SMART-VR & USC IAS Talk on "Virtual Reality & Addiction Therapy":
The SMART-VR Center and the USC Institute for Addiction Science teamed up for a SMART-VR talk on "VR & Addiction Therapy" on April 27th! Featured speakers were Heather Frye (Clinical Director of Recovery Centers of America at Bracebridge Hall) and Alexandre Dussaud (Clinical Psychologist at C2Care). The talk was hosted by IAS's Eric Pedersen (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences)!
Watch the full talk here!
SMART-VR Pop-Up Events (3/30, 3/31, 4/4)
The SMART-VR Center hosted 3 "SMART-VR Pop-Up Events," part of a series of asynchronous events across multiple USC locations that provide a chance for people to come and try various VR and AR experiences from the SMART-VR Community! These pop-ups were held in the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Lab on the USC Health Science Campus and in the Ahmanson Lab on the USC University Park Campus.
SMART-VR Talk on "VR in Education & Training":
The SMART-VR Center's SMART-VR talk on "VR in Education & Training" took place on March 25th, 2022! Speakers Chris Klein (Head of Education at ClassVR) and Wes Lockhart (Educational Specialist at Oxford Medical Simulation), along with host James Finley(SMART-VR Co-director, PI of the USC Locomotor Lab), discussed the utilization of virtual reality for education and medical training purposes. Watch the full video to learn more about ClassVR and Oxford Medical Simulation and see an OMS training demo here!
SMART-VR Talk on "VR & Cultural Competency":
SMART-VR's virtual talk on "VR & Cultural Competency" was held on February 22nd, 2022! It featured Ilin Misaras (Associate Director of the Global Training Initiative at NC State University) and Matt Foreman (Lead Developer of REM5 Studios, along with host Laura Garcia (Director of Clinical Design at Found).
Watch the full talk to learn about how virtual reality can be utilized to promote cultural competency within organizations and educational institutions here!
SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality and Older Adults":
SMART-VR's talk on "Virtual Reality and Older Adults" was held on November 18th, 2021! It featured Davis Park (Vice President of Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing) and Kyle Rand (CEO/Co-founder of Rendever), along with host James Finley (SMART-VR Co-director, Principal Investigator of the USC Locomotor Lab).
Watch the full talk here!
SMART-VR Talk on "Making Virtual Reality Accessible":
SMART-VR's talk on "Making Virtual Reality Accessible" was held on October 6th, 2021! It featured Greg Bednarski (Founder of WalkinVR) and Jeff Rayner (Co-founder and CEO of MXTreality), along with host Dr. Sook-Lei Liew (SMART-VR Co-director, Principal Investigator of the USC NPNL Laboratory).
If you didn't get a chance to attend the event, you can watch it on the SMART-VR Youtube Channel!
SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality & Brain-Computer Interfaces":
Our SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality & BCIs" took place on August 25th, 2021!
Our featured guest speakers were Mike Ambinder (Principle Experimental Psychologist at Valve Corporation) and Eva Esteban (Software Engineer at OpenBCI)! The talk was co-hosted by SMART-VR co-director Dr. Sook-Lei Liew (Principle Investigator of the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Lab) and SMART-VR Student Ambassador Garrett Flynn (Initiative Coordinator at Brains@Play)!
View the recording of this talk on our SMART-VR YouTube Channel!
SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality & Sensory Input":
If you missed the chance to join us for the latest news on how smell and touch are revolutionizing VR, catch the recording on our YouTube channel!
Aaron Wisniewski (Co-Founder and CEO of OVR Technology) and Joe Michaels (Chief Revenue Officer of HaptX) were our honored guests, along with co-host Dr. Skip Rizzo (SMART-VR co-director, Director of Medical Virtual Reality at the Institute for Creative Technologies, Research Professor at the Dept. of Psychiatry and School of Gerontology).
SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality & Fitness":
Our talk on Virtual Reality and Fitness featured Nejc Skoberne (Product Manager at FitXR), Jimmy Bagley (Founding member of the VR Institute of Health & Exercise), and co-host James Finley (SMART-VR co-director & PI of the USC Locomotor Laboratory) on how Virtual Reality is driving innovation within the world of physical fitness.
If you didn't have a chance to join us for this event, check out our official YouTube Channel for the full recording!
SMART-VR Talk on "Virtual Reality In Pediatrics":
Our SMART-VR Industry Talk on "Virtual Reality in Pediatrics" took place on May 31st @ 12-1PM PT!
Our guest speakers featured Jack Z. Chen (CEO & Founder of Cognitive Leap) and Max Orozco (creator of ReadyTeddy)! Co-hosting the event was SMART-VR co-director Dr. Skip Rizzo, who serves as Director of Research with Cognitive Leap and Director for Medical Virtual Reality at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies.
View the recording of this talk on our SMART-VR YouTube Channel!
General Admission – SMART-VR Workshop: "The Future of Rehabilitation":
The general admission SMART-VR Future of Rehabilitation Workshop took place on May 25th, 2021, and was an excellent gathering of minds to envision the future of rehabilitation and technology via the collaborative platform Miro.
A summary of our work will be available via infographic shortly, so check back here for the link in the near future! Thank you to all who attended and volunteered their time and creativity to make this event possible.
Student SMART-VR Workshop: "The Future of Rehabilitation":
The SMART-VR Center held its first of two separate collaborative "The Future of Rehabilitation Workshop" events on May 1st, 2021. Using a combination of video conferencing via Zoom and visual collaboration using Miro, our participants developed their vision for a world of technology and rehabilitation in the near and distant future.
While this workshop was open to USC students, our second one in late May will be available to anyone who is interested to attend. Stay tuned to our events page for more information!
SMART-VR Fireside Chat – "VR Therapeutics"
Josh Sackman (co-founder & president of AppliedVR) and Aaron Gani (founder & CEO of BehaVR) joined us for a fireside chat on "VR Therapeutics", joined by SMART-VR co-director/USC Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center director Marientina Gotsis and USC Viterbi School of Engineering adjunct faculty Vangelis Lympouridis as co-hosts. Together, they discussed the ability of VR to address pain and anxiety through the use of virtual experiences.
Watch the recording of this event on our Youtube Channel here, and have a look at our associated Miro board for a visual representation of the contents for this talk as well.
SMART-VR VR & Brain Health Talk
Virtuleap CEO Amir Borogzadeh and XRHealth Clinical Liason Jessica Ackerman joined us for a talk on Virtual Reality and Brain Health, which was co-hosted by USC Associate Professor Judy Pa of The Pa Lab and PhD student Ashwin Sakhare. See the full recording of both talks + Q&A session on our YouTube channel here!