Jul 4 2013
China Hi-tech Fair 2013

Brussels, Belgium (June 27, 2013) – The Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) attended the China Hi-Tech Fair in Belgium, an overseas session of the China High Tech Fair in Shenzhen. The China High Tech Fair in Shenzhen (CHTF) is the largest, most influential scientific and technological fair in China. Nearly 3,000 exhibitors from 50 different countries normally attend CHTF, and visitor numbers have well surpassed 500,000. Brussels Invest & Export, Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and Agoria hosted the event, held on June 27 2013, at the Hotel Sheraton Rogier. Representatives from 28 Chinese companies and institutions, as well as many Belgian-based companies, that were looking to find trading and technological partners in Belgium, were in attendance.

 

Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) uses simulation technologies in three main areas: 1) treating patients with stress, anxiety, and trauma, 2) training for military medical and civilian populations, and 3) enhancing medical educational programs. A Belgian corporation established in December 2006 with affiliates in the U.S. and China, VRMI principals are world leaders in applying VR technology in combination with physiological monitoring and feedback for training, therapy, and emerging applications. We are also focused on developing a comprehensive protocol to address an array of needs for military personnel and civilian first responders as well as emerging technologies for various security and intelligence operations. Having been involved in R&D projects in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. for the past 25 years, we have won over 50 competitive government contracts and look now towards marketing the developed products and protocols.

 

Representing VRMI at the fair were Prof. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold, President, and Stacey Kao, who is interning at VRMI through the study abroad program with Boston University Brussels.

 

Dr. Wiederhold and Ms Kao at China Hi-Tech Fair 2013

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Jun 14 2013
Tackling Stress Head on
Virtual Reality Medical Institute (VRMI) is a Belgian SME headquartered in the Brussels Life Science Incubator on the Catholic University’s Brussels campus in Woluwe Saint-Lambert.
For the past 15 years, the company has been using simulation technologies in three main areas:
■ To treat patients with anxiety
disorders (phobias, panic and
post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD);
■ To train both military and civilian
populations; and
■ To enhance educational
programmes.
The virtual environments VRMI constructs uniformly elicit significant physiological arousal to replicate real-world experiences. The VRMI team attributes its strength to a cadre of highly experienced medical and psychology professionals, working in tandem with technical team members and end-users. VRMI’s development concept utilises a three-pronged approach. New concepts for products are initially discussed with clinicians and technical members of the team, which include software developers, programmers, hardware integrators and computer graphic artists. After feasibility studies are completed, the team creates prototypes and obtains informed consent and IRB approvals. Following this, these new, virtual worlds are first tested on normal controls and then on study participants. With the participants’ permission, technical team members speak to them about their impressions and thoughts on how to improve the VR software. VRMI has found that most participants are interested in communicating with both clinical and
technical members of the team. In other settings, the latter rarely receive input directly from users, so this feedback is valuable for improving the design of future environments and products to more closely match
end-user needs. Since our team includes international collaborators, we are able to create culturally sensitive VR systems designed for a more diverse group of users. VRMI serves on EU grants as both a Dissemination and Exploitation Work Package Leader and a Clinical Partner, using a combined communications platform of an annual international conference, specialised workshops, a quarterly magazine, a
scientific journal, a website information portal and a social networking site to provide information and education to interested stakeholders, whether they be policymakers, funding agents, academics or interested individual citizens.
The full article can be read here: “Tackling Stress Head On_B. Wiederhold“!
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Jun 14 2013
From Generation to Generation

the 17th annual International CyberPsychology and CyberTherapy Conference (CYBER17) convened in Brussels, Belgium on the 25-28th September 2012. With speechs from keynote speakers such as Robert Madelin, Director General  of  the Communications Networks, Content and Technology Directorate General (DG-CONNECT)  at  the  European  Commission (EC), stakeholders from over 20 countries were in attendance, including industry  leaders,  academics, clinicians, government funders and representatives from affiliated associations.

The aim of the conference was twofold: to inform and educate on how advanced technologies, such as virtual reality, are being used in training, therapy  and rehabilitation;  and how interactive  technologies  and social networking tools are affecting individual behaviour (both positively and negatively), as well as interpersonal relationships and society in its entirety. An interactive exhibit area, the Cyberarium, allowed participants to try first-hand the innovative technological solutions.

Last  year,  the  European  Council  endorsed the  EC’s creation of an Innovation Partnership on Healthy and Active Ageing, with the goal of adding two years of healthy life to citizens by 2020. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct activities helping older adults live long, productive  and independent  lives under the Healthy Ageing Programme.

While humanitarian reasons are the foundation for these programmes, the cost to society in their absence cannot be denied. As is true in Japan today, by 2030 more than 20% of the population of northern EC countries, Australia, Canada and the US will be over 65. In the US, about 80% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition, and such conditions can lead to the person’s inability to perform activities  of daily living (ADL) such as ‘bathing, dressing, eating, or moving around the house’.

Although information and communications technology (ICT) solutions  are only one part of the mix, a recent EC report confirmed that citizens view an ‘innovative way of care’ (a category that includes new ways to organise care, telecare and telehealth) as the most important part. Indeed, the author of a 2008 paper4 determined from a literature review and wireless technology experience that remote monitoring alone could ‘reduce healthcare expenditures by a net of $197bn (in constant 2008 dollars) over the next 25 years with adoption of policies  that reduce barriers and accelerate the use of  remote monitoring technologies’.

 

The full article is available here: From Generation to Generation – Dr._M.Baker_B.Wierderhold

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Jun 14 2013
From Clinical to Cloud
In September 2012, the 17th Annual CyberPsychology & CyberTherapy Conference (CYBER17) was held. With some of the restrictions to growth acknowledged as early as 2000, the International Association of
CyberPsychology, Training, & Rehabilitation (iACToR) community has become acutely aware of the need to transform itself to quicken the pace of progress. Suggestions made around that time period still remain and continued to be amongst the discussions at CYBER17. In 2000 perhaps these difficulties were acceptable; however, with a multitude of technological advancements, and 12 additional years of research funding, these deficiencies need no longer continue. One remaining stumbling block is the lack of interoperability: the applications and software content are available, but the infrastructure is still lacking to allow widespread deployment of these tools.
The need for an overall shift from institutional healthcare settings to everyday environments, and from treatment to a preventive approach based on new personalised healthcare technologies, is widely recognised and made available by the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The Strategic Approach for the EU for 2008-2013 stated that ‘health is the greatest wealth’ and that ‘health is important for the wellbeing of individuals and society, but a healthy population is also a prerequisite for economic productivity and prosperity’. The strategy of European healthcare envisions innovation coupled with new technologies as the solution to these problems.
A wide variety of health promotion/disease prevention (wellness) multimedia content has been tested and validated in pilot studies and clinical trials. In addition, virtual reality content for multiple disorders ranging from obesity to posttraumatic stress disorder to cognitive and physical rehabilitation has shown clear efficacy. The development cycle for these technologies involved a migration process beginning with first designing and developing the solutions on desktop platforms, with input from end-users, clinicians and technical design staff. Once pilot studies and randomised, controlled clinical trials were performed, then the technologies were ported to more mobile platforms. Now the challenge is to move from the current mobile devices to a cloud-based solution for even easier access and more widely distributed treatment solutions.
It is critical that a platform now be put in place to deploy these tools for widespread use by stakeholders who may benefit from them; in some cases, these stakeholders will be individual citizens, and in other cases, healthcare providers. In order for this to occur, however, interoperability is essential. An infrastructure must be implemented that will allow applications to work without the necessity of the patient, trainee or clinician/researcher purchasing a separate peripheral device, specific computer or software package to run each app.
As Vice President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said in a September 2012 interview on the EU Commission’s strategy on cloud computing, good reasons to be in the cloud include interoperability, data portability and reversibility. After the interoperability hurdle has been surmounted by the adoption of cloud computing, the prices of apps can come down as development costs shrink. Secure protocols for transmission of patient data in the cloud are coming online. Therefore, the primary remaining barrier to adoption will be clinician training and patient education, in which the EU has the opportunity to play an important role.
The full article can be read here: From Clinical to Cloud – Dr_B.Wiederhold
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Jun 14 2013
EU “eHealth in Focus” Newspaper mentions Cyber18!
Direct Extract:
“From 30 June until 2 July 2013, the 18th Annual CyberPsychology & CyberTherapy Conference will take place. Topics include: electronic health coaching, using virtual reality in treatments (for example after hand surgery), the new EU research program Horizon 2020, virtual body swapping and advanced technologies in the assessment and evaluation of psychological stress.

CYBER18 has grown to a full-scale conference with presentations that demonstrate controlled clinical trials with unique applications of cutting edge technologies that improve the access and increase the quality of healthcare.

Prominent academic representatives from Europe, North America, and Asia will serve as Scientific Chairs and on its Scientific Committee.

Note in your agenda:

July 1 – Conference Day 1

Keynote Address: Robert Madelin (Director-General for DG CONNECT): “Cyber Everything in Horizon 2020”

July 2 – Conference Day 2

Innovations in Health and Well-Being – Chairs: Terje Peetso and Peteris Zilgalvis

“ICT to Prevent Citizens From Becoming Patients” – Peteris Zilgalvis (Head of Unit, ICT for Health and Wellbeing, DG CONNECT)

The EU funded INTERSTRESS Project: “Advanced Technologies in the Assessment and Evaluation of Psychological Stress” – Prof. Andrea Gaggioli, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Italy

European Commission Funding Program: Francois Junique (Project Officer, DG CONNECT, Flagship unit) will present  “The Human Brain project” (HBP).

Find the full program of the conference here.”

 

Original link can be found here

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Jun 11 2013
Belgian Economic Mission to the United States

Brussels, Belgium (June 11, 2013) — The Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) was selected to participate in the recent Belgian Economic Mission to the United States, organized by the Belgian Foreign Trade Agency in collaboration with the regional institutions Wallonia Foreign Trade & Investment Agency, Brussels Invest & Export, and Flanders Investment & Trade and FPS Foreign Affairs. The event, held from June 2 to June 9, 2013, was presided over by the Prince Philippe of Belgium, and consisted of 393 participants, bring together companies from various business sectors to expand their influence to the U.S. and promote trade between Belgium and the U.S.

Virtual Reality Medical Center uses simulation technologies in three main areas: 1) treating patients with stress, anxiety, and trauma, 2) training for military medical and civilian populations, and 3) enhancing medical educational programs. A Belgian corporation established in December 2006 with affiliates in the U.S. and China, VRMC principals are world leaders in applying VR technology in combination with physiological monitoring and feedback fro training, therapy, and emerging applications. We are also focused on developing a comprehensive protocol to address an array of needs for military personnel and civilian first responders as well as emerging technologies for various security and intelligence operations. Having been involved in R&D projects in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. for the past 25 years, we have won over 50 competitive government contracts and look now towards marketing the developed products and protocols.

 

Representing VRMC on the mission were Prof. Dr. Brenda Wiederhold, President, and Prof. Dr. Mark Wiederhold, Director of Clinical Research.

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Nov 5 2012
Social Media is Shifting Power from Advertisers to Consumers

In a recent Forbes.com column, Shel Israel opined, ‘‘Social media is not yet a vast wasteland.. But in the world, where changes come at the speed of the Internet, I see danger here.’’

When television was in its infancy, some of its pioneers sought to share fine arts with viewers, but advertisers quickly drove the decision makers to offer low comedy and variety shows. When social media was in its infancy, companies at first talked about listening to their products’ consumers, but now they are talking ‘‘about making social media more transactional rather than conversational.’’

Still, consumers push back, driving advertising budgets and media buys through their social media behavior. By the 2013 Super Bowl, some predict that advertisers will change less liked versions of their TV commercials to different ver- sions later in the game—for the first time making real time changes in the commercial lineup. This is based on the esti- mated 5 million viewers who tweeted or otherwise com- mented on the commercials during the 2012 Super Bowl, for which ads cost an average of $3.5 million.2 With $72 billion in U.S. television ad spending at stake,3 the once fanciful notion of ‘‘interactive TV’’ is becoming reality.

TV is still the primary communications channel for mar- keters, representing a 41% share of major media advertising spending globally in 2011, up from 38% in 2001, when In- ternet advertising was new.4 Advertisers are learning to put their TV commercials online, and it is paying off. Online au- diences watched ads a record breaking 1.3 billion times in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of more than 40% compared to the same period in 2011 and more than 225% compared to the same period in 2010.5

Paying attention to the convergence of TV and social media is critically important to advertisers, as Americans spend 20% of their day watching TV—and many are simultaneously playing with their iPad or iPhone.3 Research shows that 71% of tablet owners go online while watching TV; the extra device will soon not be needed, as all TVs are expected to be connected to the Internet, with more than three fourths of global TV shipments in 2015 having this capability.6

Research is beginning to appear to help advertisers un- derstand these interactions. Hanna et al. describe the social media ‘‘ecosystem’’ of digital and traditional media in their 2011 article.7 Hess et al. explore the interplay of TV, PC, and mobile technologies in the German home.8 And research by Onishi and Manchanda concludes that new and traditional media in Japan act synergistically in terms of market out- comes, with this relationship stronger during the prelaunch versus the postlaunch period for a new product.9

Certainly, more research is needed. Companies such as Bluefin Labs are using analytics to find out how context affects ad ‘‘buzz,’’ while recognizing that some processes are still a mystery. One ad appeared on two shows with similar demographics and ratings, yet one show created eight more times the social-media buzz than the other. Moreover, not everything is controllable, as social media users are not representative of the general population, and 90% of people’s conversations about brands happen offline.3

Experts in this emerging field believe that the relationship between advertisers and consumers is undergoing a funda- mental change. As Bluefin CEO Deb Roy put it, ‘‘Audience members speaking through social media is effectively a shift in power.’’3 Advertisers seeking to put that relationship back on a one way footing through ‘‘shouting’’ in social media ignore this power shift at their peril.
References
1. Israel S. (2012) Will marketing muck up social media? www.forbes.com/sites/shelisrael/2012/07/05/will-marketing- muck-up-social-media/ (accessed Jul. 15, 2012).
2. Talbot D. (2012) Why viewers could soon control Super Bowl ads. www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_ article.aspx?id = 39590 (accessed Jul. 15, 2012).
3. Talbot D. (2011) A social-media decoder. New technology deciphers—and empowers—the millions who talk back to their television through the Web. www.technologyreview .com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id = 38910 (accessed Jul. 29, 2012).
4. Green A. (2011) Understanding television audiences. Warc best practice. www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Publications/ Understanding%20Television%20Audiences,%20September% 202011.pdf (accessed Jul. 29, 2012).
5. Visible measures. Q1 2012 social video advertising report. www.iab.net/media/file/SocialVideoAdvertisingReportQ12012 .pdf (accessed Jul. 29, 2012).
6. Mane S, Thompson K. How does industry buzz translate into real world consumer activity? Early indicators of what this means for advertising. www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_ Breakfast_Briefing_with_Ipsos_How_Does_Industry_Buzz_ Translate_into_Real_World_Consumer_Activity.pdf (accessed Jul. 29, 2012).

7. Hanna R, Rohm A, Crittenden VL. We’re all connected: the power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons 2011; in press. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2011.01.007
8. Hess J, Ley B, Ogonowski C, Wan L, Wulf V. Understanding and supporting cross-platform usage in the living room. En- tertainment Computing 2012; 3:37–47.
9. Onishi H, Manchanda P. Marketing activity, blogging and sales. International Journal of Research in Marketing 2012; in press. doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2011.11.003

 

Brenda K. Wiederhold

Editor-in-Chief

http://www.liebertpub.com/overview/cyberpsychology-behavior-and-social-networking/10

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Oct 19 2012
Experts say fear of flying is treatable

By Associated Press

An excerpt from the article:

At the Virtual Reality Medical Center, which has offices in San Diego and Brussels and has treated more than 1,000 people in 15 years, patients don headsets and sensors and are immersed in a 360-degree, three-dimensional visual and auditory computer simulation of air travel, from packing to security to boarding and taking flight. The software simulates night or day, various weather conditions and turbulence. The immersion is paired with sensors that measure breathing, heart and perspiration rates so patients can learn to recognize and handle symptoms of anxiety. The treatment costs about $2,000 and takes eight to 10 sessions.

Physician Mark Wiederhold, who runs Virtual Reality with his wife, Brenda, says for most people the anxiety will never completely vanish, “but you can learn to cope with it.”

 

For full article, click here.

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