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Apple reportedly has several teams working and spending millions on generative AI.

Apple is spending millions of dollars a day to build artificial intelligence tools, according to The Information.

Although Apple considers itself to be its closest competitor, given how it chose to launch Vision Pro when the clamor around AR/VR tech had died down, the scale of investments by Apple is telling of how the tech industry’s pivot to generative AI has affected the company’s outlook, especially with OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT taking center stage.

Continue reading “Apple thinks its ‘Ajax GPT’ is more powerful than ChatGPT” »

Roblox’s new AI assistant is one of a few new AI tools from the company.

Roblox announced a new conversational AI assistant at its 2023 Roblox Developers Conference (RDC) that can help creators more easily make experiences for the popular social app. The new tool, the Roblox Assistant, builds on previously announced features that let creators build virtual assets and write code with the help of generative AI.

With the Roblox Assistant, creators will be able to type in prompts to do things like generate virtual environments. In one demo, somebody types in “I want to make a game set in ancient ruins,” and Roblox drops in some stones, moss-covered columns, and broken architecture. “Make the… More.

Continue reading “Roblox’s new AI chatbot will help you build virtual worlds” »

Metalens for AR and VR.

BEIJING, Sept. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — WiMi Hologram Cloud Inc. (NASDAQ: WIMI) (“WiMi” or the “Company”), a leading global Hologram Augmented Reality (“AR”) Technology provider, today announced that a metasurface eyepiece for augmented reality has been developed, which is based on metasurfaces composed of artificially fabricated subwavelength structures. The metasurface eyepiece employs a special optical design and engineered anisotropic optical response to achieve an ultra-wide field of view(FOV), full-color imaging, and high-resolution near-eye display.

At the heart of the WiMi’s metalens are see-through metalens with a high numerical aperture(NA), a large area and broadband characteristics. Its anisotropic optical response allows it to perform two different optical functions simultaneously. First, it can image virtual information, acting as an imaging lens for virtual information. Second, it can transmit light, serving as a transparent glass for viewing a real-world scene. This design allows the transparent metalens to be placed directly in front of the eye without the need for additional optics, resulting in a wider FOV.

Fabrication of metalens is done using nanoimprinting technology, which is capable of fabricating large-area metalens with sub-wavelength structures. First, a mould or template with the desired structure is prepared. Then, the mould or template is contacted with a transparent substrate and the nanoscale structure is transferred by applying pressure and temperature. Through this nanoimprinting process, the subwavelength structure of the metalens is successfully replicated onto the transparent substrate, resulting in the formation of the metalens.

Continue reading “WiMi Developed Metasurface Eyepiece for Augmented Reality with Ultra-wide FOV” »

From pterodactyls flying overhead in a game to virtually applying cosmetics prior to making a purchase, augmented reality and other immersive technologies are transforming how we play, observe, and learn. Cheap and ultra-small light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that enable full-color imaging at high resolution would help immersive displays reach their full potential, but are not currently available.

Now, in a study recently published in Applied Physics Express, a team led by researchers at Meijo University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has successfully developed such LEDs. The simplicity of their fabrication, via presently available manufacturing methods, means they could be readily incorporated into modern metaverse applications.

Why is the development of improved LEDs necessary for immersive reality? The realism of augmented and virtual reality depends in part on resolution, detail, and color breadth. For example, all colors must be evident and distinguishable from one another. Gallium indium nitride semiconductors are versatile materials for LEDs that meet all of these requirements.

From training medical students to helping surgeons perform operations using the latest tech, virtual reality (VR) is pushing the boundaries in medical care ever further, with the help of IEC Standards.

Conclusions: Most studies demonstrated the use of VR to be effective for supporting the treatment of anxiety or depression in a range of settings and recommended its potential as a tool for use in a clinical environment. Even though standalone headsets are much easier to work with and more suitable for home use, the shift from tethered VR headsets to standalone headsets in the mental health environment was not observed. All studies that looked at the use of CBT either in vivo or in a virtual environment found it to be effective in supporting the treatment of anxiety or depression.

Keywords: CBT; anxiety; depression; mental health; virtual reality.

©Nilufar Baghaei, Vibhav Chitale, Andrej Hlasnik, Lehan Stemmet, Hai-Ning Liang, Richard Porter. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (https://mental.jmir.org), 23.09.2021.

Like this video about how Viva Vita addresses loneliness and depression in the elderly using VR. Subscribe here: https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-depressionintheelderly.

Watch the next video in our series on virtual reality therapy: https://youtu.be/IZE41KejIBw.

Continue reading “VR Trips Help Treat Depression in the Elderly” »

A study published in Scientific Reports has shed light on the intricate relationship between the sense of presence in virtual reality (VR) environments and cognitive abilities. The study, titled “The role of sense of presence in expressing cognitive abilities in a virtual reality task: an initial validation study,” was conducted by a team of researchers coordinated by Dr. Andrea Chirico and marks a significant advancement in our understanding of how immersive technologies can influence cognitive functions.

The research team, which includes Prof. Antonio Giordano, Prof. Fabio Lucidi (Sapienza University of Rome), Dr. Luigi De Pietro (CNR ICAR, Italy), and others, set out to investigate the extent to which the sense of presence—the feeling of being “inside” a virtual environment —impacts an individual’s cognitive performance. By employing advanced VR technology and designing a range of tasks to test cognitive abilities, the researchers were able to gather valuable insights.

One of the key findings of the study is that a stronger sense of presence is positively correlated with enhanced cognitive abilities. Participants who reported a heightened feeling of presence in the virtual tasks demonstrated improved performance in various cognitive domains. These domains include memory, attention, problem-solving, and decision-making.

In a novel attempt to reduce the risks of over sedation, physician-scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether virtual reality immersion can minimize the need for sedatives during hand surgery without negatively impacting patient satisfaction. The team studied adults undergoing hand surgery who were randomized to receive either Virtual Reality (VR) immersion during the procedure in addition to usual MAC, or usual MAC alone. They found that VR immersion during hand surgery led to significant reductions in sedative doses as well as post-operative lengths of stay in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU). Their work is published in PLOS ONE.

BIDMC researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial that found virtual reality immersion during hand surgery reduced the need for sedatives.