AT&T 5G is being used to support a Stanford University research program examining the use of virtual reality by seniors.
The Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford focuses on the “psychological and behavioral effects of virtual reality” and announced a new study in collaboration with MyndVR, which specializes in VR solutions for older adults. The study will examine how seniors’ use of VR affects their psychological well-being and their attitudes toward new technologies.
The work will be conducted at senior living facilities and is not limited to the U.S. — facilities and companies that have already signed on are located in the Midwest, Florida, Pennsylvania and in Australia as well. MyndVR is also working with Therapy Management, which provides therapy services to hundreds of healthcare providers, to potentially involve their customers in the research. The partners described the study as one of the largest-scale studies to date on how VR affects the senior population and the role it could play in their health and wellness.
“Virtual reality adoption has been growing significantly, and we’re interested in both the immediate and lasting benefits it can provide,” said Jeremy Bailenson, the founding director of VHIL. “Working with MyndVR gives us access to a crucial population of older adults that were hit particularly hard by the isolation of the past year.”
“We’re entering a new age of digital therapeutics that harnesses the power of 5G and virtual reality,” said Anne Chow, CEO of AT&T Business. “5G-enabled solutions benefit from faster speeds, reduction of latency, greater security and mass connectivity, and can represent a significant step forward in fueling more innovation across every business. We’re proud to work with Stanford and MyndVR to contribute to the technology behind the future of healthcare.”
In other test news:
–Keysight Technologies said that MediaTek is using its test solutions to validate its new M80 5G modem. The M80 supports both millimeter-wave and sub-6 GHz frequencies, and Keysight said that MediaTek used Keysight’s network emulation solutions to validate signaling, non-signaling and radio frequency performance, as well as to verify compliance to 3GPP standards and specific mobile operators’ requirements.
-In related news, Synopsys announced that it’s collaborating with Keysight on 5G RF system-on-ship design, integrating Keysight’s RFPro solution with Synopsys’s Custom Compiler. The integration adds electromagnetic (EM) analysis in a unified RF design flow, Synopsys said, adding that the solution has already been deployed at fabless semiconductor company CoreHW.
“The complexity of design requirements for advanced integrated circuits for wireless data transmission such as transceivers and RF front-end components continues to grow,” said Tomi-Pekka Takalo, CEO at CoreHW. “The full-custom flow we are deploying, based on the Synopsys Custom Design Platform integrated with Keysight RFPro, provides our designers with an accelerated predictive process for creating high-quality full-custom RF, analog and mixed-signal ICs.”
–Spirent Communications this week touted updates to the precision of its GSS9000 series GNSS test solution, saying that among the enhancements is a doubling of update-rate capability, with the ability to run simulations as a software and hardware update rate of up to 2 kHz to improve accuracy of simulated trajectories. Other new features include the ability to extend the available scenario duration to 65 days, using the same initial conditions for the simulation throughout the duration of testing, the company added.
-The Arizona Department of Transportation has signed a memorandum of understanding with autonomous vehicle company Embark to collaborate on data-sharing with a focus on improving autonomous trucks’ ability to navigate highway work zones.
Embark is focusing on “middle mile” deployments of autonomous trucks on limited access highways and short off-highway segments, which it says are seen as the most likely initial deployment scenario. Work zones, it says, “present the most common variable in long haul trucking that must be overcome for automated deployment.” In its collaboration with the Arizona DoR, the company will provide the state with feedback on mutual areas of interest such as road design, infrastructure condition and the quality of publicly available work zone data, while the state DoT will share open-source data on work zones that can contribute to safe navigation. The company said it will also provide technical briefings to Arizona officials to contribute to awareness of rapidly developing AV technology.
