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So far Patrick Johnston has created 39 blog entries.

Touch Surgery secures $70m funding for VR doctor training

British start-up Touch Surgery, which uses VR headsets to train doctors, has secured $70m (£54m) in funding to grow its product line, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph. The British newspaper said the company, who had previously raised $19.5 million from U.S. venture capital fund 8VC, secured the money in October. It did not say where from. Touch Surgery did not respond to requests for comment from Halldale. Touch Surgery's main backers are in Silicon Valley. Surgeons Dr Jean Nehme and Dr Andre Chow set up the company in 2013. Its technology allows doctors to use headsets to study and review simulated operations. This means an experienced surgeon can help colleagues remotely and achieve best practice more widely. Its app, which has been downloaded 2.5 million, offers virtual tutorials of more than 160 procedures. It also provides a chance to test your expertise. In addition, the start-up provides video and data analysis systems for hospitals, working with the NHS. The Daily Telegraph said Touch were offering its services to U.K. and U.S. hospitals.  

By | 2020-01-21T10:32:39+00:00 January 21st, 2020|
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TESLASUIT lanuches VR-Glove to compliment suit

TESLASUIT have unveiled a new glove which allows users to feel virtual textures. The company say it makes the immersion into VR more accurate and realistic. The TESLASUIT GLOVE can be used together with the TESLASUIT full-body haptic feedback suit as a set or separately. The glove integrates haptics, motion capture, biometry and force feedback. It has a range of breakthrough applications, from enterprise XR-training to rehabilitation and much more. “We’ve created the TESLASUIT GLOVE to expand XR training capabilities," said Sergei Nossoff, CEO of TESLASUIT. "We have already been transforming the XR industry and now we are empowering the user to do so much more." Haptics, equipped with a 3×3 display for each finger, contributes to tactile sense, enabling users to feel virtual textures naturally. The glove can detect the movements of the wearer’s hands and use those to control the accuracy of movements. The exoskeleton element, together with the motion capture and force feedback systems, find their application in robotic tele-control systems as well as medical rehabilitation. In addition, the integrated biometric system gathers real-time data while in use – allowing for emotional state, stress level, and heart rate to be relayed. The glove is wireless and is [...]

By | 2020-01-08T11:12:30+00:00 January 8th, 2020|
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Finland offers free ‘Elements of AI course’

Finnish tech company Reaktor and the University of Helsinki have launched 'Elements of AI', a free course in Artificial Intelligence. 'Elements of AI' consists of a series of online courses to give a snapshot of AI to users regardless of age and level of education. "It explains what artificial intelligence is, what it can (and can’t) do, and how it affects our lives – all in easy-to-grasp terms, with no programming or complicated math required," Reaktor said. The course has more than 220,000 registered students, with participants coming from over 90 countries. Reaktor said the course has already trained more than one percent of the 5.5 million Finnish population. It is the most popular course ever offered by the University of Helsinki, Finland's largest and oldest university. The launch of the EU-wide course comes prior to Finland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020-2021. The Finnish Presidency has worked with EU member states to reach a shared understanding of the conditions for sustainable growth. Finland has pushed the importance of future development of the single market; taking full advantage of research, development, innovation and digitalisation and investing in the competences of European citizens. The course in available [...]

By | 2019-12-31T12:14:35+00:00 December 31st, 2019|
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Antycip equips French Engineering school with virtual immersion room

VR integrator Antycip Simulation has helped deliver a virtual immersion room at l’École Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (Les Arts et Métiers). The French school trains more than 6,000 students each year, mostly engineers in the fields of industry, research, and socio-economics. Through training, 14 laboratories and partnership research, Les Arts et Métiers aims to be a major contributor to industrial innovation in France and Europe. BlueLemon, a free standing five-sided VR CAVE, is financed by European, governmental and regional funding. It is part of the LiV laboratory which brings together Arts et Métiers and French car manufacturer Renault. The content in the CAVE is retro projected thanks to five Christie 4K 25,000 lumen projectors, capable of displaying 1.2mm large pixels to best meet human visual resolution in normal conditions, as well as high contrast ratio in 3D. The system is equipped with a multiple field of view, allowing two users to work collaboratively and simultaneously in the device with dedicated points of view. A spatialised sound system completes the device and increases the immersive feeling. Three areas of research are developed in particular within this CAVE: virtual and augmented reality for the industry of the future, driving simulation, and [...]

By | 2019-12-12T22:06:31+00:00 December 5th, 2019|
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Dutch firm Damen to establish simulation laboratory

Dutch defence, shipbuilding and engineering company Damen will work with VSTEP Simulation to build a laboratory to explore simulation solutions in the maritime industry. All image credits: Damen The duo will develop software that will extend the capabilities of VSTEP’s existing NAUTIS Maritime Simulation platform into engineering applications and therefore open up new research and development possibilities for Damen’s many R&D programmes. The initial focus will be on ship design and engineering, where software will be developed that allows naval architects and engineers to first model potential changes in a design. They will then view them in virtual reality to see the impacts these would have on the vessel’s performance. "Business units across the group require ever more simulations to mitigate the risks inherent in designing and commissioning," said Marcel Cleijsen, team leader at Damen R&D. "Costs per simulated vessel are currently high due to dependency on suppliers, high tariffs and limited re-usability as ownership remains with suppliers. This project is an investment that will drastically lower the cost per simulation by standardising the interface between components and making the completed simulations re-usable for future purposes." Damen said it was well-known for its commitment to act upon industry [...]

By | 2019-12-12T22:08:59+00:00 December 5th, 2019|
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Indian mining company BEML get new simulator

BEML, a manufacturer of construction and mining equipment in India, has installed a TecknoSIM dumper simulator to train drivers and operators engaged in mining operations in Mysore. BEML simulator The simulator is equipped for training on two variants of the dump trucks : BH150E and BH2015E. The TecknoSIM Dump Truck simulator enables drivers and operators to train in environments and conditions faced in a real mine site without any safety risk. The three screen LED display with HD graphics provides an out of cabin view as seen from the actual equipment. The simulator environment replicates an open cast mine with necessary signs and markings. The mine site includes a workshop area, galleries, dump yard and shovel and loading area for a comprehensive training experience. The training program offered in the simulator covers major dumper aspects of mining operations. The BEML learners get an opportunity to practice hazardous situations that may occur on the mine site. The software simulates multiple environmental conditions like daylight conditions, adverse weather and low visibility. The simulator incorporates real sound and visual effects for situations that occur due to operator fault like accidents, tire burst, etc. A detailed performance evaluation report is generated at [...]

By | 2019-12-12T22:01:58+00:00 November 27th, 2019|
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Varjo expands re-seller network in Europe

Varjo Technologies has expanded its value-added re-seller network with Antycip Simulation, a European provider of virtual reality solutions, visual displays, simulation tools and engineering services. Picture courtesy of ©Lorne Campbell - Guzelian As part of the agreement, Antycip Simulation will provide Varjo HMDs to customers using its portfolio of professional VR and visual display solutions for training and simulation. “Antycip Simulation provides a complete solution of both physical and virtual elements for simulation customers, enabling a fully immersive training experience,” said John Burwell, Global Lead Simulation and Training at Varjo. In addition to Varjo’s recently announced VR-2 and VR-2 Pro virtual reality headsets, Antycip Simulation will also offer Varjo’s XR-1 Developer Edition, which makes it possible to mix virtual and real content for the first time ever, once it’s generally available. As a result, users are able to work on activities like design collaboration in the same room while also seeing other colleagues or collaborators. "With its revolutionary vision of what VR and XR will mean for enterprises, Varjo integrates with Antycip’s vision and passion to work with the world’s best technology providers to help address our customers’ challenges,” said Michel Pronier, CEO of Antycip Simulation. With Antycip [...]

By | 2019-11-27T16:07:46+00:00 November 27th, 2019|
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Deutsche Bahn opens VR training centre in Cologne

German railway group Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) has opened a new training center in Cologne-Dellbrück, the largest and most modern of its kind in Germany. Some 250 apprentices will be trained at the 7,200 square meters facility each year. The centre also makes use of the potential of virtual reality. A 2.2 tonne train simulator for the locomotive series 185/192 allows users to perform test drives and exams. It can simulate weather conditions such as snow, fog and heavy rainfall. "DB is increasing its capacity in education and training," board member Martin Seiler said at the opening ceremony. "We are investing in the future and in a strong track." The group said it was hiring thousands of new employees that required training. "Cologne-Dellbrück offers the most modern learning conditions," Seiler added. Construction of the new centre began in August 2018. It combines locations in North-Rhine Westphalia that were previously separate, turning them into a high-performance unit. The Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Training, Learning & Consulting will run the facility.  

By | 2019-11-20T09:30:17+00:00 November 19th, 2019|
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Singapore invests heavily in RMDP transport training

Singapore's Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, has unveiled a S$100 million Rail Manpower Development Package (RMDP). The RMDP initiative for railway workers is co-developed with the Public Transport Operators (PTOs) and the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU).It aims to expand the rail workforce and accelerate the rail workforce transformation over the next five years. This will prepare workers to run an expanded and more complex rail system. The RMDP enhances existing training programmes offered by the PTOs and initiatives supported by Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore. It comprises three key components: * Manpower development incentives to encourage PTOs to expand and accelerate their training in future-relevant technologies and skillsets, in emerging areas such as data analytics and condition-based maintenance. Around 3,000 rail workers will benefit; * New SGRail Industry Scholarships and in-service sponsorships co-funded by LTA and the PTOs to attract and retain talent to become future industry leaders. The SGRail Industry Scholarships for programmes at ITE and Institutes of Higher Learning are open to students who wish to pursue a promising career in the rail industry. Around 400 students and workers will benefit. * Co-investments in training hardware equipment like simulators or [...]

By | 2019-12-12T21:56:36+00:00 November 14th, 2019|
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Aberdeen Drilling School to open four new training centres

  Aberdeen Drilling School (ADS) is inventing more than £1 million to open four new training centres in RelyOn Nutec facilities by the end of the year. The move comes after a fifty percent increase in contract wins in the past six months, said ADS, which is part of the RelyOn Nutec group. The new centres are in Houston, U.S., Cuidad del Carmen in Mexico and Bergen and Stavanger in Norway. The ADS team will operate them independently and deliver the "most advanced simulator-based training currently available on the drilling market." Expanding the services to four new locations will require ADS to hire five new bilingual instructors. It will also double the technical workforce in the coming six months with new instructors, simulator operators and software developers.  The firm currently has a team of 20 based at its Aberdeen facility in Union Glen and 50 staff worldwide. "This is really only the start for us," said Managing director of Aberdeen Drilling School, Jason Grant. "With access to the RelyOn Nutec network of over 30 training centres in 20 countries, we have a great platform for further expansion." Aberdeen Drilling School The training firm’s existing portfolio includes facilities in Aberdeen, Malaysia, [...]

By | 2019-10-16T14:54:14+00:00 October 16th, 2019|
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