “While wearing the Oculus Rift VR headsets, students ask patients questions to diagnose their condition. They then decide on the best treatment while making sure they follow certain procedures. The student nurses can develop confidence in tackling 20 different scenarios. These include patients who have difficulty breathing, diabetes, COPD and severe allergies. The students receive personalised feedback and grades using an analytics engine. Fiona Suthers, Head of the Clinical Skills Department, said: "Any simulation is only as good as the way it is debriefed so you have to use a very definitive evaluation tool led by experienced people which is embedded in the curriculum effectively. "Students can feel empowered to make decisions that they wouldn’t (normally) feel comfortable making... and take more risks.” Middlesex University One of the simulations includes a patient with Sepsis [...]

By | 2020-03-06T18:13:09+00:00 March 9th, 2020|
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STTC Awards ECS BAA Contract to Evaluate Use of Haptics

Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) has been awarded a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) technical project with the Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC), a division of the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) Human Research and Engineering (HRED) Directorate. The objective of this five-year program is to analyze, develop, and evaluate the use of haptics technologies in simulated immersive training environments. Image credit: ECS Waymon Armstrong, ECS CEO/President says: “We are proud to continue our longstanding relationship with STTC which goes back almost 20 years. The use of haptics technology in mixed reality environments directly addresses several challenges in the Department of Defense (DoD) medical training. State-of-the-art training systems generally rely on physical hardware, room size simulators, instrumented manikins, and other specialized props to train users on physical objects. These systems are typically expensive and require skilled operators and a high level of maintenance.” The ECS team, led by Paul Cummings, Vice President of Innovation and Technology and Shane Taber, Vice President of Operations, Orlando, will research recent advances in haptics, force feedback, tracking, and high-fidelity touch simulations to identify where particular technologies can enhance learning, improve skill retention, and increase training effectiveness. The resulting [...]

By | 2020-03-03T22:15:58+00:00 March 3rd, 2020|
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